SAINTSHIP No ground of SOVEREIGNTY: OR A TREATISE Tending to prove, That the SAINTS, barely considered as such, ought not to GOVERN. By Edw: Bagshaw, Student of Ch: Changed: printer's device: the arms of the University of Oxford (McKerrow 427) ACADEMIA OXONIESIS SAPIENTIA ET FELICITATIS Oxford, Printed by H: Hall, Printer to the University, for T. Robinson. 1660. To the Honourable JOHN DORMER Esq; A Member of PARLIAMENT. Worthy Sir, THough the manner of my Life and nature of my Studies doth lead me to affect a more than ordinary Retiredness and Privacy, yet I neither am, nor aught to be so great a stranger to the passages of Providence amongst us, as not to take notice what great things it hath pleased God of late to do for this Nation; if not by completing our hopes, yet at least by preventing our fears, and bringing us within some nearer view of Settlement: Whilst others therefore are taken up with celebrating the Authors, and magnifying the means of our deliverance: I have a little made it my business to search into the cause of our Danger; which if once rightly stated, will be a direction for our present Senators, to secure themselves against that Rock, on which the Ship of the COMMONWEALTH hath almost been ruined. And herein there was no need of any long study; for who does not see, that the too free venting of all sorts of Opinions, and that by all sorts of men, how ignorant and unconcerned soever, will, if not restrained, for ever keep us a Divided, and consequently, make us an Unsettled People? Amongst those many Principles, which are now let lose upon us, (to exercise the Faith and Patience of this last Age) there is none that I know of, which doth either more immediately conduce to the ruin of all Civil Government, or had a greater influence, in the pretences at least, of the Actors, upon our late unwarrantable Disturbances, than this which I have here endeavoured to confute. For let this once be granted, that our Saviour is a Temporal Prince, and that only those have a right to Govern who have by Faith an Interest in him, presently a door is opened to all manner of Rebellion and Treason; nay, there can be no such Crimes in the World, if Religion, and a design to advance our Saviour's Kingdom, be once made the pretence to authorise them. Indeed the consequents are so fatal and horrid, and the remembrance of Munster Affairs (which were acted by the same spirit) so fresh, Sleid. lib. 10. and recent, that it might almost seem needless to endeavour any other confutation, than a bare relating of that Story. But Sir, that I may take here that liberty, which you have hitherto always indulged me, of speaking my thoughts: I never yet looked upon that way of confuting an Error, which the Arminian Writers do usually tread in, to be either Rational or Convincing; I mean, by urging the Inconveniences and ill Consequences of the Doctrine we dispute against: For it is one Question, What is true? and another, What is convenient? and after all those Tragical Inferences, wherewith men seek to affright unwary and unobserving Readers, yet this will be an eternal Axiom, That truth is truth, let the consequences be what they will; and the more harsh and repugnant any Doctrine, if plainly revealed, seems unto Natural Reason, the greater is our Faith, and the more signal our Obedience, if we notwithstanding do submit unto and embrace it. In prosecution therefore of this Design (which I have laid down to myself, as the only satisfactory way of deciding all Controversies in Divinity) I have not inquired so much how dangerous, or how destructive and ruinous the contrary Doctrine is, as how it is written; and so have proceeded by direct proof, to show that their Opinion who would have Sovereignty founded upon that bottom, is utterly unscriptural; for that it is unreasonable, I think none makes any question. And therefore I hope this Treatise may be useful for those who err, not knowing the Scriptures, and following the sound of words, have not leisure, nor perhaps ability, to look into the sense of them. Had I consulted my own credit, I might have made this Discourse more plausible, by filling up my Pages with the Authority of ancient Writers; but I purposely forbore, both because those, for whose sakes I mainly publish it, are not acquainted with any thing of Christianity, more than their English Bibles do instruct them in; and likewise because I thought it needless, having so much of Divine Authority for my Text, to crowd humane Testimonies into the Margin; since such mixtures do usually make a good Cause suspected. Sir, Whatever it is, I humbly present it to you, and doubt not, how rude and inartificial soever it seems, but it will find entertainment among those who love seasonable Truths, if you please first to honour it with your Acceptance: Whose Piety, Prudence, Integrity, and Zeal for your Countries Liberty and Welfare, have as much advanced you in the Esteem and Judgement of all sober and unprejudiced men, as your many personal Favours in the Heart and Affections, of, Worthy Sir, Your most obliged, and most humbly devoted Servant, Edw: Bagshaw. Ch: Changed: Jan. 26. 1659. SAINTSHIP No ground of SOVEREIGNTY. INtending to prove out of Scripture that the Saints ought not to govern the earth, in that sense which is now by some contended for, I shall take for the ground of my discourse those words of our Saviour to Pilate, Joh. 18.36 when he said, My kingdom is not of this world, which words are very considerable, whether we regard the Person who, the Time when, or the Manner how they were spoken. 1. For the Person who spoke them, it was no less than our Saviour Christ, each of whose speeches, how occasional soever, aught to be unto us so many Precepts and Obligations to Duty. 2. For the Time when they were spoken, it was just then when he was taking his leave of Earth, 1 Tim. 6.13. that he witnessed before Pilate a good confession, of which, this Assertion is the greatest Part: so that if the words of dying men do use to make the greatest impressions, than ought these of our Saviour, even upon that account, to quicken our Attention. Lastly, for the Manner how they were spoken, it was not only after a Resolved and seemingly Obstinate silence, Marc. 15.5. in so much as the Governor marveiled, but in direct Answer to Pilat's Question, who was very desirous to know, whether our Saviour was King or not; so that our Saviour's Purposed and Positive disavowing any Temporal or Earthly Kingdom; his redoubling this Assertion in the following part of the verse, My Kingdom is not from hence; his repeating and insisting upon it again in the next verse, as a bearing witness to the Truth, aught to convince us that our Saviour was in earnest, and therefore the matter is very Considerable. If therefore we put all this together, viz. the Authority of the Person, the Exigence of the time, joined with those Vehement and Reiterated Circumstances, wherewith these words are Accompanied, we may from thence conclude, that they contain in them a lesson, of more than ordinary concernment to us. For the more Full and clear understanding of them, Joh. 11.47 we must have recourse to one of the foregoing Chapters, where we find that the chief Priests and Pharisees, being informed of our Saviour's Miracles, and of that great Resort of Followers unto him, (which were enough at any time, if micheivously inclined to raise a Commotion in the State,) upon this they presently called a Council, Σανέδριον. or, according to the Greeks, a Sanhedrim, which was the Supreme and Highest Court of Judicature among them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. lib. 4. and unto which, if Josephus doth rightly inform us, even their Kings were Accountable. Here being convened they fall to debate about the best Expedient, how to cut our Saviour off, for fear their tolerating one, who was Publicly voiced for King, Mat. 21.5. & Job. 18. and so styled likewise by himself, (though in a far other sense than they interpreted it) might be construed by the Romans (to whom the Jews were at that time Tributaries) as a design to shake off their Yoke, and thereby provoke them to an utter extirpation of the Jewish Policy, which until then, notwithstanding their Conquest, they had in great measure preserved Entire. Thus therefore we find them Argue, If we let him alone, all men will believe on him, v. 48. and the Romans will come, and take away our Place and Nation. To this Insinuation, which seemed to conclude their Necessity of our Saviour's Death, Caiphas adds something, by which he endeavours to prove that Unjust Attempt to be not only Necessary, but very Plausible too; v. 50. and therefore he pleads Salus Populi, the Public Good is urged to palliate this execrable Murder: You, saith he, know nothing at all, neither consider that it is expedient one man should die for the People, that the Nation perish not:— as if he had said, You are very Weak and Unskilful Politicians to boggle at such a Case as this, and to debate thus long upon a matter of so easy solution; for Right or Wrong the Public Safety must be provided for; and it is a great Folly and want of Foresight to prefer one man's life, how Innocent soever, before a Nations Welfare. In which wicked speech, though Caiphas did by God's appointment Prophetically foretell that great good which would redound to the World by our Saviour's Death, v. 52. yet as to his own Intention, he meant no more than a Justifying of that Accursed, and, Rom. 3.8. in the Apostle Paul's sense, accounted Damnable Maxim, viz. That we may do Evil, that Good may come thereof, which Tenet, wherever it is assented to, will be the Mother of those Mischiefs which men have either Felt or Feared: I am sure it so far prevailed with that Juncto of Senators, that the Text saith From that Time they took Counsel, how to put him, v. 53. i. e. our Saviour, to Death. Our Saviour's Death being thus agreed on by the Pharisees, and in their deep Policy resolved to be Necessary in respect of the Romans, and very Advantageous too in reference to the Jews; the Contrivers make no long Delay, but what they had before so unjustly concluded on, we find them presently after as cruelly execute. For having by their own Authority apprehended our Saviour, and being it seems debarred to judge of Capital Causes within themselves, (it is not, say they to Pilate, v. 32. lawful for us to put any Man to Death) they hale him before Pilate the Roman Praefect, and there with Loud Clamorous Outcries demand Justice against him. But lest their Noise should not prevail with a Roman, and therein, so far as related to the Jewish Affairs, an Unconcerned and Dispassionate Judge, with a Formal story in their Mouths, disguising the Malice of their Hearts, they Article against him as a Malefactor, i. e. κακοποιός. according to the Importance of the Greek word, a seditious Person, a Disturber of the State, a Subverter of Government, an Enemy of Cesar, an Ambitious Affecter to be in Fact, as well as in Title, King of the Jews; which False and scandalous Charge we have insinuated by John, but is at large expressed by Luke, ch. 23.2. we found, say they, this fellow perverting the Nation, and forbidding to give Tribute unto Cesar, saying, that he himself is Christ a King. Pilate hearing this Accusation, which, if True, struck so immediatelyat Cesar's power; and the Gravity and seeming Sanctity of our Saviour's Accusers, would not let him suspect it to be False, he therefore, waving all other suggestions, hastily asks our Saviour, whether he was King or not, v. 33. Art thou, says he, the King of the Jews? To which Question our Saviour returns an Answer in the words I have already alleged, wherein he intimates that he was indeed a King, and that he had a Kingdom; but that his Kingdom was of such a Nature, as Pilate need not be Jealous of, nor apprehend any danger from it; as if it were intended to enterfere or Justle with Cesar's Sovereignty; for, saith he, my Kingdom is not of this Word. As if he had said, I am indeed a King, and I have a Kingdom, but you need not fear any Disturbance to your Secular Interests, by setting up of my Kingdom amongst you, for though it be in the World, it is not of the world; nor hath any Commerce or Society, either with the Power or Policy thereof. This being the Plain and Direct meaning of our Saviour's words, I shall briefly explain what Kingdom it is that our Saviour means, when he says, my Kingdom, etc. I find in Scripture that our Saviour is called a King upon a account, 1. By Power. Thus he is King of the World, Heb. 1.1, 2. and hath a sooner aignty Paramount, being one God with the Father, and the same. Power, by which he made the World, he daily exerts for the continuing and preserving of it. 2. By Birth: thus he was King of the Jews, being Heir apparent to the Crown, and lineally descended from David, in whom the Kingdom was vested with a promise of its perpetuity; from him, according to the flesh, our Saviour came, and therefore had a Star to adorn and declare his Nativity; God herein seeming to comply with the Opinions of those, who think the Heavens are more than ordinarily concerned in the Affairs of Princes, and therefore strange Appearances, and unusual Comets do attend both their birth and death, For nothing else, for aught we know, but the Prodigy of that Blazing Star (without any more immediate Instinct) did excite the curiosity of the Eastern Magis, to go and see that Person, whose Nativity was in so wonderful a manner celebrated: Where is, say they, he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his Star in the East: i. We have descried a Star of an unusual Aspect, but yet such an one, as, according to the rules of our Art, discovers that a Prince is born in Judea, and we are come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. To bow to him, and pay him homage. (a) Orig: contr: Cells: lib. 1. p. 45. Attributes their coming to a response of the Devils, upon their doing their Rates of Conjuration: but I conceive the opinion, I mention, is more probable. 3. By designation and appointment of his Father: Thus our Saviour Christ is King of all the Heathen, according to that Prophecy of Jacob, When Shiloh comes, unto him shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the obedience or gathering of the Gentiles be: And many Predictions there are of the same importance, which if they are to be meant of every Individual Heathen (and not rather signify that the Heathen shall not be excluded from being reckoned amongst our Saviour's subjects, now in times of Christianity) we have no ground from Scripture to expect that they shall be actually accomplished until our Saviour's second coming, at which time the Saints shall reign with him: Which is the meaning of that promise of our Saviour's, He that overcomes, i. all difficulties, and keeps my words unto the end, i. perseveres in the Christian Faith, I will give him power over the Heathen, etc. even as I have received of my Father, i. Hereafter, he shall reign with me, not in this life, but when he hath exchanged this for a better. Lastly, By Pact or Covenant: thus our Saviour is King of Believers only; as a Prince he gives us Laws, invites us with Rewards, deters us by Punishments, and hath left nothing unassayed, which may either persuade or enforce obedience; governing of his People by his Word and Spirit, unto a compliance with his commands; and this Dominion he will always exercise to the World's end. Of which inward, invisible Kingdom it is, that our Saviour is to be understood, when he saith, My kingdom is not of this world, i. not a Political, visible, and earthly one. From all that hath been said, I infer this Conclusion, That if Christ's kingdom be not of this world, there is none can, Thesis'. upon the account of their interest in Christ, plead any Right or Title unto earthly Sovereignty: or more briefly thus, That inward Saintship is not a ground of outward Empire. This collection which I make is very easy and natural, for if our Saviour did disclaim all earthly Jurisdiction in himself, then sure none can, upon pretence of their interest in him, put in their Plea for it: If our Saviour, as he lived an humble, selfdenying life, so died in an utter abhorrence of temporal Sovereignty; and spent those few last words he vouchsafed to utter, in a direct denial of worldly greatness: then certainly his example weighs little with us, and his latest breath was spent in vain, if we, upon a Christian account, still affect Empire, or make our Religion the way to outward preferment. It is our Saviour's own reasoning, and bottomed upon the inalterable nature of things, that the servant is not greater than his master: If therefore our Master would not be called Lord, certainly the servants ought not to desire it; if Christ refused Empire, with what face can christian's ambition it? or how can they call themselves Saints, and yet seek to be advanced in power above their Saviour? Now though the bare authority of our Saviour might alone serve to convince those that are Christians indeed (for so far as they are such, they are to be imitators of Christ) yet because the matter is of so much weight, and hath of late been too unhappily disputed, I shall therefore endeavour more at large to demonstrate it, from these two Heads of Arguments. 1. From the nature of Civil Government in general. 2. From the nature of Christian Religion in particular. First, That Saintship is not the ground of Sovereignty, appears from the nature of Civil Government in general: for this belongs to men, as they are Christians, but as they are men; and is a consequent, not of our spiritual, but of our natural Birth. To clear up this, I shall not unravel the whole Mystery of Policy, as some too unwarily, (if not designedly) do, who lay down such Principles of Politics, as give just occasion to make their Religion suspected: I shall therefore insist only upon those Grounds which the Scripture affords, only those being sufficient to convince a gainsaying, or to satisfy a scrupling conscience. And to begin with the first Original of man, we find, when God made man, it is said, Gen. 1.28. that in the Image of God created he him, and thereupon blessed him, and gave him dominion over the Creatures. Now there is a twofold Image of God, Supernatural, and Natural: Supernatural, I call those impressions of Sanctity and Holiness, which are now lost: Natural, is that resemblance which the soul of man hath to the nature of God, as to its being and operation: viz. As God is a Spirit Immortal, Invisible, etc. so the soul of man is of a Spiritual, Immortal, Invisible nature; which Image yet remains entire in the worst of men: Of this Image it is that God speaks, when he forbids Murder, Gen. 9.6. Who so sheddeth man's blood, s; aith he, by him shall man's blood be shed, because in the image of Gad created he man; i. e. he put a Spirit of life and understanding into him, the consideration of which invaluable Jewel within, aught to make us preserve the Casket without, i. e. the Body, sacred and inviolable. Which of these two Images it is that external Dominion over the Creature belongs to, is clear out of the same Chapter, where God renews his grant to all the Sons of Noah: The fear of you, 〈◊〉, 2. saith he, and the dread of you, fall upon every beast of the earth, etc. into your hand, i. e. power to dispose of as you please, are they delivered: In which general grant, there are none of the sons of men excluded, because it is a Birth-priviledge; and profane Cham had upon that score as large a share in, and as true a title to the free use of all outward things, as any of his more Religious Brethren. This is that Civil Right which Abraham acknowledged in the King of Sodom, (and what kind of abominable sinners the Sodomites were, I need not mention) when he refused to be enriched by him; I will not, saith he, Gen. 14.23 take any thing of thine; by which word Thine, he owns that the King of Sodom had a True, Legal Propriety, even in those goods, which Abraham might have challenged as the Fruits of his Victory: This Right afterwards Abraham confessed to be in Abimelech, Gen. 21.23 when he made a League with him not to hurt or injure him, i. not to deprive him of any thing which was his. But most of all this appears in the bargain and sale which Abraham Gen. 23. made with the Sons of Heth; when Abraham, though by Gods absolute grant, the undoubted heir of all the Land of Canaan, yet the time for the accomplishment of that promise not being yet come, he refused to receive the Cave of Macpelah, to make use of it for a burying place, until he had paid a valuable consideration in money for it. Obj. If any shall here object that Abraham at that time wanted power to make good his claim, and therefore was content to buy, what otherwise he might have forced. Ans. The vanity and falsehood (I will add too, the impiety) of this Plea appears from hence, in that we find David afterwards using the very same terms of observance and respect unto Araunah a Jebusite, 2 Sam. 21. one neither of the same Nation nor Religion with himself: Which instance serves very much to clear the question in hand, for David was not only a Saint by privilege (if that signified any thing to give a right) but a King by power, and might have forced it: nay, he was commanded by God, to make use of that very place to sacrifice in, and therefore might have pretended an inspiration to justify his violent seizure; and besides, to make the matter a little more fair and plausible, he, whom David dealt with, was an Heathen, and for aught we know, an Idolater: Yet all these advantages did not make David swerve from the Rules of common Justice, but up he went with all his Retinue to Araunah, in a suppliant posture, that he might buy his threshing floor: And when Araunah frankly offered to give it him, the Spirit of God hath recorded it, not as an act of Justice in him, but of Royal Bounty: Araunah, ver. 23. as a king, gave unto the King. Obj. It useth to be urged against this, that the Israelites, which were God's People, did destroy the Canaanites, and inherit their Land. Answ. But the Answer is easy, That as God did not choose them to be his people, because they were more holy than others, but merely because he had set his heart upon them. So neither did he give them the Land of Canaan, upon the account of their Saintship, but only to make good his promise unto Abraham, and by their hands to avenge himself of the Canaanites, whose iniquities were then full and ripe for vengeance. This reason is expressly given by Moses himself, Deut. 9.5. Not for thy righteousness, saith he, or for the uprightness of thy heart, dost thou go to possess their Land; but for the wickedness of these nations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord swore unto thy Fathers. God indeed is the great Proprietor of all things, but yet he hath given the Earth, without distinction, to all the Sons of Men; only reserving to himself this Right, That when they do ingratefully abuse his gift, he doth always dispossess them, and give their inheritance unto others: but though this be the method of God's Judgements, yet it doth not excuse any people from a transcendent Crime, who take upon them to be the executors of God's Decrees against the wicked. Joshuah therefore, whilst he was in the hottest pursuit of that promised Possession, never pleaded any thing to justify his actings, but the particular command of God, who bade him go and destroy those Nations: this alone made it a pious War, which otherwise would have been nothing else but a public Robbery: We find also, that when God, as the supreme Disposer, gave to the Israelites the Land of Canaan, he, at the same time, expressly forbids them to meddle with the Land of the children of Ammon; but had relation to God given them any right, that Land would have equally belonged to them with the other: Deut. 11.17. When thou comest, saith he, nigh unto the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them; for I will not give thee of the Land of the children of Ammon any possession, because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession. Where we see the children of Lot, though Idolatrous, yet were not to be disturbed in their possession, because the same God who said to the children of Israel, Go, Possess Canaan, said to the Children of Lot, Go, Possess the Land of Ammon. Whereby, as to their civil Claims, and temporal Rights, God makes no distinction betwixt the one, though his own peculiar, and the other, though a profane and Idolatrous people. But if Heathen unregenerate men have, upon the account of their being men, a Title to other things, then certainly to Dominion much more; which serves only to secure our other Privileges, and is, if rightly stated, nothing else but a consequent of Propriety. I shall therefore conclude this first Argument, which I think abundantly convincing, with that remarkable Controversy between God and the Jews, concerning their obedience to Nabuchadnezzar. The Jews, though undoubted possessors of Canaan, yet after they were by Nabuchadnezzar conquered, and, to preserve some little remains of Liberty and Livelihood, had taken an Oath of Fealty and Allegiance to him; we find, upon some reason of State, they were presently induced to break it, and God as speedily threatens to avenge it severely upon them. Ezek. 17. The sad condition of that Oath, how it was a Covenant only to enslave themselves and their Posterity for ever, God himself doth declare, thereby to prevent their Objection: v 13 14. The King of Babylon, saith he, hath taken of the King's seed, i. Zedekiah, and made a Covenant with him, and taken an oath of him, that the Kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, i. e. that it might for ever quit the pretence of being a Free People, and truckle under the Dominion of the Chaldeans: This Yoke, than which nothing can be more insupportable, and to which the Jews had been so long unaccustomed, they presently shook off; for it follows in the next Verse, But he, i. Zedekiah, rebelled, with what success, we have too much reason in this Nation to read and tremble (a) 〈◊〉. Army's Plea, etc. v. 18, 19 : Seeing he despised the oath, by breaking the Covenant, when lo, he had given his hand (i. with hands lifted up, had solemnly ratified it) he shall not escape: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord, my Covenant which he hath broken, and my Oath which he hath despised, will I recompense upon his own head: From which sad place, others perhaps will draw other inferences, but I shall collect only these three things. 1. That in every Oath God is a Party, and will be sure to punish the violater of it; though men may break their Oaths, with as much ease as Samson did his Withs, yet God will be sure to keep his, and he hath sworn to Punish. 2. When once a man hath sworn, he cannot resume again that natural Liberty, which he was before possessed of, because by his own voluntary Act he hath devested himself of it, and thereby bound himself over to Divine vengeance, if he do not perform the Condition of his Covenant. Lastly, if the Jews, who had so much to plead for themselves, both upon a Civil and Religious Account, as being not only a Free, but likewise a Godly People, might yet pass away their whole Liberty unto an Heathen Prince, and by virtue of their Oath be debarred for ever from forceable seeking a Re-envestiture; but were obliged, not only to submit unto him as their Conqueror, but after Faith given, to obey him as their Sovereign; if I say, the Case stood thus with them, then certainly no Pretence of Sanctity can absolve us now from such Ties of Obedience, in the Times of the Gospel; which doth as fare transcend the Jewish Polity in peaceableness of Disposition, as in Purity of Doctrine, therefore, Arg: 2 Secondly, that Saintship is not the ground of Sovereignty will yet farther appear from the Nature of Christian Religion in particular, whether we respect, 1. Its Precepts. 2. Its Promises. 3. The manner of propagating it. 4. The Practice of the Apostles, and other Professors in the purest and most Primitive Times. First, This appears from Gospel Precepts: for there is nothing more frequently or vehemently enjoined by our Saviour, than self denial. The command doth not run, Take a Kingdom, Mat: 16.24 but, Take up your Cross and follow me. Learn of me, saith our Saviour, he doth not add, For this is the way to Honour, for I can point you out a Path to Preferment, but Learn of me, Mat: 11.26 for I am mecke and Lowly. i. I have equalled myself to the meanest of the sons of men, I have not where to lay my head, and am so little desirous of worldly Greatness, that I have voluntarily devested myself of a greater Royalty, than the world can comprehend; and all this I have done, to show you a Pattern of Humility. Therefore when the Disciple, (who before our Saviour's Resurrection, did as much mistake the meaning of his Kingdom, as some amongst us now do) did contend amongst themselves who should be greatest, how sharply doth our Saviour reprehend this Ambitious strife? Mat: 18.3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If you be not turned, i. quite changed, as it were, into another Nature, and become as little Children, as careless and secure of greatness, as little swelled and leavened with Ambition, you shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven: whereby the Kingdom of Heaven: whether we understand Grace or Glory, whether it means Initial or Complete Happiness, it is all one to the Question in hand, for it clearly proves, that to affect Temporal Greatness and Promotion, is utterly inconsistent either with holiness here, or with our hopes hereafter. I need not multiply more Texts, for the whole design of the Gospel is aimed at nothing else, but to level, and lower our Thoughts unto the size of our Saviour's meekness, to beat down the tumour and swelling, and agitation of our Spirits in reference to worldly things, to empty and divest our souls of all that wind of Ambition, wherewith poor miserable men, who have no better Hopes, are constantly tossed and perplexed. And the reason for this is unanswerable, for, if, as our Saviour hath stated it, None can serve God and Mammon, than none can serve God & Honour, we cannot serve God, and gain a Kingdom; much less are we to make one, prepare the way for the other: for this would be to invert the Intent of the Gospel, and make it a setter up of what it was principally discovered to beat down; whereby it would become nothing else, but a Ladder for Ambition to climb by. Secondly, This appears likewise from Gospel Promises; for these as they are constantly annexed to the Poor, the Humble, the Mortified, the self denying Christian, so they are always about such things, as are most remote and distant from Temporal Enjoyments Blessed, saith our Saviour, are the poor in spirit, he doth not add, Muth. 5. for theirs shall be the Kingdom of Earth, but, Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. According to the Analogy of which Promises, must that Text be understood, which while they fix only upon the Literal meaning, hath deluded so many, Blessed are the Meek, for they shall Inherit the Earth. i. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illam Terram, That Earth, which was promised in a Type, and is Figuratively Heaven, as the Author to the Hebrews hath elegantly proved. For that neither that place, Heb: 11.13 16. nor any other in the N. T. can be understood absolutely of any outward and Earthly Happiness, is clear, because all that we Christians can certainly expect in this world, by virtue of a Promise, Joh: 16.33 is only Afflictions. In the World, saith our Saviour to his Disciples, and therein to all who will be like them, you shall have Tribulation: this was the last Legacy he left them, 2 Tim: 3.12 and therefore, saith he, ye shall have it, rest ye as certain of it, as of your Inheritance or Patrimony. And the Apostle, who very well understood our Saviour's meaning, lays it down as a Fundamental in Religion, All that will live Godly in Christ, must suffer Persecution; they must suffer, there is no avoiding it. For this Fatal attendance of Persecution upon Piety it is, that our Saviour hath provided us so many Cordials and Comfortable Receipts in Scripture, as when he bids us to rejoice, Mat: 5. etc. Heb. 12. and be exceeding glad: nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to skip and dance for Joy, when such Afflictions do most beset us; for they are evidences of our Sonship, and assured signs that God hath a Care of us: all which Expressions would have been very vain and useless, if ever Religion should be abused to those Ends, that the suffering might become the Afflicting Party; if a Christian could not only exempt himself from Injuries, but return them upon others, and challenge Authority here, as a Reward of his Piety. For this would not only deprive us of the Privilege (so the Apostles counted it) of Martyrdom, but would have none fit to be Persecuted, but only the Wicked; and this is an Honour, which I hope no true Christian but envies them. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, To you, saith the Apostle, it is given of grace, Phil: 1.15 not only to believe on Christ, but likewise to suffer for his Name. We are mistaken, whilst we so much dread Affliction: for it is not a Judgement, no nor an Evil neither to suffer, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Gift, a peculiar Boon, a choice Indulgence of God unto his Favourites. So the Apostle Peter bids those he writes to not be discouraged, or count it strange, if the Fiery Trial had its effect upon them, 1 Pet. 11.21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. as well as upon others; for, faith he, unto this were ye called: as if he had said, be sure you look, nay long for it; for if you miss of this, you have some reason to doubt the Truth of your Calling. All which places, with many more to the same purpose, how any can reconcile to an Affecting of Temporal Greatness, let them resolve who love a Secure, an Easy, a Specious, a Prosperous Religion, such an one as Christ never came to teach, nor any of his Followers died to establish. Obj. It is very true, what some, with a little too much gust and relish of worldly-mindedness, allege, That every true Christian is heir of a Kingdom, and aught to live in expectation of such Glory and Greatness, as whatever the world hath, can but imperfectly shadow out: With this our Saviour doth buoy up, and revive the sinking spirits of his Disciples: Be of good comfort, saith he, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you a Kingdom: It is this we pray for, this we are to be in a readiness for daily. Answ. But yet it is as true too, that, so long as we live here, this is a Kingdom in expectation only; Flesh nor Blood, neither shall nor can inherit it. As we must first put off Mortality, before we can put on Eternal Life; so we must put off earth and earthly-mindedness, before we can expect any share in that blessed Inheritance. There are, amongst many other, two very remarkable places to clear this: The one is our Saviour's answer to Peter, upon his Discourse with the young man: For our Saviour having pronounced so severe, and yet so peremptory a doom against rich men, as that a rich man could scarcely be saved; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. he repeats it again, and makes it to be altogether as great a Moral Impossibility, for a man that is clogged with Wealth, and loaded with worldly Cares, to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, (that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the narrowed, pressed, and straightened way) as it would be a natural impossibility for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle. Upon this we find the Disciples were exceedingly amazed, not only as missing of their hopes, but likewise as being conscious to themselves, that though they were not, yet they did all desire to be rich; whereupon Peter, in the name of the rest, replies, Behold, we have left all and followed thee, what shall we have therefore? As if he had said, Shall we venture to lose all, and yet be so great losers by the bargain, as to be altogether unprovided of a recompense? our Saviour therefore to quit them, and to take them off from such sensual desires, which he saw possessed them: Verily, saith he, ye that have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man sits upon his Throne of Glory, shall sit upon twelve Thrones, judging the twelve Tribes of Israel: In which words our Saviour doth promise them a great and a glorious reward, viz. to be Kings and Judges with himself, but yet defers the fruition of it, until the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. The restauration of all things, when neither Mortality nor Misery shall be any more, but every thing shall be restored unto that Primitive Integrity and Lustre, wherein they were at first created. The other place which manifests the nature of Christ's Kingdom, Matth. 20.20 etc. is that Answer which our Saviour returned to the Mother of Zebedees' Children, who, it seems, mistaking the true notion of it, and fixing her thoughts upon an earthly Empire, petitioned our Saviour for her two sons, That the one might sit at his right hand, and the other at his left, when he came into his Kingdom, i. when he had taken possession of the Throne, and was invested with the Realm of Judea, she humbly begged, that then he would be pleased to look favourably upon her two sons, to make them the Grandees and Minions of his Court; that they, under him, might enjoy the greatest Power and Privileges: But our Saviour, to take them off from such haughty Aims, presently puts them in mind of Suffering, v. 23. as a thing much more suited to a Christians complexion; and lest the other Disciples should be infected with the same desires, he doth for ever strive to suppress them, as passions much more fit for Heathen, than Christian tempers: Ye know, saith he, that the Princes of the Gentiles do exercise dominion over them, and those that are great, do exercise authority upon them: But it shall not be so amongst you: As if he had said, The Heathen indeed, who have no other hope, do place all their Heaven upon Earth; they make Fame their Immortality, and Power their Paradise; and therefore never rest satisfied, until they can exercise an absolute and an Arbitrary Dominion over their enslaved Subjects. But you, who are my Disciples, and called by my Name, who have a certainty of future Enjoyments, unto whom a Kingdom of a clean different nature is reserved; you ought not to be like them, but rather strive in humility to excel each other: Wherein our Saviour clearly intimates, that it doth so little become a Saint to rule, that he is certainly not a Saint who doth ambition it: For how can he rationally expect a Kingdom hereafter, who hath outed himself of his Plea, by putting in for a Kingdom here? which is nothing else, but to antedate the effect of God's promise; or rather with Dives, to receive our good things in this life, and to take up with Temporal Joys, when we should patiently have waited for Eternal. Thirdly, This appears farther, from the manner how Christian Religion was propagated in the World, which, as it is a Religion that doth most precisely forbid compulsion and violence, so it was not planted by it. Our Saviour himself that taught it, was as a Lamb that opened not his mouth, but turned his cheek to the smiter, and his back to the rod of the wicked: The Apostles, his followers, were accounted the scum and offscouring of the world, i. the vilest of men, and thereupon were disgraced, persecuted, tormented: And all this they suffered without the return, so much as of contumelious Language; how much less do we find them telling the world, that they ought to bear Dominion over them: Yet by these Arts alone, they did at first Preach, and afterwards promote the Gospel to the conversion of thousands. And this, by the way, without any further Argument, will serve to evidence the Divine Original of Christianity, in that notwithstanding all these disadvantages, the least of which, in all humane probality, was enough to have stifled and suppressed it in the Womb; yet, in spite of all, it took root and prospered; which could not possibly have come to pass, without the conduct and assistance of an Almighty Power. But had our Saviour sent a Religion into the World, which would have excited men's ambition, and fired our Zeal to the ruin and extirpation of its Opposers: Quid hoc eximium? What excellence should there have been in Christian Religion, more than in other Religions? for do not even the Publicans the same? Is not this the common method of all Political Combinations, rather than Religions in the World, to rise by the ruin of such as oppose them? But our Saviour took not this course: If, john 18.27. saith he, my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight? intimating, that to make way for Religion by force, to lay down a Principle, which must needs imbroil the World in Blood and Confusion, is not Religion, but Rapine; a Sacrilegious design, to make Christianity, & the strict Professors of it, odious: For who will not suspect the truth of that Religion, which despairing of its own Excellence, and hopeless of a better reward, eggs on its followers to take up with Worldly Honour? and under the notion of Sanctity, leaves the Throne exposed to the Invasion of every Hypocritical Pretender: At in initio non fuit sic? Our Saviour taught us no such Doctrine, nor did his Apostles leave us such a pattern. Therefore, Lastly, That Saintship gives no right to Civil Empires appears from the practice of the Apostles, and other Professors of Christianity in the Purest and most Primitive Times. Presently after our Saviour's Ascension, when by Peter's Ministry so many thousands were converted; we do not find him Preaching them into a Tumult, or raising a Party among the People, upon the score of our Saviour's being a Temporal Prince, to whom all men were to pay their Civil Allegiance, but he only bids them, Act. 111.29. Repent and be converted, that their sins might be blotted out: And such Doctrine as this might be Preached, without any impeachment to Caesar's Power. Again, when the chief Priests and Rulers did forbid the Apostles to Preach in the Name of Christ; as being madded with envy, that one whom they had lately so ignominiously Crucified, should yet find so much reputation among his Followers: The Apostles, upon this, do not combine to strengthen themselves, and, under pretence of setting up Christ's Kingdom, make a commotion in the State, but they presently fell to their Prayers, Act. 11.29. Now Lord, say they, behold their threaten, and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy Word. They only beg courage to speak, and patience to suffer, and as for promoting Christ's Throne in any other sense, they seem altogether secure and careless. As the Apostles, so did their Proselytes behave themselves, so fare from aiming at greatness, or from seeking to improve their Conversion to the oppression of others; so fare from depriving others of their Possessions, because they were ungodly, that they sold their own, and therein literally fulfilled that command of our Saviour, of Sell all and follow me; which the Professors of our Times, are so fare from practising, that they are rather apt to do the clean contrary. We read indeed, that when the Christians increased, there was an Accusation forged against them, Acts 17.6. as if they were Men, who turned the World upside down, who acted contrary to the Decrees of Caesar, saying, There is another King, one Jesus. And Paul is by Tertullus expressly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a very Pest, i. Act 24. a Turbulent, Unquiet Spirited man, and a Raiser of Sedition; which Calumny, how false and ungrounded it was, Paul shows at large in his Apology, by averring to their faces, that they could not prove the things which they had alleged against him. ver. 13. And afterwards, he is fully acquitted by Festus the Roman Deputy: They, says he to Agrippa, brought against him no Accusation of such things as I supposed, i. of Treason, Act. 25.8. of Sedition or Rebellion, of Preaching Disobedience, or nonpayment of Tribute to Caesar; for such crimes as these, were properly under the Governor's Cognizance; and none of these, it seems, were so much as imputed unto Paul: whereas had he so Preached up Christ, as to affirm that Jesus was not only a King, but that whoever did not submit to him, ought immediately to be put out of Office; whereby there would never be such a Crime as Treason, if Religion were once made the pretence to justify it. Had this, I say, been Paul's Doctrine, I suppose Festus neither would, nor durst have been so in his Censure. And to put the matter out of question on that Apostles part, though none was more zealous than he, for the advancing of Christ's Kingdom in the right-sense; yet none was more strict and severe in the enjoining of Obedience unto all Powers over us, of what Religion soever; unless we think men can be worse than Nero and Caligula were, who Reigned about his time. And the Apostle gives a reason for it, which will hold true in all Ages, Rom. 13. viz. because, Authority is from God. Power, by what Arts soever it is gained, and by what persons soever it is exercised, yet when it is once acknowledged and sworn too, it is to be looked upon by us, as nothing else but a Ray of God's Sovereignty, and therefore to be accounted Sacred. Nor can any pretence of zeal, or mask of Religion, justify Rebellion more now then heretofore: but the more piety appears to disguise it, the more monstrous it is: Since in effect it only sets up Christ against himself, and makes his Kingdom what he would not have it to be, a kingdom of this World. The very same command, and to the same purpose is enforced by Peter, 1 Pet. 11.12. That they might by their obebedience and meekness, put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, who censured them as evil doers: The Word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the very same which was charged upon our Saviour, and it signifies in the Hellenistical Phrase, State-Incendiaries, Incompatible with Civil Government, and the like; which would have proved a very true and upright censure, in case the Christians of those Times, had so owned Christ for their King, as, upon his account, to withdraw their obedience from their Civil Sovereigns. The more apt therefore profane men were to misinterpret the Kingdom of Christ, the more careful that Apostle would have Professors to be, not to give any such occasion of offence. Suitable to the Doctrine of these two great Apostles, was the practice of the Primitive Christians, down from our Saviour's, till long after Constantine's time, as I could easily prove out of the most Ancient Records, (a) Tertul. Apulog: Orig: contra Cells. etc. but that we live in an Age, when such kind of Learning is, by those who least understand it, accounted little less than madness; and that we may know which way the World is going, Ignorance gins once more to be the Mother of Devotion. I shall therefore draw to a close, for such as Scripture will not satisfy, I do not intent to confute by humane Testimony, which is not only fallible, but for the most part false: And I wish all that are at leisure to peruse this short Treatise, would make this use of it, as to look after the Spirit, rather than the Splendour of Christianity: For it is evident to all, that know any thing of Church Story, that so much as our Religion hath got in Pomp, it always lost in Purity. Those who are still doting upon Christ's temporal Reign, in which they hope to have their share; methinks the very ambition of such desires, should convince them that they are not Christian; but if they are so far gone in their Error, as to think nothing unlawful, so they may in their sense set up Christ; I hearty wish them to consider, whilst they go about such erterprises, 1. Whose business they do not. 2. Whose business they do. 1. First, Let them consider whose business they do not; for, let them pretend what they will, they do not the business of Christ, since he hath absolutely forbid it; and he will not thank us for exalting his Honour the wrong way: Quis requisivit haec? was God's expostulation with the Jews, when they brought him Sacrifices, which he himself had commanded, because they offered them not in a right manner. How much more will our Saviour by these words, reprove all those, who for his sake, venture upon actions which he at his death disclaimed? The question at the last day will not be, how many wicked we have killed, but how many we have converted? Not, how many we have destroyed for their unbelief, but how many we have turned from it: We shall not be asked, what Honours and Preferments we have got by the Gospel, but what we have left to follow it: And don't let any think, as some argue, that God hath allowed a dispensation for these last times; for times, and men, may alter, but the nature of things can never alter: Since the world is as enticing, and the Doctrine of the Gospel as severe as selfdenying, now as ever: so that to reconcile these two together, viz. the pride of Life, with the Purity of Faith, I think no man can, I am sure no Christian ought to do. Secondly, As they who are otherwise minded, do not the business of Christ, so let them consider whose business they do. To understand which, we must take notice there are in Scripture recorded, two great Pretenders unto temporal Sovereignty, Satan and Antichrist. First, Satan: we find him directly claiming the glory of the world as his own: Behold, saith he to our Saviour all this power will I give thee, Luke 4.6. and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it: Which confident speech of his, as our Saviour doth not confute, so, by calling him after, John 16. the God and Prince of this world, he seems to own it for a truth. And indeed, if we consider the manner, how; the Arts, by which the Kingdoms of the world are got and governed, we shall not much doubt of Satan's veracity: Since Fraud and force, are those two Pillars, upon which almost all Empire is founded; and the great Maxim in State Policy, is that thing which God most abhors, viz. Hypocrisy and Dissimulation. So that we need not much question, but as the wisdom or policy, Ja: 11.15. so likewise the power of the world, is not only earthly and sensual, but likewise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Devilish; and so much the more Devilish, the more Religion is pretended to procure it; for Satan never more acts his part, then when he becomes an angel of light. Secondly, Another pretence to worldly power discovered unto us in Scripture, is Antichrist; of whom there are so many Marks and Characters given us, that it is no hard matter to know where his spirit works: Of him the Apostle John speaks, when having discoursed, that whatever is in the world, whether the lust of the flesh, 1 John 2.16. i. Pleasure; or the lust of the eyes, i Profit; or the pride of life, i. Honour, it was not of the Father, but of the world; he presently tells them that Antichrist was then beginning, intimating, that when ever he came to appear more manifestly, he would be very notorious and remarkable for the setting up those three, which are, as one calls them, The world's Trinity: And this he would do, not in so open and bare-faced a manner as Satan before him, but under the disguise and mask of Piety; for thus it is said in the description of him, which all sides agree to be meant of Antichrist, Rev. 13.11 that he had horns like a lamb, but he spoke as a dragon, i. he pretended meekness, but practised cruelty; as appears afterwards, in that he is said to force his Religion upon others, and to make all men receive his mark, ver. 16, 17. or quit their means of living. And there are two Notes of Antichrist, which will never fail, viz. Pride in himself, and Persecution in reference to others. Another description we have of him, in that stile he assumes to himself, viz. That he exalteth himself above all that is called God, or worshipped: The meaning is, that he challenges authority and pre-eminence above all Kings and Emperors: For Kings, in Scripture, are called Gods; and Σέβασμο (which we render, that is worshipped) is that name in Greek, which signifies Majesty in English, and is the title by which they did express the Grandeur of the Roman Emperors, whom they called Augusti, and the Greeks Σέβασοί. According to this aspiring disposition and nature in him, so hath he his name of Antichrist given him; for Αντιχριςος may either be rendered Αντι pro, or vice Christi, that is, one who places himself in Christ's stead, and behaves himself as his Vicar and Deputy: Or else Αντι may signify contra Christum, one that opposes and sets himself against Christ, i. not against his Person (for that he would get nothing by) but against the principal parts of Christ's Doctrine and Worship; one that puts Christianity upon a new bottom, that inverts the design of it, and makes it, instead of being a selfdenying, the most self-seeking Religion in the World. How near this Doctrine of making Christ's Kingdom an Earthly Monarchy, comes to the nature of Antichrist; nay, is indeed that very ladder by which that man of sin either already hath, or hereafter will ascend the Throne, is too apparent: For if Antichrist be come, as who can now doubt of it? (since the Apostle Paul tells us, that in the latter time he needs must come; and the Apostle John informs us, that the latter time began in his age) than we have no Character left to descry him by, if this be not it, viz. his mixing the Christian with the secular Interest; his making Piety a Pander to Policy; his advancing Christ in show, that thereby indeed he may advance himself; his centring godliness and greatness in the same Persons; and ruling over the world as the Deputy of Christ: Which kind of Doctrine whoever attempts to vent, let his zeal be never so fierce, and his pretences never so pious, he doth nothing but prepare the way for Antichrist, whose coming will not be like our Saviour's, lowly and meck, but with pomp and triumph. He doth not levelly the ways and suppress ambition, but swell it higher, until he sinks down Religion under the weight of worldly Honor. Before therefore I do conclude this Discourse, I shall take leave, 1. To bewail many of my deluded Brethren, who have a zeal, but so little, according to knowledge, that even then when they most fiercely oppose Antichrist, they only do his work; and while they proceed upon false Principles, just draw a Circle, in which, the more they labour to go from the point they fixed on at first, the nearer they draw unto it. 2. I must lament the great stupor and insensibility of the Preachers of the Gospel in our days, who can be so careless in times of so eminent danger: And though others may perhaps plead something in their own excuse, yet how can they answer it, who scrupled at Ceremonies (which were declared, and every one knows to be, in their own nature, indifferent) and yet are silent under a Principle which will certainly bring them back, in a far other manner than they were at first imposed? shall those who were affrighted at the shadow of a Lion, not tremble to hear him roaring? what folly is it to flee from the tail of the Dragon, and yet not be afraid when we perceive his sting? Let us not be mistaken, it is not the garb or dress of Ceremonies, it is not this or that form of Worship, which presently makes it Antichristian, but it is the challenging a power to impose them upon others. So that without fixing the name of Antichrist upon any party of men, which makes the Controversy conjectural only, and most commonly uncharitable; this I shall be bold to affirm, that to impose by force any form of Worship, and thereby deny others that liberty of choice, which, whilst we impose, we assume to ourselves: To determine the indifferency of things, and, in reference to Religious ends, to make that necessary, which by nature was made, and God hath left free: And above all, to make Christ a temporal Prince, and under the notion of advancing him, to exalt ourselves, and Lord it over others; this is nothing else but the spirit of Antichrist, since such Doctrine as this, is no way contained in our Saviour's Gospel. I shall speak out and end; I earnestly pray, that that excellent Principle, I mean, Liberty of conscience, which first led us out of Popery, do not by our too wanton abuse of it, lead us back again into it. This I am sure of, that for men first to call themselves, The Godly, (a stile which Paul, after all his Revelations, did not so boldly assume) and then upon that score, to make themselves our Governors, is without any streining the road thither; for we know who it is, that by such Arts, hath got no small Dominion in the world: and where ever such Tenets prevail, they are only forerunners of Antichrists Temporal regin, and so far as he can suppress it, of Christianity's ruin. FINIS.