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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85438	A sermon of the fifth monarchy. Proving by invincible arguments, that the saints shall have a kingdom here on earth, which is yet to come, after the fourth monarchy is destroy'd by the sword of the saints, the followers of the lamb. / Preached by Mr. Tho. Goodwin, on Rev. 5. 9, 10. By which it will appear, that it is for the same truth (that formerly was so much contended for) that some of the people of God suffer at this day. Published for the truths sake.	Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.	1654 (1654)	Wing G1256; Thomason E812_9; ESTC R207633	19,861	35

that is this WE SHALL RAIGN ON EARTH I finished that of Redemption a day or two ago I came secondly to their Advancement Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests There are these things to be observed in it First the persons that are made kings and priests US the generality of Saints Secondly I shewed you what it was to be a king and a priest Kings they were 1. In regard of the inward frame of their spirits And 2. In respect of the outward Royalty which he bestoweth upon them as upon Kings Jesus Christ himself is here presented both as a King and as a Priest as a Lion and as a Lamb slain and answerably he makes the Saints partakers of the priviledges which he himself hath Thou hast made us say they kings and priests Jesus Christ himself is naturally a King he hath it by inheritance so Heb. 1. 4. He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name then the Angels but we are made and made by him He is the Heir but we come in through him to be coheirs with God so the Apostle saith Rom. 8. See and acknowledge the prerogative of Jesus Christ above all the Saints Though all the same priviledges that are in Christ himself are in the Saints we are sons as he we are kings as he priests as he yet all these with this difference he is naturally so we are made so made so by him In Heb. 5. 5 6. when the Apostle would prove that Christ is a Priest and hold forth that title of his he quoteth two places and a man would wonder why those two plaees should be put together First vers 5. saith he He that said Thou art my son to day have I begotten thee As he saith so vers 6. in another place Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek How doth the first of these places viz. Thou art my son this day have I begotten thee prove that Christ was a Priest Thus The law of Nature before Moses was that the eldest the first-born in the family was both the Judge and also the Priest of that family Now because Christ is both the natural and the eldest Son of God therefore he is a Priest by inheritance but we I say are made so by him And take this for a certain Rule That that which is derived can never arrive to that fulness of prerogative with what is natural An adopted son can never come to be a natural son A made King and a made Priest can never come to the same height of prerogative and title that he hath that is naturally so And therefore though all that is in Christ and all his priviledges are by way of participation in the Saints yet it is impossible they should be in that fulness Why Because it is derived Thou hast made us kings and priests Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests I take it those words unto our God do not refer to Kings but to Priests and to that alone and my reason is this Not onely because it cannot in any propriety of speech be said We are kings unto God We may be said to be kings unto the creatures and unto all things else But to be Priests unto God to offer up sacrifice unto him that is proper And the reason further is this Because in Rev. 20. 6. where this thing is fulfilled though he speaks there of their raigning and of their being Kings yet he doth not say they are Kings unto God but onely saith They are priests of God and of Christ And Priests they are unto OUR God because that God becomes their God by a free choice though in Christ yet not for Christ We are chosen in Christ but not for the merit of Christ he is our God freely I told you that these words Thou hast made us kings and priests respect especially their priviledge and honour to rule this world and the affairs thereof When they saw Jesus Christ undertook the managing the affairs of the world and to execute the Decrees contained in that book held in the hand of him that sate on the throne which contained how God would have the world managed unto the day of Judgement and that Christ was thus crowned king they upon this utter this song of praise That they are made kings with him as in respect of the glory to come in heaven being co-heirs with Christ so also as being joyned in commission with him for the managing of the affairs of this book and accomplishing the things contained in it We also say they are kings and priests And their inference implies as much We shall raign on earth the lowest interpretation of which that can be given must be this We shall have an hand in guiding the affairs of the earth which although it shall have an eminent accomplishment at a certain season to come therefore they say We SHALL raign yet notwithstanding they are kings at present and it is in some degree fulfilled now I told you last day I thought there were four degrees of the fulfilling of this their being Kings First in this world they by their prayers having an influence in the managing the affairs of the world and into the accomplishment of all the great things that Christ doth do for his Church And though it may be and it is certain they have not in all ages known according to what is in this prophecie what Jesus Christ will do next yet still by the spirit of Prophecie as it were the Saints have been guided to seek for those things at the hands of God and Christ which he was about to accomplish Secondly in heaven and for that I quoted first that place in Rev. 2. 26. where To him that over cometh therefore it is meant of a state after death and keepeth my commandments to the end will I give power over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as a vessel of the potters shall they be broken in shivers even as I have received of my Father When is this to be fulfilled Not before death for he speaks of him that overcometh and keepeth his commandments to the end Not at the day of Judgement onely for it is the same promise was made to Christ in the second Psalm which is evidently to be understood of Christs Government committed unto him by the Father until the day of Judgement which here you see he saith he hath received of his Father If therefore that in the second Psalm be meant as clearly it is of Christs government of the world unto the day of Judgement and that he promiseth his Saints after death the same priviledge then of necessity it must needs follow that they have a share and a hand therein I quoted likewise another place for this namely out of Dan. 4. 17. where when that great business the greatest work then in the world was to be done the cutting down of Nebuchadnezzar and turning him out

of the book in this vision of Chap. 5. which as I have shewn is the prologue to the whole that follows They utter it when they did but first see Jesus Christ undertake to be King of the world and had taken the government thereof upon him and the execution of the decrees contained in that book he took out of the hand of him that sate on the throne Before the end of the world should come there was a long time and a great many things that were contained in this book in this roll which Christ took which was written within and without that were orderly one after another to be performed therefore in the next Chapter to this after this Vision is past which as I said is the prologue there is first a going forth to conquer Behold saith he vers 2. a white horse and he that sate on him had a bowe and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer He had begun to set upon the world then he went forth conquering but he must go on to conquer for he had the Heathenish world to conquer and he hath the Antichristian world and he hath the Mahumetane world to conquer And all his conquest is carried on till towards the later end by his bowe he takes nothing out with him else he overcomes by his Word which are the arrows he shoots into the hearts of the Kings enemies as you have it in Psal 45. 5. So that now all the story thorowout this book afterwards it is but the story of Christs conquering of his Kingdom with his bowe and with his arrows and executing the decrees that were contained in the roll he took out of his Fathers hand When you come towards the end of the book in the 19 Chapter he that in the sixth Chapter you saw when he went first out riding upon a white horse you shall see him with Armies attending of him whereof he is the General riding likewise upon a white horse I saw saith he vers 11. heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sate upon him was called Faithful and True and in righteousness he doth judge and make war For towards the later end when he comes to grapple with the Antichristian world he doth do it by the Sword and not by his Bowe onely And therefore when he speaks of the Beast chap. 13. who had made war with the Saints he tells us vers 10. that he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword It shall be the sword that shall end it Therefore he that at first went forth upon a white horse with nothing but his bowe you see him in the nineteenth Chapter coming to make war the Armies which were in heaven following him And what is the issue of it Vers 20. The Beast was taken and with him the false prophet whether the Mahumetane party and the Pope I will not now determine but they were altogether ruined and destroyed cast into a lake of fire burning with brimstone All this Jesus Christ doth before he comes fully to possess his kingdom And this you have related to you between the 6 Chapter and the 20 Chapter Well now at the 20 Chapter you shall see that what they said at the beginning would be the issue of Christ's taking upon him the government of the world and undertaking to fulfil the Decrees contained in the book the same is declared to be made good then as being the eminent season for it For after that he had taken the Beast and the false Prophet an Angel came down from heaven so vers 1. having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand and he lays hold on the dragon that old serpent which is the devil and Satan and bindes him a thousand yeers and casteth him into the bottomless pit and there shuts him up sets a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more c. And then vers 4. I saw thrones and they sate upon them and judgement was given unto them And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and raigned with Christ a thousand yeers But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand yeers were finished This is the first resurrection Blessed and holy is he vers 6. that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death shall have no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall raign with him a thousand yeers Mark what they say at the beginning when they saw Jesus Christ undertake the Kingdom the very same after he had conquer'd all his enemies the Beast and the false Prophet and then taken the devil and all and flung him for a time into the bottomless pit is here fulfilled That which before they said would be the issue of Christs government is here in the very same terms said to be accomplished Here in the 5 Chapter they say Thou hast made us kings and priests in Chap. 20. 6. they are said to be priests of God and of Christ. Here they say And we shall raign on earth in the 20 Chapter it is twice repeated first vers 4. They raigned with Christ a thousand yeers and again vers 6. And they shall raign with him a thousand yeers This I say shews it evidently that at the beginning they had this in their eye as that which should be the issue and close of Christs governing the world But you will say Is what is said in Chap. 20. meant of the Saints raigning on earth Certainly yes and the reason is this Because during this raign Satan is said to be bound Now to have Satan bound while the Saints raign in heaven is unnecessary and needless for how can he disturb them or be an annoyance to their kingdom there Whereas you see that by way of preparation to this kingdom they shall have on earth both the Beast and the false Prophet are taken and Satan himself bound Neither secondly can it be meant of the raign of the Saints in heaven for that is for a longer time then a thousand yeers and those Saints that were slain in the Primitive times they have already raigned longer then a thousand yeers But that which doth most clearly evince it is this That in the 7 verse the devil is said to be let loose And when the thousand yeers are expired saith he Satan shall be loosed out of his prison Therefore it must necessarily be meant neither of the kingdom of heaven after the day of Judgement nor of the kingdom of heaven before the day of Judgement but of a kingdom which they shall have on the earth as the words are in this 5 Chapter Me-thinks my brethren that thus much should be evident to

them c. There are those that go yet further and say That though there is such a Kingdom belonging to the Saints yet they say withal That the Saints that have been before they shall during that Kingdom rise again so interpreting that place in Revel 20. according to the very letter I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Iesus and for the word of God and which had not worshipped the Beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand yeers but the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand yeers were finished This is the first resurrection Which resurrection that shall thus usher in this reign some interpret of a generation of Saints a multitude of Converts that shall come with the same Sprit and Power that all the Saints formerly beheaded had and so they are said to rise again in them as Elias is said to rise again from the dead in Iohn Baptist who came in the Spirit and Power of Elias But there are these reasons given to the contrary and that it must be meant of a true Resurrection and of a Resurrection taken in a proper sense for First It is said That the souls of them that were beheaded they lived how by a resurrection for he saith It is the first resurrection Now how do souls rise no way but by having their bodies united to them They are the souls of men that have been killed and killed by the sword now their Resurrection must be answerable to their death it is made the reward of it Their natural lives were taken away their Resurrection to life therefore must be taken in the same sense and proportion to the life which they lost And then again observe it is the very same souls in which you shall finde a great deal of emphasis for read the 6 Chap. vers 9. c. I saw saith he the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held lying under the altar crying with a loud voice c. They were the Primitive Martyrs for this was in the beginning of the book Now here in the 20 Chapter he saith I saw those souls or the souls of them that had been slain for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God he useth the same description and he addes to them for the 6 Chap. is meant of the Primitive Christians slain under heathenish Rome those that had been slain under Antichristian Rome for he speaks of such as had purified themselves from Antichrist and which had not worshipped the Beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they saith he lived and reigned with Christ a thousand yeers But the rest of the dead lived not again No wicked men shall rise then they are reserved until the day of judgement But to what end is this First That as these Saints do now govern the World invisibly as I said before so they may then do it visibly And great must needs be the glory and happiness of those times Secondly That which the Angels do now invisibly the Saints shall then do visibly The Angels now have this World subjected to them and all the affairs thereof and the execution of the Decrees of God are still said to be done by them But saith the Apostle Heb. 2. 5. Unto the Angles God hath not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak And he doth not speak of the World to come after the day of judgement for it is that Kingdom which Christ shall have before he giveth up all things unto the Father This world here therefore is subjected unto the Angels that do ministerially rule and who do work with the Spirits of men this way and that way for the good of the Church in opposition to Satan But then all shall be done by the Saints in a visible maner Thirdly Hereby they are made conformable to the same state and condition Jesus Christ was in whilst he was in the World he was mean he was under all sorts of oppression he dies his Soul goes to heaven he riseth again and after he was risen he stays here below for many days converseth with his Disciples at times instructeth them in the things of the Kingdom of God appeareth disappeareth c. And if you ask me What will the life of men be thus risen I ask What was the life that Jesus Christ led during those forty dayes before he did ascend And if you object that this will be a diminution to their happiness I answer It was no diminishing of the happiness of Jesus Christ Assuredly he injoyed more blessedness being risen and his Soul and Body united then when his Soul singly and alone was blessed and yet for those forty dayes he was here upon the Earth Think my brethren of the day of judgement whenas Jesus Christ himself will come with all his Saints and Angels out of the place of Heaven into this visible World and it will ask a long time to judge the World because he will judge it as a man and lay open the secrets of all hearts and we may be sure that will be done in this visible World The Angels that come down from heaven to earth do yet see the face of God therefore it is no derogation to the happiness and blessedness of the Saints And if you ask me Whether during this time they shall eat and drink I answer The children of the Resurrection neither marry nor give in marriage or do any such thing but they are as the Angels of God Christ after his Resurrection lived not upon any such thing no more shall the Saints although the number of them upon the earth shall be innumerable for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord and the Name of God and of Christ shall be set up in the whole earth and the greater part of the World shall be Saints And though those that shall then be found alive may haply eat and drink and build houses c. yet those that rise again shall not I have as briefly as I could opened this thing to you which here these Primitive Christians in the very beginning of the book have in their eye Whether it be meant onely of that generation of Saints and of the Resurrection in the 20 Chap. or onely a Resurrection by way of succession in comparison of former times or whether yea or no it shall be a true and proper Resurrection I leave undetermined onely this I say That certainly there is some great thing after all the Kingdoms of the world have had their turnes for the Saints to have and that on earth both by the promises in this book and by all the prophecies of all the Prophets which have been since the World began And therefore as Peter saith Seeing we expect such things what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness FINIS

all mens apprehensions by paralleling the words used here at the beginning of Christs reception of the government of the world and the words expressed at the later end viz. in Chap. 20. when Christ had thus accomplished the decrees contained in the book I say Me-thinks thus much should be conspicuous to all mens understandings That there is some eminent kingdom for the Saints after all when the enemies of Christ the Beast and the false Prophet and Satan himself is overthrown when the decrees of this book are accomplished when the time of this Prophecie is run out that then I say there is an eminent kingdom for the Saints to have on the earth Thus much I say me-thinks should be evident to any mans understanding It is that which in the beginning these say will be the end of Christs kingdom here it is that which they comfort themselves withal and it is that which in order followeth Christs accomplishing the decrees of his Father and the ruine and destruction of his enemies There have been those that have made this to be already fulfilled namely That there hath been a time wherein the Saints in heaven that were killed in the Primitive times had a great deal of honour put upon them for a thousand yeers and the Saints on earth had a great deal of peace which they compute to be from the time of Theodosius the Emperour till the persecution arose afresh by the Pope and the Antichristian party and they reckon it to be about a thousand yeers But it is evident that that is not the meaning For the time of this Raign here spoken of must be after the Beast is destroyed for in the 19 Chapter vers 20. it is said The Beast was taken and cast into the lake and then follows in the 20 Chapter their raigning with Christ a thousand yeers And likewise all the Vials mentioned in the Chapters before were first to be poured out upon him and therefore it cannot be during the Popes raign And then again it cannot be during that time neither because it is said that the devil is bound up that he should deceive the nations no more Now during the raign of the Beast Satan never deceived the nations more then then so Chap. 13. 13. He deceiveth them that dwell on the earth Never did he deceive men more both with Idolatry and Superstition never was there raised more Wars and Persecutions against the Saints then during the raign and time of Popery The Saints indeed have had a great deal of honour put upon them by the Papists in Canonizing of them and the like but alas it was all but a false honour it is not the honour and priviledge that the raigning with Christ a thousand yeers gives them neither would they have so rejoyced in it when Christ first took upon him to be king not rejoyce I say in that glory and honour which the Popish world gave them during those times of Popery no We shall raign on earth say they this was it which was the ground of their rejoycing and which they had then in their eye Therefore as this was not begun when these Saints here in the 5 Chap. first spake it so neither shall it begin until the Beast and the false Prophet be destroyed You must first see the accomplishment of those great things that are written in this Book concerning Antichrist and his Kingdom which will be the close of the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and then follows that which you have in the 20 Chap. the 4 5. and 6. vers The next Question will be What persons he speaks this of when he saith We shall reign on the Earth Clearly of those that are redeemed unto God by the blood of the Lamb Christ Jesus out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation But the great Querie will be whether they speak this of themselves personally or whether they speak it of all the Saints successively that is not onely we now but all the Saints in many ages to come shall be persecuted and opprest as we were by Heathenish Rome so they shall be under Antichristian Rome for in Rome is found the blood of all the Saints therefore I do not so much fear any Protestant-persecution yet in the end though we now by our blood lay the foundation and do but sow to it yet there is a crop to come up one day of a Kingdom which Jesus Christ hath undertaken to bring into this world which his Saints shall have You may very well interpret it so and certainly for my part I take it to be that which was their aim And the language of the Scripture doth import as much We shall not all die saith Paul but we shall be changed Did Paul think to live until the day of Judgement No yet he speaks in the person of We and the Christians then might have said the like and yet those persons all died He meaneth therefore the whole Community and Fellowship of the Saints whom the Apostle Peter in 1 Pet. 2. 9. calleth a Generation and a Nation and therefore now as a Nation that knows that one day they shall prevail and have a Kingdom as the Jews think though they suppose it many yeers to come and do not think that they themselves shall enjoy it yet speaking in the language of their Nation and Generation may say We shall one day be the top of Nations and have these and these Priviledges that is Not we that now live but all of this Nation this Generation this Kindred as they are called also And thus it hath a passable and a fair interpretation We shall reign on earth So that the plain Doctrine or Observation is but this That there is in the end a Kingdom to come here for the Saints that after all the Kingdoms of the World have had their time and their date by which the Saints have all along been opprest and injured there is even on earth a Kingdom to be given unto them when all Nations shall be converted unto God and the Saints in them be the prevailing party in the World The Scripture seems to run much this way The first man that I finde of an Englishman that distinctly fell into this Notion was a man of much holiness and piety Mr. Wood. now with God I 'll tell you the occasion that led him into these thoughts as he himself in a manuscript I have lying by me expresseth it I went saith he to recollect all the promises that are in the whole Book of God made unto the Saints beginning at Genesis and so going along throughout all the old Testament not dreaming of any such notion as this is I found no check at all in my thoughts until I came to read some of the Prophecies in Isaiah which professedly speak of the times of the Gospel which speak such great high and glorious things of spiritual enjoyments of God with outward peace

for seven yeers to feed among the beasts of the field the Angel that comes down and gives the command for it saith This matter is not by me alone but it is by the decree of all the watchers that is of all the angels and by the word of the holy ones they all concur in it And thus Junius interprets that place I added likewise for the strengthening of this a third Scripture Revel 6. 9 10. where the souls under the altar newly slain having their souls severed from their bodies under that great and last persecution under Dioclesian for to those times doth that cry refer they cry for vengeance upon their blood Not onely doth their blood cry as Abel's is said to do from the beginning of the world but their souls are said to cry The Papists that they may bring in the doctrine of the invocation of Saints departed which is that great doctrine of devils or of Daemons rather which the Apostle foretold should be brought up in the world and is the greatest idolatry that ever was upon earth they teach that the souls in heaven do there know all things here below in the glass of the Trinity and of the Godhead And our Divines that they may wholly take away that Argument for invocation of Saints from the Papists many of them have denied that there is any knowledge at all of the things that are done here belowe But my brethren there is no connexion between their knowledge of the great affairs of this world and having an influence into them and their invocation none at all For First no man is able to affirm that they know all particular things here and yet me-thinketh no man should deny but that they have knowledge by the Angels that are continually messengers from heaven to earth of the great things that are done here There is joy thorowout all heaven when a soul is converted And in Rev. 18. 20. when Rome is destroyed as there will be joy thorowout the whole earth so there will be joy thorowout the heavens also when that City is ruined in which is found the blood of all the Apostles and of all the Martyrs and Saints slain by the power and authority of that City for so God hath ordered it from the Primitive times to this day then saith he Rejoyce over her thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets for God hath avenged you on her I say there is no connexion between those two That because they may be supposed to know some of the great affairs of the world that therefore they must be invocated Invocation therefore is upon these grounds denied by our Divines and justly too For First it is certain and cannot be denied that the Angels do know the things of this world for they attend there as ministring spirits continually which the other do not and yet because they know them it is no argument at all that therefore we may invocate Angels or pray unto them to pray for us If a man were sure that an Angel were by him and now attending on him as I am certain there are Angels attending the Saints for they are their great guard in all places especially in the Churches in their publike Worship yet he hath no warrant at all to desire that Angel to pray for him God hath not appointed such a way of communion between us and him Secondly we have no warrant to believe that the Saints in heaven do hear us when we pray unto them to pray for us and least of all to think that one Saint should be able to hear a thousand nay ten thousand Saints on earth at one time it is the greatest absurdity in the world to imagine it and yet how many suitors hath that one virgine Mary The Saints departed may be supposed to have a great interest and priviledge and participation with Jesus Christ and a great honour communicated to them for the managing of the great affairs of this world and yet there is no consequence nay the clean contrary that therefore we should invocate them because that no man can be assured nay it is certain they do not hear the prayers of any much less can they hear the prayers of so many which is the dotage of the Church of Rome But lastly it is flat Idolatry and that for this reason Because that Christ being ascended into heaven is constituted and appointed a Mediator there and therefore for any to pray to the Saints in heaven to pray for them is to have another Mediator before Christs face whereas he alone hath took on him that office for There is one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus And so now I pass from the Explication of those words and come to the third thing which I take it is more eminently aimed at in the text and in these words We shall raign on earth I shall open what I conceive to be the meaning of these words exceeding briefly not intending to make a Subject of any thing in this Chapter For when I first took it in hand I onely purposed to run cursorily over it First then it is evident that there must be some great eminent advancement yet to come as the consequent of Christs being King which these Saints here had in their eye This I shall open to you by degrees For first if you mark it upon Christ's taking the book which was his undertaking to be King of the world they fall out into this Outcry of praise and rejoycing We shall raign on earth This is the fruit this is the issue this is the conclusion of Christ's having taken the kingdom and undertaking to be King And it must needs too be some great and eminent thing which must have an eminent and conspicuous accomplishment for it is that thing which is next in their thoughts They over-look all priviledges else and do pitch upon this and parallel it with Redemption For if you mark it their song of praise runs but upon these two things Thou hast redeemed us with thy blood and hast made us kings and we shall raign on earth Secondly it is some eminent thing to be fulfilled at an eminent time to come For mark the difference Thou hast made us kings say they thou hast given us that title and that honour at the present but we SHALL raign speaking of it as of a thing yet to come They are kings and they do raign in that respect by prayer but yet they raign in sackcloth yea but we SHALL raign say they Now that you may the better understand how it is to come and when it is to come for otherwise in all other respects the Saints are Kings in all ages but I say that there is a peculiar time in which it is to be accomplished which they have now in their eye To make this clear to you do but consider the natural contexture of what now followeth in this discourse They utter this you see in the beginning