Throne of his glory then ye also shall sit upon twelve Thrones The King hath a speciall eye upon his suffering Subjects he is resolved to bring them to Honour resolved when he is upon a Throne himself to enthrone them also Whereas then our Saviour and Soveraigne told Pilate that His Kingdome was not of this world yet you see most apparently he hath a Kingdome in this world he hath Subjects whom he doth most dearly tender such whom he doth intend shall sit on Thrones and reign with him But for such a Kingdome as our new Saints imagâ—ine for such a time in which all power shall be given unto them and they shall rule as Kings upon earth that our King in this world hath such a Kingdom cannot I conceive stand with this next position My Kingdome is not of this world My Kingdome is not after the guise pomp and manner of this world Now for the better explicating of this main point we shall consider of this proposition according to the double acceptation of the preposition {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} de of from 1. My Kingdome is not de mundo Not of this world 2. My Kingdome is not {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} From this world First My Kingdome is not de mundo Not of the world There is a great deal of difference being of the world and in the world Abraham Isaac Jacob and all the Holy men in those dayes Peter Paul Nathaniel and all the Saints of their time these were as much in the world as Cain Esau Manasses Judas Christ himself was as much in the world as any sinner was but of the world neither they nor he were In the world then are all those who live in the world whether good or bad whether Rebellious or righteous But of the world those only are who conforme themselves unto the world for as it is one thing to live in the Flesh and another worse thing to live according to the Flesh Even so it is one thing to live in the world and a far worse thing to live according to the World for as they who live according to the flesh deny nothing to themselves which the flesh requireth but satisfie their lusts in the desires thereof Even so such as live according to the world such who are men of this world they so live unto it that they know no King but the world For they will obey nothing professe nothing defend nothing but what pleaseth the world Let their King be never so much vilifyed and dishonoured let him be assaulted with Swords and Staves let him be arraign'd condemn'd and nayled to a Crosse The men of this world they are resolv'd to hold their own they are resolv'd they wil not part with their interest for his Honour Whereas then our Saviour and Soveraigne tels Pilate My Kingdome is not of this world The meaning of this expression cleerly is my Subjects are not men worldly minded my Kingdome is not of such who are wedded to the world As if he had thus said to Pilate Whereas I stand here accused for the affectation of a Crown and for being no friend to Caesar the truth is there need be no such jealousies or fears of me for nor do I nor mine affect such a Kingdome as he hath My Kingdome is not of this world My Kingdome is not of such who study either for the Honour the Pleasure or the Profits of this world My Kingdome is only of such who prefer me their King even before themselves My Kingdome is only of such who as I my self by patience and sufferings make their way to glory Mat. 16.24 If any man will come after me let him deny himself And whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it He who here saith My Kingdome is not of this world he teacheth his Subjects a Self-denying Ordinance teaching them as so many resolute Souldiers to renounce and dye unto the world So that indeed the Kingdome of Christ is of such only who look neithe upon life nor livelyhood when the honour and glory of their Saviour and Soveraigne is at stake Those then who violate his Statutes by their Ordinances those who prefer their Votes to his Lawes those who counterfeit his Seals subvert his Fundamentall Government and make his Sacraments of no effect such as these are not only in but of the world Such may be Rebels in but not Subjects of his Kingdome for he who said My Kingdom is not of this world he in so saying excludes all Rebellious Malicious Refractory and Worldly people Secondly As our Saviours and Soveraigns Kingdome is not de mundo of the world so neither is it {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} neither is it from the world for as Saint Paul in the Front of his Epistle writes himself Paul an Apostle not of men neither by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father Even so our glorious and gracious Soveraign in the Text he may write himself Jesus Christ the King not of the world neither by the world but by God the Father not of the world I have shewed you not from the world will as readily appear That which was of old the Popish Position of Parsons the Jesuite is now grown the Darling Doctrine of these Times viz. That Kings have their Authority from the People as if the People were the Centre and the King only a Ray or Beam of Majesty Sure I am with the King in the Text it was not so he neither had nor would have any suffrage from the people My Kingdome saith he is not of this world That I am King it is not from any Aid or Assistance the world can give Regnum meum non est hinc My Kingdom is not hence And indeed not only himself but his Father also beareth witnesse to this Truth For I have set my King upon my Holy Hill of Sion I saith the Lord I whose the Hill of Sion is ego constitui Regem as Vatablus I have appointed or I have set up my King not from the World but from the Father he holds his Kingdome And indeed it is remarkable in the Gospell that when the people in a gratefull mood would needs have made a King of him our Saviour by all means declin'd it For When Jesus perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a King he departed againe into a mountaine himself alone He would rather live as a Sparrow upon the house-top alone upon a mountain then be a King of the peoples making yea he so abhorr'd their assistance to Regality that the Vulgar Latin renders it Fugit he not now as at other times only withdrew himself but he fled away and therefore no wonder to hear such a King say My Kingdome is not of this world or My Kingdome is not hence Which the better to conceive of we
's our King that 's our Governour ambition luxury covetousnesse malice these are they which would reign these are they which would give Law unto us but I have abundantly shewed you it is the Mind and the Mind only which God hath entrusted with this power not sin under any pretence of Law whatsoever but the regenerate Mind is that must reign over our mortall bodies not the Law of the Members but the Law of the Mind is that we must hold to yea for this Law we must war in defence of this Law we are bound even to die the Death So fight I saith St. Paul not as one that beateth the Aire but as one who had a reall enemy to subdue for it straight followes contundâ— corpus meum I beat I chastise I bruise my body he would rather live upon Bread and water then suffer his members to give Law unto him And indeed this is the fight that good fight we are all to finish this that fight in which striving we must resist unto bloud every imagination every thought every desire lust or act which exalts it self against that knowledge and Law of God This we are to bring under this we must lead captive for not a member can go to Heaven which doth not orderly follow the Mind thither In a word to conclude all It is an observation amongst controversall Writers and too true That when mens affections and Members do frame Opinions and pass Lawes men are much more earnest in defence of such errors then are sober Christians in the maintenance of what the mind and solid judgement proposeth to them there is no diligence no care no means wanting in the pursuit of that which the affections and members declare expedient And indeed in this my hearts desire is the minds of us all should be instructed by our common enemy that is to follow with more earnestnesse the War and Duties which God requireth we should manage against the Rebellious Members so shall God of his Mercy then give grace unto the Mind that it may subdue the Members that so the whole man may from this his Militant Kingdom of Grace be translated and advanced to his Eternall and Triumphant Kingdom of Glory and that for Christ Jesus sake the only King without rebellious members To whom with the Father and the holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory now and for ever Amen Sit Deo omnis gloria THE GRAND CONSPIRACY OF Jews against their King A SERMON Preached in August 1647. ROM. 5.7 Scarcely for a Righteous Man will one dye yet peradventure for a Good Man some would dare to dye LONDON Printed by E. C. for R. ROYSTON at the Angel in Ivie-lane 1654. SERM. II. Preached 1647. JOHN 18.36 Jesus answered My Kingdom is not of this World if my Kingdom were of this World then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews OUr Blessed SAVIOUR Born King of the Jewes is in this Chapter brought in question for his life accus'd arraign'd and condemn'd for the defence of his Birth-right A dangerous thing it seems to be born a King But yet behold he hath a Personall Treaty for it and that not in Patmos but in the City Royall he is brought before Pilate to whom even in Jerusalem as my Text tels you he put in this answer My Kingdom c. In the words are here two generalls I. An Assertion a Kingdom I have but my Kingdome is not of this World II. The Proof of this Assertion If my Kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight c. 1. Oâ— the Assertion a Kingdom I have but my Kingdom is not of this World That Christ had and hath a Kingdome this the very first Particle in his answer doth imply Regnum meum my Kingdom now a Kingdome there must be in which he hath a property or else he could never have said My Kingdome is not of this World and again If my Kingdom were of this World then would my servants fight And indeed thus Pilate understood him for in the verse immediately following Pilate replieth Art thou a King Yea in his Condemnation Pilate thus testifyeth of him Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews A King he was and a King of the Jews too for Tell the Daughter of Sion Behold thy King cometh unto thee meek and sitting upon an Asse The King of Sion a meek King and this was indeed his ruine for a meek King is no fit King to be King of Jews Had he come to Sion as a Lyon of the Tribe of Judah had he come in fury had he manifested his power in the confusion of some thousands of them then he should have been King then Grandees as well as the Boyes would have cryed out Hosanna in the Highest But if he come without his Militia if he come meek and sitting upon an Asse if he be content for the peace and happinesse of his people to make himself a Sacrifice to vail his Majesty and lay by his Scepter Then as if he were in a condition not fit to governe they apprehend his person Declare against him and though they can prove nothing they deliver him up to be judged by a Foraine power So that what we sometimes said of a neighbour King that he was Rex Galliae but not Gallorum King of France but not of French men Even so might our Blessed Lord and Master say he was Rex Mundi sed non Mundanorum He was King of the world though not King of the Men of this world a Kingdom he had but saith he My Kingdome is not of this world Now for the better explication of this assertion we shall proceed by these three degrees 1. The Kingdome of Christ is over this world 2. Christ hath a Kingdome in this world 3. The Kingdome of Christ is not of this world First The Kingdom of Christ is over this world Psal. 99.1 The Lord is King be the People never so impatient The Lord is King even our blessed Lord and Saviour and that not only as God but even as Man also For being it is said that All power is given to him both in Heaven and in Earth Clear it is that he hath and that he hath as Man too power and dominion even over the whole World For being it is said All power the Power of Soveraignty and Dominion cannot be exempted And being it is said All power is given This shewes in what capacity he hath this power to wit in that by which he is lower then the Father in that by which he is made capable to receive ex dono to take of gift in that by which he is become the Saviour of the world So that indeed the same person who was the Saviour he is also the Soveraign of mankinde And this may not improbably teach us that Kings his Vice-gerents they are proportionably Saviours as well as Soveraignes nursing Fathers as well as potent
Princes So that to withdraw from the protection of a Soveraigne it is to despise and throw off a Saviour He who was the Saviour of the world he is also King of Kings and as St. Paul speaketh The only Potentate And he under whose wings we have been securely safe let the sad want of him now say it was Christus Domini the Lords Anointed the only Potentate the only supreme Governour of this Kingdome Or take the point thus Is it so that he whose Kingdome is not of this world hath for all that Power and Dominion over all the Kingdoms of this world Maugre then all the designes plots jealousies and fears that Devill or Man can set on foot Our Lord the King shall reach his end Our Lord the King shall break their Bonds in sunder and cast their Cords from him For to him all power is given Indeed if in the perusall of the Gospell we should stand to observe the Industrious malice of his Enemies we shall find their plot and designe was even root and branch to cut him off they endevoured to kill him with shame and to bury him with Infamy For when as a Malefactor they had put him to death their greatest care and thought of heart was to prevent his Resurrection And therefore their great suit to Pilate is Command that the Sepulchre be made sure Rebels are afraid of a King though he be in his grave And indeed they had cause so to be for though his Kingdom was not of yet I have shewed unto you it was over this world over their Designes over their Plots over their Malice in so much that you may read that very stone which they rejected it became the corner stone And that very Soveraign whom they ignominiously laid in the grave and thought to secure by Souldiers he had witnesse those very Souldiers a glorious Resurrection so that indeed there is no contesting against Soveraignty As the Kingdom of Christ is over this world even so Christ whose Kingdom is not of this world yet hath a Kingdom in this world If you peruse the Gospell you cannot but finde that even then when the major part and prevailing party was most against him even then this Soveraigne had some Loyall Subjects he had in his lowest condition some who though timorously yet most cordially stuck unto him so that he alwayes had a Kingdom even in this world And this is apparent from that last solemne prayer of his where when he prayed for these for these who were Loyall and true of heart his Petition runs thus I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world Out of the world he would not have his Subjects taken for though not of the world he was resolved and doth to this hour preserve a Kingdome in this world And this the Jews his Adversaries did too well perceive for such was his goodnesse such his meeknesse such his charity that he did indeed draw all men after him Whilest he was yet at liberty and the people might have accesse unto him they flocked unto him from all places and he healed them Multitudes followed him and he without respect to what part they took touched and cured such as came unto him In so much that his Malignant persecutors are not ashamed to vote what was done digito Dei with the finger of God to be done by Beelzebub the Prince of Devils not ashamed to say If we let him alone all men will believe on him If we let him alone the people will leave us if we let him alone he will recover his kingâ—ome if we let him alone what will becâ—me of us So apparent it was 〈◊〉 to his Jews that he had a party 〈◊〉 he had a Kingdome in this â—â—â—ld â—nd indeed a Kingdome he hath in this world a Kingdome whereof it concerns every one of us to be a Subject for those only who have been Zealous of his Laws and Loyall to his person Those only are they who shall sit upon Thrones those they who shall reign with him hereafter Indeed we have now amongst us a Generation of Saints who reckon much upon that old Millenary error who believe those thousand years are now approaching in which the earth shall abound with peace plenty pleasure in which the Saints shall reigne rule and enjoy what ever their souls lust after in which Christ shall descend manifest that he hath a Kingdome in this world And unlikely it is not but the conceit of this Epicurean paradise may be a cause that many run such mad couses as they do confidently believing they shall presently have a Kingdom in this world Job 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day on the earth Now if it must be the last day before our Redeemer shall manifest himself and stand upon the earth Or if as it is Heaven must receive him untill the times of restitution of all things How then can he be a thousand years with his Saints upon earth before the last day Yea how can he be expected to live upon the earth at all whose last coming is described to be not on the earth but in an higher Element For The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Arch-angel and with the Trumpe of God And then observe the sequell The dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are olive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord Observe where not below but in the clouds not on the earth but in the Aire We shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the Aire and then lest peradventure it might be thoughts he would descend lower and live upon the earth with us it immediately followeth And so shall we ever be with the Lord As Loyall Citizens to entertain their long absent King put on their best roabs and go out to meet him Even so when Christ the King of glory shall return all who have been Loyall Subjects all who have been obedient Christians all who have faithfully kept their Allegeance to this Soveraign all such they shall be caught up in the clouds they shall go out to meet the Bridegroom yea they shall ever be with the Lord their King Rom. 8.17 If so be that we suffer with him we shall also be glorifyed with him Those who have stuck to their King in his low condition those who have been content to suffer for him those who looking upon his bitter sufferings have been moved by so patient an example to suffer with him those also shall fare as he fareth they shall be glorifyed with him Mat. 19.28 Verily I say unto you saith the King in my Text ye which have followed me in the Regeneration ye who for my sake have been Sequestred from Houses Lands and the comfort of wife and children When the Son of Man shall sit in the
will passe to the proof of this Assertion in these words If my Kingdome 〈◊〉 of this world then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews From which words we shall deduct and proceed upon these three Observations 1. The Kingdome of Christ hath no need of a Sword to set it up 2. Where there is such a King there is no Co-ordination no Medium between Christ and his servants 3. How far Subjects are servants viz. to defend their Soveraign from injury or imprisonment My servants would fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews First for the first The Kingdome of Christ hath no need of a Sword for to set it up for in this the Kingdome of Christ differeth from the Kingdome of this world A King and Kingdom of this world the Subjects and servants thereof must fight for But saith our Saviour to Pilate My Kingdome is such an one that you see I have not a man so much as to plead or fight for me And indeed it is the singular and great glory of Christs Kingdome that iâ— hath planted it self without a Sword and made a Conquest of the world without Bloud 1 Chron. 22. When David in his prosecution of his pious intendment had made large provision toward the building of a Temple to the Lord he calling to his Son Solomon told him My Son the Word of the Lord came to me saying Thou hast shed bloud abundantly and hast made great War thou therefore shall not build a house unto my name c. God would not that the very Type and Figure of the Kingdome of his Son should be erected by a Sword-man yea though he was otherwise a man after Gods own heart yet because a Warriour because a Fighter though but of the Lords own Battells God will not have an house built by him Solomon the man of Peace he it is that must do it Certainly then the way to set up Christ upon his Throne the way to enlarge his Kingdome and advance his Scepter is not to enter into a Conspiracy to swear a Covenant and to take up Armes for if it so were then were Christs Kingdome of this world for it is the way of the men of this world by force and fighting to manage their Designs so that they who would put such a Forme upon Christs Kingdome which never â—in any place under heaven but by Soâ—â—tion and the Sword got sooting They are like to those insolent Subjects who conceit they may give Law unto their King or like those rebellious Servants who in stead of fighting for do fight against their Master Indeed the King of this Kingdome our blessed Lord and Saviour he hath an Army but it is of Martyrs he hath Servants who strive and who do defend his Kingdome but 't is by their own and not by the bloud of others he hath Souldiers and fighting Ministers but 't is not with carnall weapons he hath Laws and Statutes and Seals and Ordinances but none of these More Hominum after the vain manner or humor of men and therefore very well might say My Kingdome is not of this world 1 Cor. 1.23 Christum praedicamus Crucifixum we preach Christ Crucifyed Did ever any Subject who desired to make his King glorious and his Kingdome eminent publish the infirmities and preach the shame of his Soveraign Did ever Embassador for the glory of his Master report in forain parts how his Subjects had sold vilifyed banish'd and imprisoned their Soveraign All too true Is it not rather the custome of the world to magnifie his power amplifie his greatnesse and extoll him at least for an high and mighty Potentate Now behold and see the wonder He whose Kingdome is not of this world by a course clean contrary to the world he hath made himself the most glorious Kingdome in the world For not by the Arm of flesh but by the Foolishnesse of preaching not by glorying in his Victories but in publishing of his Sufferings not by the Sword but by his Crosse hath he been highly exalted and got him a Name above every Name we preach Christ crucifyed saith the Embassadour Now look upon all the Kingdomes of the World and tell me of any one King who without a Sword hath captivated and subdued a People Whereas if you look upon the King in my Text you shall scarce find a People under Heaven which first or last he hath not conquered for His sound is gone forth into all Lands All Lands those who had the strongest and the most mighty Princes those who had the most learned Doctors and the most famous Orators those who had the best setled Laws and the most religious Customes all these vail'd and threw down their glory all these and that without a Sword gave way unto the Crosse so that the opposite and clean contrary erection of this Kingdome might move and warrant this King to say My Kingdom is not of this world Indeed if we look into the beginning of his Reign we shall find Swords enough drawn against his Subjects for to have been a Christian to have profest Loyalty it was Malignancy enough 't was Capitall 't was indeed All Bonus vir Cajo-Sejus modo Christianus Cajo-Sejus was a good man only he was a Christian and indeed the worst Tyrants had to object in those days it only was their Allegiance only because they protested and according to protestation stuck close to the Lords Anointed Now here again is the wonder of this Kingdom that lex nova non vindicat se ultore gladio These poor oppressed Subjects they did not combine and make an Army they did not associate and make an head they did not whet their Swords and make ready their Arrowes but they laid down their lives they resign'd up their bodies they neither feared nor cared what man could do unto them Et sic crevit Ecclesia And hence it was that this Kingdom became so ample hence it was the world became so full of worthies and hence it was that Christ came to have a Kingdom that is not of this world A Kingdome and Generation of Subjects who are resolv'd to drink of the same Cup and to be baptized with the same Baptisme wherewith their King was A Kingdome and Generation of Subjects who either long to be where their King is or extremely desire that he may gloriously returne to them A Kingdome and Generation of Subjects who joy in nothing like their King A Kingdome and Generation of Subjects who are readier to be sacrificed then to rebell against a Soveraign So that The Motto of both King and Subject is Vincit qui paâ—itur The patient abiding of the meek shall not for ever be forgotten And indeed the Triumphs Trophies and Conquests of Patience are to be found no where but in the Annals of this Kingdome This is the only Kingdome that without a Sword gets victories And therefore most emphatically and above all Kingdomes is it
Paternall and a Regall Goâ—ernment My servants that is My Subjects As if it were said If my Kingdome were of this world my Subjects would fight for me Indeed if we look upon the King in the Text as we are Christians we cannot but acknowledge that His Kingdome it is of all Kingdomes the most absolute in so much that Kings our Soveraigns they are but his Servants Yea Angels and Devils Heaven Earth and all that therein is are his Subjects and all if he please ready to fight for him according to that Judg. 5.20 The Starres in their courses fought against Sisera Or according to the saying of his at his apprehension Mat. 26.53 Where for his King he might have had more then twelve legions of Angels But being as you have heard his Kingdome is not of this world we are to look upon this reason of his only as it relates to the Kings of this world for upon that supposition doth he make this inference Then would my Servants fight for me My Servants would fight My Servants They must be the Servants of a Royall Master the Servants of a King or no fighting for Fighting it is the ultimate and last refuge in so much that not the Sword but the Laws must decide all private quarrels No fighting where an Appeal lies and appeal we both may and must till we come to the Supreme But when the Supreme is violated he may take up the phrase in my Text and say Then shall my servants fight Mat. 26. When St. Peter in defence of his Master drew his Sword the King in my Text to shew that his Kingdome was not of this world commands Put up againe thy Sword into its place vers. 52. As if he had said let the Sword rest there till some temporall King commands it And then adds this reason For All they that take the Sword shall perish with the Sword All those who are not as the Text implies Regis Ministri the Kings Men the Kings Servants All such for drawing their own Swords deserve to perish by the Sword by his Sword who may say in the words of my text for as much as I have a Kingdome in this world my Servants shall and will fight for me My servants would fight To fight is to hazard Life and Limbe the dearest things of this World To fight it implieth the leaving of Wife and Children house and home and to go where the Fight is So that it may very well be doubted whether those servants have done their Duties or those subjects discharged their Allegiance who have lost only the paring of their nailes or the Haire of their head I mean nothing but their extraordinaries nothing but their wonted wantonnesse and fulnesse for the Redemption of their Soveraign The King in my Text tells us The Servants of a distressed King they should rather be Commanders then Compounders they should resolve as did good Vriah whilest The Arke and Israel and Judah abide in Tents and my Lord Joab and the Servants of the King are encamped in the open field so long they will not joy in their own houses they will not eat and drink and lie with their Wives If my Kingdome were of this World saith our Saviour then would my Servants not plot how to save restore and secure themselves but my Servants would fight Those who are able and have hearts they should not spend only their Breath but even their Bloud not only their Estates but even themselves when the case is so sad that if they fight not the King must suffer Were my Kingdome of this world my servants saith our Saviour would fight yea {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} they would fight even to an Agony rather then permit me thus to be delivered to the Jews And so we passe to the last particular the cause which may both move and warrant for to fight and that is injuries against Royall Majesty Subjects must rather fight then see their Soveraign delivered up to Jews 2. My Servants would fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews The Jews considered before they proved Rebellious and did despight unto their King they were the most glorious Nation under Heaven Gods people a people Honourable at home and Feared abroad but when they had so far degenerated as to fall foul both upon Gods Prophets and Gods anointed when they Ston'd the one and Blasphem'd the other from that time even unto this day they are become the most hatefull and odious people under Heaven a people into whose hands rather then a King should come my servants would fight saith the King in my Text By Jewes in the Text then we may aptly understand not only the people of the Jews but people of any Nation or language whatsoever that shall be so Jewish as to endevour to make their King odious so Jewish as to assault Arraigne and Crucifie their King Subjects or Servants ought to fight rather then to suffer their King to be in such hands Maximilian the Emperour passing his censure upon four great Kingdomes Germany Spain France and England He makes the King of England to be worse then Rex Judaeorum then King of Jewes for he plainly cals him Rex Diabolorum the King of Devils conceiting that none but Jews or Devils would lay hands upon Gods Anointed So that indeed were it only to avoid this Scandall only to prevent the Dishonour and Curse which Rebellion brings upon a Nation Subjects ought rather to fight then to see their King delivered up to the Power and Malice either of Jews or Devils My servants would fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews saith the Text Would fight Fighting I have shewed and we all know it is the hazard of our lives a hazard that may not rashly and for every punctilio be undertaken A man who would fight and die as a Christian he must first sit down and consider whither his soul shall go if he die in that fight It is well known there are in the World who will sooner fight for a Mistris I had almost said a whore then for a King who are hotter in vindication of a lie then of ten thousand lies put upon a Soveraign who will sooner draw upon refusall of the Kings health then to keep a Kings Head upon his shoulders rather upon a Rescue though for just debt then for the Redemption of a King suffering even for their Liberties But for these and the like fights Scripture hath no warrant for these and the like quarrels no good King would say Then shall my servants fight To speak then only a word of so great a point I conceive this is a sure foundation No man may fight or venture his life for that which in cool bloud judgement and right reason is not dearer then life and of this nature there are not many things in the World No profit no pleasure can be this good for skin for skin and all that a
here said My Kingdom is not of this world Sufferings not the Sword hath set up Christs Kingdome Pass we therefore to the second Observation which is Where there is such a King there is no Co-ordination for no Medium in the Text between Christ and his Servants If my Kingdome were of this world my Servants would do their duties my Servants would fight for me Since Authority hath been disputed though the Word hath been kept the Power of a King hath been much eclipsed so that now we may admit of this distinction a King Nominall and a King Reall a Person so called and a Personage that is so indeed Theopompus King of Sparta to take off the Odium of absolute Royalty brought in as Plutarch observes those five Members called the Ephori and these as is observed so ordered and moulded the Lacedemonian State that after Kings had nothing left but the Name only And indeed with such with Nominall Kings a Co-ordination may very well be but then they cannot take up the words of my Text and say My Kingdome My Servants or my Subjects But our Kingdome our Servants and our Subjects will fight for us For indeed no Nominall King can be the only Supreme nor hath any Nominall King more then his share and his personall interest in the Government Now such a King was not the King in the Text he was not only in Name but most really and in power a King God his Father who set him upon the holy hill of Sion he joyn'd none in Commission with him he appointed no Ephori no five Members no Committees for to over-see him to him was given {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the whole Authority all Power The Government was setled upon his and his only shoulder He and he alone was Princeps pacis the Prince of Peace He and he only it was that could settle his Kingdom in peace so that with such a King as he impossible it is there should be a Co-ordination as possible to have two Saviours of the world as two Soveraignes of one and the same Kingdome so that he might very well say My Kingdom for he had no compeer no fellow in it he might very well say My Servants for no Coequall he had to fight for him Indeed it is most apparent our King in the Text he had a Councell a great Councell a Councell inspired with the holy Ghost He had twelve Apostles yet though there were twelve of them he was Vniversis major he was greater then his body for Colos. 1.18 He is the head of the body he is the Head of his Church And indeed as the head of no man is said to be the head of the Arme or the head of the hand or the head of any particular member but the head of the whole the head of the body even so the King in my Text he who is said to be the head of his Church he is not head of this or that particular Member or of every personall body but he is the head of the whole as they make one body It is most true every Member may say this is my Head and every subject may say this is my King but it is the Head and the Head only which can say This is my body the King and the King only who can say This is my Kingdome So that there may be as well two Heads to one Body as two co-ordinate Supremes in one Kingdome The King in my Text it is most clear approves no such where he hath to do for he saith peremptorily my Kingdome my Servants all but my self are Inferiours all but my self are Subjects If my Kingdome were of this World my Servants would fight for me Indeed if we look upon the great Councell of this King if we look upon the Apostles we shall finde they are in an hot contention and make great debate who should be the greatest among them For when the King in my Text told them Luke 23.22 Truly the Sonne of Man goeth It presently followes There was strife among them which of them should be counted the greatest Co-ordinate powers they will justle Take away this one King and we shall finde none For as plurâ—litas Deorum est nullitas As he who makes many makes no God even so he who in one Kingdom makes more then one makes indeed no King at all For Mat. 26.31 Smite the Shepheard and the Sheep shall be scattered Take away the head and the body like the limbs of Medea's Brother they will lie uselesse and scattered about the Kingdome For when the King in my text was but apprehended and taken away by Souldiers you shall find even of his dearest servants and of his Bosom Counsellors there was not a man stuck unto him So that indeed a Kingdome admits no other then of this Division Soveraigne and Servants King and Subjects for take Soveraignty from the King and the World shall soon find he will grow a Servant quickly for as the Disciples even so al Co-ordinates they are ambitious to write this stile my Kingdome my Servants And so to the last considerable How far Subjects are Servants which according to my Text hath this extent Servants to defend their Soveraign from both injury and imprisonment For saith the King in my Text If my Kingdome were of this world my Servants would fight and then adds for what That I should not be delivered to the Jews 1. They would fight 2. They would fight in this cause that I should not be thus abused that I should not be thus delivered to the Jews 1. My Servants would fight Our Blessed Soveraigne being to make his Plea before a Pagan Judge before one who regarded neither Moses nor the Prophets useth not Scripture but Reason to convince him and that such a Reason as the very Law of Nations had agreed upon viz. That Subjects ought to fight for their King And therefore concludes negatively In as much as none fight for me my Kingdome is not of this World for if it were my servants would fight My Servants This word Servant it may have a Despicable and it may have an Honourable estimate It may imply a Subject and somewhat more or it may imply a Subject and somewhat lesse In that phrase of Scripture Servants obey your Masters The word Servant there it implieth somewhat lesse than a Subject one who is either a Slave or serves for Hire or is under despicable and meane commands But in these places of Scripture where it is said My servant Moses David my servant O Zerubbabel my servant Here Servant is more then a Subject for it is an Honour even to Kings themselves to be Gods Servants Whereas then it is said in the Text My servants that is such who as I am not their Master but their King relate unto me By Servants we are not to understand such who are under a Despoticall or Magisteriall but such who are under a
man hath he ought in right reason to part with rather then his life for of all things pleasant and profitable Life is the dearest Indeed Bonum Honestum that good which is Honest Honourable Religious for those there are cases in which a man may dare to die for Vertue Piety and publick goods they may be dearer then life it self for seeing godliness hath not only a promise of this life but also of that which is to come a life lost or laid down for it may have what this World cannot give an heavenly recompence Rom. 5.7 Peradventure for a good man some would dare to die The Rule of Charity is Love thy Neighbour as not better then thy selfe so that indeed to lay down our life to save anothers unlesse there be in that other some excellency which may counterpoise a life we may not be so far wanting to our selves as to lay down a life So that in a word to give issue to the present point I conceive according to the Tenor of my Text it must be a publick person a person exalted either by Majesty or Piety above his Brethren a person whose life is of more consequence then are many particulars for whom many particulars may dare to lay down their lives for whom many particulars may dare to fight In the Body naturall right reason tells us we ought to venture any Member rather then the head for as much as the head it is the guide the Governour the preserver of the whole even so in the Body politick for as much as all but the head are Members for the Head for the Supreme for the Protector and Defender of the whole there is not a Member but may dare to fight yea not a Member which is able but when that 's in perill must fight For according to the vote even of all Nations saith our Saviour unto Pilate were I such a King as you take me for my Servants would take up Arms my Servants would not suffer me thus to be delivered to the Jews Act. 4. The Jews you may finde wâ—ere so averse unto their Soveraign and so extremely bent to destroy his memory that their great Councell the Sanhedrim forbade all further addresses to him straitly commanding vers. 18. That the Apostles should not speak at all or teach in the Name of Jesus They would have nothing done in the Name of their King Now here began the tryall of his Subjects here was the experience of the loyalty of his Servants for when it was now grown capitall and deemed as Treason to speak in the Name of their King when they were straitly commanded to take no Commission in his name nor to teach in the Name of Jesus Behold even then Act. 8.28 They filled Jerusalem with their Doctrine not fearing to charge the very Councel with the bloud and infamy of their King ver. 30. saying whom ye slow and hanged on a Tree Now as the spirituall Subjects of Christ were thus tryed when Christianity was at stake even so then are secular and temporall Subjects tryed when Monarchy and Regality is in question As then Christians by suffering must uphold the spirituall even so Subjects by fighting must uphold the temporall for were I a temporall King saith our Saviour in my Text before the Jewes should thus insult over me my servants would fight My Servants for a Royall and a publick would not spare to lay down the lives of their private persons 2 Sam. 21. The men of David sware unto him Thou shalt go no more out with us to battell that thou quench not the Light of Israel They would spend their own lives rather then see the light of Israel put out they will much rather venture their own persons then the person of their King yea they plainly tell him and that to his face Thou art worth ten thousand of us So that you see in right reason to defend a King to defend him upon whose person depends the peace and prosperity of a Kingdome to defend him who is worth ten thousand that is all of us there is I say in conscience and right reason cause and warrant enough that the servants of such an one fight yea die for him Instances might be given and those not a few even of Pagans who albeit they had no after-hopes as Christians have yet for a publick good for the peace and safety of a Kingdome they have dared to die Codrus the Athenian Curtius the Roman both gave themselves up for the good of their Country And indeed whether it be to King or Country none of us are upon the tryall none of us can be said to be well affected till we are even upon our perill when the King is in danger to be delivered to his enemies then is the time then must his servants fight Were my Kingdome of this world now even now at this time saith the King in my Text my servants would fight for they would not now I should be thus delivered to the Jewes To close this point That same distinction which Chancellor Elsmore in his days pronounced dangerous and Judge Cooke in his pronounced damnable even that which those Patriots would not passe for Law some Divines of late have past for Gospell preaching it lawfull to fight against a King in his personall so they fight for him in his politick capacity I confesse I cannot make this to agree with my Text for my Text it speaks only of that capacity in respect to which a King may be taken delivered up Arraigned Condemned Crucifyed my servants would fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews saith my Text Now how our Saviour could be delivered in any but a personall capacity how he could be bought and sold apprehended and nayled to a Crosse but only in a personall capacity imagine I cannot And in this and this only capacity the Text requires that his Subjects fight for him my servants would fight that I that this very person of mine should not be delivered In a word to draw up all Every man who fights should seriously consider whether God will reward him for so fighting consider whether in the face of God he can say with St. Paul I have fought a good fight for without a good fight no Crown He who fights for his own ends and his private interest he who kils men as some do beasts for their skinnes for their estates he who without any regard to the Cause fights on such as these can hardly say I have fought a good fight The good fight which St. Paul fought it was against his Rebellious Members the Warre he waged it only was to reduce them into subjections and to bring them into obedience to the Mind And indeed the good fight supposed in the Text it is against Rebellious Members 't is against Traytors 't is against such who violate Soveraignty and are vexatious to the Lords Anointed For against such saith our Saviour in my Text
{non-Roman} {non-Roman} James 2.8 The Kingly the Royall Law and indeed the King in my Text as an employment truly regall fulfilled it to a title and for proofe I shall need appeal no further then to these his last words Father forgive them them who those even under whose Tyranny I now suffer those that have been the causes and contrivers of my death those who have flead my skin those who have furrowed my back those who with Thornes have crowned my head those who with their nailes wounds and Crosses have brought me to this present extremity even them forgive them O my Father Nor only doth he pray but plead for their forgivenesse for he not onely saith Father forgive them but therefore forgive them because they know not what they doe Should we look into our own souls or almost into any but a Royall breast we shall finde another accompt another temper for we do not use to extenuate but to aggravate our injuries we do not use to excuse but to accuse our adversaries what was done casually we are apt to say was done purposely and what was done ignorantly we are apt to say was done wilfully Whereas if you look upon the carriage and charity of the King you shall finde him so far from heightning that he lesseneth all his injuries forgive them for they know not what they do what Pilate attributed to Envy the King extenuates and imputes to ignorance forgive them for they know not And indeed Subjects do not know what it is to take away a King Rege incolumi mens omnibus una est Amisso ruperâ— fidem Look what the Poet sayes of the King of Bees the same is as true of the King of men in his safety lyeth theirs for though the Crown be to him that wears it a wreath of cares yet to the Subject it is vinculum pacis his bond of peace the Hive so long as the King of Bees reigneth it aboundeth with Honey abides in safety every even the poorest Bee enjoyes its Cell no plundering Droans no sequestring Hornets no dissension while he is in power but amisso take him away then it just happens to the poor Bees as it did to the Subjects of this despised King Mat. 26.31 Smite the Shepherd and the Sheep shall be scattered Crucifie the King and farewell the Kingdom so that very well might the Soveraign say they did not know what they did when they thus barbarously murthered and slew their King Father forgive them for they know not what they do And have not we here a lesson well worth the learning Shall God and the King be charitable and shall not we Shall they forgive and we persecute Shall they be Mercifull and we Tyrants one to another It was worthy a King and a King worthy our remembrance who said I thanke God I never found but my pity was above my anger Had not the King in my Text been a King whose wrath was much below his pity of all men we had been most miserable If so then we would have that in us which we commended in others that in us which we glorifie in our King we must then not only magnifie but imitate our King we must judge charitably forgive heartily our very enemies Our late Kings charity perswaded him that it was not his person but his errors which his Subjects Rebelled against it was not their malice but their scruples that put them upon it just like the King in my Text rather to weaknesse then wilfulnesse rather to infirmity then to obstinacy rather to ignorance then envy he imputes the high miscarriages against him Father forgive them for they know not what they do I shall conclude this point with that Heroick and remarkable death of Phocion in Plutarchs Moralls who when his Citizens had brought him to his last draught a little before he took off his Hemlocks they asked him if he had any thing else to say whereupon addressing his speech unto his Son he thus said I charge thee and beseech thee not to carry any Rancor and Malice in thy heart to the Athenians for my death he charged him as a King and besought him as a Father to bury all injuries in the grave with him His last Memento his last remembrance to his Son was remember thou revenge not Now if Magnanimity in a Heathen did this what should charity in a Christian especially being animated with such Royall Presidents as we are Though our blessed King in my Text suffered such indignities even the foulest that malice could impose on Majesty though they spit upon him Whipt him and upon his very Crosse derided him yet in the bitternesse of that pain behold his charity Father forgive them And so I passe to the last use of this point and that is that it should make us penitent for it will appear that it was not his but our sins not his but our Enormous crimes that Crucified the King 1 Sam. 12.25 the Prophet tels the people thus If ye shall do wickedly ye shall be consumed both you and your King not only ye but your King so that you see the wickednesse of a people may be the cause of a Kings destruction If you do wickedly not only you but your King also shall come to ruine ye and your King shall perish And indeed which of us that is a Christian doth not know that the King in my Text was not only slain by but even for his Subjects Isa. 53.3 He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities yea in vers. 7. He was cut off from the Land of the living but still it was for the iniquity of his people for iâ— straight followes for the transgression of my people was he stricken yea not only of this King in my Text but also of that good young King Josia in the vulgar Latin it is thus written Lam. 4.20 Capâ—us est in peccatis nostris The Anointed of the Lord is taken in our sins for the sins of the people God took away their King So that the losse of King and a good King may very well call for penitence That sad book of the Lamentations it is conceived to be principally penned for the slaughter of their good King Josiah for it is said 2 Chron. 35.25 Behold they are written in the Lamentations the Lamentations made for their good King they are upon Record for indeed his losse was as it appeares in the next Chapter the forerunner of the losse of all The King in my Text our blessed Lord and Saviour when he had his Crosse upon his back he was more troubled with the foresight of the misery of his people then with his own death and therefore saith in Luk. 23.28 Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me bvt weep for your selves weep not for me saith the King for I am passing unto glory where I go no disturbance can be no distuâ—bance in the World but to you the daughters and Inhabitants of
so much mischief to and dishonour against is the Heir Even so which of us is it that cannot say this is the will of God thus God will have it and yet for all that as the Husbandmen against the Heir even so we Rebell and engage even against Gods will This is the Heir and this Heir he was Christus Domini the Lords Anointed for this is that Heir of whom it is written Heb. 1.2 In these last dayes he hath spoken by his Sonne whom he hath appointed Heir of all things This is that Sonne and Heir who is said to be the Lord the Christ the Anointed of God And indeed his being thus his being Gods Anointed his being such an Heir as had no superiour but his Father no equall upon earth His being such an Heir as was next and immediate under God such an Heir as was not simply the Landlord but the King of the Vineyard The Covenanting and Combining and making an head against such an Heir This this is the Treason the Villany and the abomination in the Text So that the point for instruction may be this Point 2 Persons Eminent either for Honour or for holinesse they are of all other the most liable to Envy Spleene Hate and Malice Vncti Domini The Lords Anointed Priests and Princes they are of all conditions most hated and to their power most abus'd and scorn'd by Vulgar people Psal. 98.1 Dominus regnavit iraseantur populi The Lord hath raigned and as St. Augustine infers the people are vext and angry at it They would not that God himself should be a King for the most part the people are of their seditious temper who cryed out All the Congregation is Holy all as fit to rule as Moses and Aaron Homines nulli magis repugnant quam illi contra quem sentiunt imperium tenere Xenophon long since though he excepteth Cyrus told the World men are so averse to none as to him they finde to hold the Reins and to beare rule over them And Plutarch in a Tract of his Omni populo inest aliquod Malignum querulum in imperantes People are generally Malignant and querulous against their Governors yea saith Seneca quamvis id agat princeps ut ne quis merito te oderit erunt tamen semper qui te oderint Though thou being a Prince dost nothing whereby any one should deservedly hate thee yet for all that there will be alwayes some that will hate thee And though our English Translation doth not speak it out Tremelius as a Text of Gods owne word thus translates it Non esse finem ulli populo de ullo qui praesit ipsis The people are never content with their Governour And then in his Comment addes Populus ne quidem in Sapiente principe sive Rege acquiescit The people will not be content no not with a wise King And indeed we have had evidence enough yea too much of this truth For though the Heire in my Text was Gods owne Sonne of the same Essence Wisdome and goodnesse with the Father yet content he could not give you such discontent the Abjects and his Subjects tooke at him that they fear'd not to say This is the Heire this is he that stands between us and a Kingdome come let us combine and kill him So averse to Honour and Authority are an undisciplin'd Multitude that though God send them a King from Heaven send downe his owne Sonne to be their King they will not Reverence nay they will not suffer him so much as to live among them This is the Heire come let us kill him Secondly as I have shewed who this Heire was Christus Domini the Lords Anointed we must now consider what he was Heire of And for that to any one who please to peruse his writings there will appeare evidence enough for whether we consider his Birthright or his Inauguration whether we consider what he was born to or what he was invested with we shall finde he had a Princely yea a Royall Inheritance His Birth-right that we have in these words Where is he that is borne King of the Jews He was borne a King but indeed it was but a petty Kingdome he was born to The Land of Jury and the Kingdome of the Jewes it was but a small Dominion But if we consider his Inauguration and the Additionalls to his Birth right we shall then finde him an Heire of great Consequence For though where his Birth-right is spoken of he is onely stiled King of the Jewes yet if we looke upon his Investiture and Gods Designation we shall finde it was not onely the Land of Judea but even the whole World was his inheritance And therefore it is written The Son who though born only King of the Jewes yet Haeredem constituit Hee hath appointed and made him Heire of all things And Aske of me and I will give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the utmost parts of the Earth for thy possession So that as the Poets fondly intituled a Goddess of theirs to three Dominions Diana upon Earth Luna in Heaven and Proserpina in Hell even so really and truly this Heire had just title to Three mighty Kingdomes To Heaven and the Inhabitants thereof by Creation To Earth and people thereof by purchase To Hell and the vassals thereof by Conquest for it is written Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into his hands And yet against a King of three Kingdomes behold a Conspiracy This is the Heire come let us kill him Whence the point of Instruction may bee this Point 3 Since the Covetous and Ambitious feare not difficulties the Religious and Conscientious should much lesse doe it Behold in my Text a Prince of Power a Solomon yea a greater than Solomon and yea behold the Covetous and the Ambitious They neither feare his Power nor Reverence his Wisdome neither Regard his Majesty nor feare his Judgements But on they go yea on they so industriously did goe that notwithstanding he was Gods Anointed notwithstanding their King notwithstanding so True and so Right an Heire they kill and cast him out of his own Inheritance Shall now Rebellion be thus active and shall Religion bee dull and sluggish Can Covetousnesse and Ambition so heat and heighten the Spirits that men attain to base ends will venture through a Sea of Bloud yea to unthrone a King Certainly then to attaine the Kingdome of Heaven to be a co-heire with the Heire in my Text and to gaine a glorious and Righteous Inheritance This should move the Conscientious and the Religious to Master all Difficulties For if the Husbandman spared nothing they could doe to take away the Glory and to take away the Inheritance from him whom they knew and confessed to be the undoubted Heire What should not we who are listed under his name what should not we who glory to be called Christians what should not we doe to
That the Inheritance may 〈◊〉 ours First here is an acknowledgement 〈◊〉 the Heires just Title An Inheritance Inheritances they are lookt upon as the best of Titles as including the most unquestionable of all properties For he who is only a Feoffee in Trust he hath only a relative Interest and must be countable to those for whom he is entrusted He who hath only an Elective and Conditionall property of his property the same may be said that we proverbially say of Service it is no Heritage But he who comes as Heir into a possession he who holds what he hath as Inheritance such an one we look upon as an absolute owner as one who so holds that nothing but Treason or his own Exorbitances can deprive him 1 Kings 21. Poor Naboth for as much as his Vineyard was his Inheritance Ahab though a King could neither Command nor Exchange nor buy it of him Jezabel her selfe was fain to lay blasphemy and Treason to his charge yea to take away his life before the Vineyard that was an Inheritance could be gotten from him Whereas then the Husbandmen in my Text acknowledge the person whom they killed to be an Heir and his Vineyard to be an Inheritance The point for our Instruction may be this Point 8 Ambition and Covetousnesse as they fear no difficulties so they stagger at no guilt Those who are resolved to satisfie such Lusts they make no conscience of any wayes nor do they scruple at any wickednesse The Inheritance in my Text I have shewed unto you it was not lesse then a Kingdome Now in a Kingdome the two main things considerable they are these Power and Profit and both these the Husbandmen confessed were none of theirs both the Militia and the Reditus both the Tower in the Vineyard and the Fruits of the Vineyard they acknowledge to be the Heirs yea they acknowledge it to be the Heirs Inheritance to be undoubtedly his And yet so ambitious are they of the power and so avaritious and covetous of the profits that though his and though his Inheritance they thought it fit and were resolved they would have it from him And when thus resolved no Guilt no Villany no not Bloud it self shall be scrupled at Occidamus let us kill him that the Inheritance may be ours The Poet could long since say Quae Reverentia legum Quis metus aut pudor est unquam properantis avari The covetous and such as are resolved to enrich themselves they neither reverence the Lawes fear God nor have any shame or honesty in them Just like the Husbandmen in my Text who though they knew the Heir and knew his Title knew what was his and how it was his yet against all the Law of man against all the fear of God yea against all common shame and honesty they are resolved to cast him out of his Vineyard to seize what they acknowledge his yea his Inheritance and to hold it as it were their own As Covetousnesse even so Ambition it driveth thorough all enormities For as the Disciples who that they might fit highest and nighest unto the Heir in my Text resolved they would be baptized with any Baptisme and drinke of any Cup Even so they who are resolved to build their Neasts on high they who are resolved to make themselves greater and higher then God would have them Oathes Titles Laws Conscience or what ever barres a good Christian they must all be held as Almanacks out of date as Trifles and not to be stood upon by such as they are It is reported of Agrippa the Mother of Nero that she was so highly besotted with the ambition of having a Sonne to be an Emperour that she poysoned her Husband and cared not herself for to be killed so he might reign If now ambition to make way for another can make the wife to make away her Husband be content her self for to be murthered no wonder then if the Husbandmen in my Text that they themselves might reign and they themselves might have the Inheritance no wonder if they that the Vineyard might be theirs reasoning among themselves concluded saying This is the Heir let us kill him that the Inheritance may be ours Ambitious and Covetous wretches they know not godlinesse but gain nor care whose that should be which by craft or power they can make their own Be it an Inheritance and be it known to be so yea be it his Inheritance who is immediate Heir to the Almighty be it the Inheritance of Gods anointed even the Son of God yet even his Inheritance be the guilt what it may be they are resolved to make their own for though they confesse and acknowledge he had the Right and Title of Inheritance to his Vineyard yet they say Come let us kill him that the Inheritance may be ours The use we ought to make of this point is That we be content as servants ought to be to serve God in what place or office he please and not proudly to thrust our selves into such places and dignities as he never ordained for us or us for To be Husbandmen and Labourers in Gods Vineyard to this we have a Call to this we are hired But of Labourers to make our selves Lords and from Husbandmen to make our selves Heirs This is that we cannot do but by running as the Husbandmen in my Text did even through hellish villanies Vos ego pupillos moneo quibus amplior est Res Custodite Animas Juvenal long since observed when those who had the Wardship and were only Guardians to rich Heirs had a desire as the Husbandmen to make the Inheritance theirs Then the next thought it was of Vipers Mushromes or some dispatching poysons They who cannot be content in the conditions in which God hath placed them those who will ride as Princes when it is Gods Will they should walke as Servants since they cannot reach their Ends cannot feed their Ambition cannot satisfie their Avarice but they must leave the wayes of God and to gain what the Devill proffers The Kingdomes of the world and the glory of them they must fall down and worship that is agree to do even whatever he will have them 1 Kings 21. When Jezabel without the usurpation of poor Naboths Vineyard could find no conveniency in a Kingdome this pety covetousnesse it put her upon high designes for she issued out the Kings Writs summons and cals as to a Court of Justice the Elders and the Nobles proclaimes a day of Humiliation commands a Fast calls Naboth as to a Tryall suborns Witnesses overrules the Judges And all this only with the mockery of Religion and Justice to cloak the cruelty of murther and oppression Now if the thirst of such a petty thing as Naboths Vinyard if the unjust desire but of a Garden plot of a place only to sow Herbs in could move a King and Queen Ahab and Jezabel to wash their hands in the bloud of a Subject what
wickednesse will they boggle at What mischief will they decline Yea what Abomination will they not act and dare who strive to make themselves Kings and to share a Vineyard which is rather a Kingdome of Kingdomes then a Garden-plot Venite Occidamus come say the Husbandmen in my Text in plain English let us Murther make away let us kill the Heir For as he who would have a Golden Fleece must not fear to pill no nor if need be to kill the Lamb so neither must we the Heir if we would have the Inheritance to be ours And that is the last considerable in the Text The Husbandmens Resolution to make themselves successors to what he was Heir in these words That the Inheritance may be ours Forasmuch as the Inheritance in the Text is expressed by a Vineyard Vineyard in Scripture phrase denotes and deciphers a selected people a people upon whom God looks not only as men but as men under such a profession so that Vineyard indeed signifyeth Ecclesia Dei the Church of God For though the whole world be the Heirs yet only his chosen are his Vineyard only such as fear and serve him they only are his Inheritance Whereas then the Husbandmen in my Text say Let us kill the Heir that the Inheritance may be ours For the understanding hereof we must consider of this Inheritance or Vineyard two manner of wayes 1. Spiritually 2. Secularly Spiritually the Inheritance of Christ being the salvation and redemption of his Church of this they could not rob him that is such an Inheritance that cannot be taken from him And therefore a little before they laid violent hands upon him the Heir gives thankes unto the Father saving Those that thou hast given me I have kept and none of them are lost but the Son of perdition Though they had power to take his Life and shed his Bloud yet they could not deprive him of his Glory his spirituall Estate and ghostly Inheritance that they could not take from him Indeed secularly and temporally considered his Kingdome in this world his earthly Vineyard and his temporall Inheritance that which he least esteemed this was that which they were most inflamed upon therefore they reasoned associated and resolved to kill the Heire that his secular Inheritance might be theirs St. Chrysostome in his explication of this very Parable makes this Observation Postquam introivit in Templum After our Saviour entred into the Temple and began to purge the House of his Father from Sacriledge and Prophanation when the Heir endevoured to bring Religion to its purity when he began to cast out those things in quibus Sacerdotes avari delectabantur in which the popular and covetous Clergy took delight tunc praecipue cogitarunt eum occidere Then saith he even from that time then when they saw the people were like to be undeceived and as the Father goeth on Non erit populus iste possessio nostra that they no longer were like to have power over them then did they gather an Assembly reason and conclude they must either kill the Heir or lose the People so that if you would know what the Inheritance was which the Husbandman killed the Heir for in a word it was the Power and the Profits of the people or to continue the Metaphor in the parable they killed the Heir that the Towers and the Fruits of the Vineyard might be theirs Point 9 The point then for our instruction may be this Wicked worldly and Carnall men they prize no inheritance to what is carnall and of this World whereas the Heir and those who are spiritually his they minde nothing to an Heavenly Inheritance Occidamus let us kill and take possession saith the worldly Non habemus hic we have here no continuance saith the godly let us Eat and Drinke Raunt and be merry for This is our Inheritance say the men of this World let us take off our Hearts let us wean our Souls and since the Heir is kill'd let us look rather for Crosses then for Crownes say those of his party In a word that Religious resolution Hanc animam concede mihi tua caetera sunto Spare the Soul and take the rest This must be the care of all good Christians No matter what becomes of these Earthly Tabernacles can we but assure the Heavenly Inheritance to be ours and indeed nothing can be so ours nothing can be durable and as an Inheritance to us but that only for though the Husbandmen killed the Heir and therefore killed him that they might seize and share the Inheritance yet when they had thus done when they had throwne him out of his Vineyard when they had cut him off from the Land of the living yet even then they could not say The Inheritance is ours For though they all agreed to divide the Heir to divide the Inheritance proved a sharper businesse Let us kill the Heir that the Inheritance may be ours Ours whose Ours say the chief Priests Ours say the Elders Ours say the men of Warre Ours say the Elders for we are {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} we are the chief of the people Ruling Elders We are those who plotted and laid the businesse Ours say the chief Priests for we brought on the people we raised an Army we bought the Heir Ours say the men of Warre for we did the businesse we sought we caught we killed the Heir and therefore the Inheritance shall be ours And indeed could we pierce deeply into the designe there was not an hand lift up against the Heir but it was for some Inheritance so that if in such a crying abomination as the murthering of the Heir there be any thing condemnable it is that the Husbandmen without any Maske of Religion or cloak of Godlinesse without any pretence of freeing themselves from Tyranny Arbitrary Government or any manner of oppression They Declare clearly what more subtile Rebels would not that the reason they prosecute bought arraigned and killed the Heir it meerly was for his Inheritance That the Inheritance may be ours Point 10 Whence the point I shall raise for our Instruction is That we glorifie God in the acknowledgment and in the confession of our wickednesse Let us not pretend what the good God knowes we intend not Among us of the Ministery how many are there who cry out the Gospell the Gospell they must Preach the Gospell when indeed they make that chiefly their Gospell which will gain them an Inheritance How many are there who have thrust into and invaded other mens Vineyards Preaching this and Praying that meerly as the Husbandmen kill the Heir that their brothers Inheritance may be theirs How many are there who plead at the Bar of Injustice under pretence of Law How many are there who lay their hand upon the Sword under Colours of Holinesse and Religion How many are there Protest Covenant Engage and tenter their Conscience under pretence of this and under colour of