the Sons being given to them Is 9.4 Jer 30.8 9 10. c. Our Saviour in his reply doth grant their supposal but reproves them sharply for not being better acquainted with the Scriptures out of which they might have learn't That Christ ought to have suffered all those things and then to enter into his Glory where by his Glory is meant his Kingdom as is plain Mark 10 37. compared with Mat. 20 21. In the same manner after his Resurrection our Saviour doth blame his Apostles in that forementioned demand of theirs not for their expectation but for their hast and therefore he bids them v. prepare for suffering and witnessing as their next immediate work His Kingdom being to be prolonged as to the setting of it up till the number of his witnesses was compleated Rev. 6.11 And then there should be no longer time Rev. 10 6. i. No more delay but he would presently come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to reward his Servants and to destroy them which destroy the earth Rev. 11.15.18 4. In the Revelation which our Saviour saith cap. 1.1 That he had received from the Father to this end that he might show unto his Servants what things were to come to pass hereafter there we have this Reign fully manifested and the time of it duration for a Thousand years expresly mentioned Rev. 20.4.6 So that now there can rationally be no more scruple about it because the words of that book are declared to be the true and faithful sayings of God Rev. 19 9 and they are pronounced Blessed who read and hear the words of the Prophecy and keep the things that are written therein i. Who live up to a full belief and expectation of them But if such a reign and Kingdom as is there spoken of shall never be how can those sayings be true or if they are to have another interpretation put upon them then the words themselves do naturally and necessarily import how are they Faithful So that I conclude this third reason with this that our Saviour was so far from denying his personal reign and visible Kingdom upon Earth that he doth clearly own and assert it 4th Reas Fourthly Another reason why the Prophecies of Scripture concerning the reign of Christ are literally to be understood is this because this way of putting mystical and spiritual meanings upon plain and positive texts is very unsafe and dangerous many Heresies were of old introduced and still are fomented by it I believe it was upon this very prtence that some in the Church of Corinth did deny the resurrection of the dead and others as Hymaeneus and Philetas did affirme 1 Cor. 15 12. 2 Tim. 2.17.18 it was past already and indeed what truth can be so clearly revealed which may not by taking the words in a figurative sence be altogether eluded farre be it therefore from us to limit the holy One of Israel or to seek how we may darken his counsail by our words which if in any respect they contradict his must needs be without knowledge since it hath pleased God to promise that his Christ shall reign with his Saints upon earth let us not by unbeleif for I cannot yet see from what other root such denyal can proceed cast off the mercy but rather labour to receive the truths of God according to his own word in the utmost extent and most comprehensive meaning of it and not according to what seems possible in our own narrow conceptions Fiftly This reign of Christ in person serves to make up and to compleat Reason 5. the great Mystery of the Gospel which consists not only in having God our Saviour but the same God in the same humane Nature likewise our King and this was that Mistery which God revealed to the Prophets Rev. 10.7 and remained to be fulfiled under the seventh Trumpet as I have already observed from Revel 11.15 therefore when our Saviour was taken up into Heaven the Angels comforted his amazed and sorrowful Disciples with this that the same Jesus should return as he went i. in the same visible and apparent manner as he went away Acts 1.11 which also the Apostle Peter testifies c. 3.19 20 21. when the times of refreshing i. the time of calling the Jews which will be a time so glorious that it will be as life from the dead Rom. 11.15 shall come from the presence of the Lord whom the heaven must receive until that time which he then calls the time of the rectitution of all things which God hath spoken of by the mouth of his holy Prodhets to imagine that the eternal Son of God took a Body and Flesh upon him merrily contemned and crucified and that he will not bring the same body to receive it's promised glory Isa 52.13.15 this is neither sit for the Mistery of God nor the admirable contriveance ond discovery of his Grace in the Gospel For he must reign 1 Cor. 1.24.28 saith our Apostle till he hath put all his Enemies under his feet and till that be done which as the same Apostle oâ—â—er Heb. 3.8 we see not as yet accomplished the end shall â—othe i. the end of the World and the final judgement This â—â—â—e Rom. 8.19.23 not only the Saints and the whole creation long for as hoping â—en to be delivered from the bondage of corruption because the caâ— shall be taken away Zech. 14.11 but likewise ous Saviour said in Heaven to exspect it Heb. 10.13 that so he may be put into actual possession of his soveraignty promised Psal 2. and have all his Enemies become his footstool Psal 110. After the period of which reign the humane Nature of Christ it self shall be brought into a state of inferiority and subjection unto the Father that God may be all in all 1 Cor. 15 28. Reason 6. Lastly This was the general and fixed beleif of all the holy men both before and since our Saviours coming until the time of the Apostacy under Anti-Christ what the expectation of the Prophets was sufficiently appears from the concent and harmony of their predictions upon which the Prophet Zachary for at that time it is said that he prophecied Luk 1.67 doth make a breif and plain comment Luke 1.68.75 where he saith that now in sending of Christ God had done what he had promised by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began that we i. we Jewes for of them he speaks especially as also doe the Prophets should be saved from our Enemies and from the hands of all that hate us with more words concerning the Peace Plenty and Righteousness which was to be in the time of Chrast as is more fully prophecied of Psal 72. Is. 11. Jer. 30. Ezeck 34 and 37. c. which time having never yet been in the world it is infallibly certain that it will be and ought to be expected what was the Faith and Hope of the Apostles I have already mentioned out of
THE Doctrine OF THE KINGDOM And Personal Reign of CHRIST Asserted and Explained IN An Exposition upon Zach. 14.5.9 By Ed. Bagshaw Printed in the Year 1669. The Preface I Am not Ignorant Christian Reader that the Doctrine of the Personal Reign of Christ with his Saints upon Earth which thou wilt find asserted in the following Treatise is commonly entertained with very great prejudice the Scriptures which in plain terms affirm this and which I have indeavoured to restore unto their true meaning being ordinarily interpreted in a sense quite contrary to their literal import and significancy Which kind of exposition under the notion of being Misterious and Spiritual having held for many Ages and been embraced without any further enquiry by men of the greatest eminence for Holiness and Learning even among those of the Reformed Religion together with the Tragical Disorders occasioned in Germany by such who in words asserted the Reign of Christ but indeed under that pretence indeavoured to set up and establish their own this hath ever since made the True meaning of the Scripture Prophecies in this matter to be suspected either of Novelty or else of some Design to subvert all civil Government which men out of their impatience of subjection being naturally apt to throw off they may be supposed much more easily ready to be incited to it if they shall be brought to think that they do hereby God and his Christ good service in attempting to set up his Kingdom exalting themselves as the Robbers in the Jewish Nation did Dan. 11.14 to establish the Vision In answer to all these exceptions and prejudices which it is not strange that the truth is attended and received with no more then that the Sun doth ordinarily arise in a cloud I have this to say briefly that neither Prescription of time nor authority of Persons nor the Error of unstable Men should so far prepossess and fill our minds as to make us shut them up against the impression and entrance of Divine truth which like the Light shines sometimes more sometimes less according as it receives fainter or more vigorous influences from the Spirit of God its Fountain and it can be nothing at last but a resolved and peremptory Love of Darkness which will deny it admittan e by what imperfect Medium soever it be conveighed The first inquiry therefore by persons sincerely desirous of true knowledge should be to learn whether this state of things which I have undertaken from the Scriptures to demonstrate be indeed Revealed by God or not for then his words in this as well as in other Misteries must be received according to their plainest sense in spight both of our own and others pretendedly rational Contradictions And whoever are impartial and Unbiassed in this enquiry reading the Scriptures in their own Light and evidence and not viewing them thorough the false Perspectives which customary expositions have made for them I believe they will be forced to confess that they are not capable of any other Interpretation but what the Prophets and Godly Jews before the Disciples in and the Primitive Church for above 300 years after our Saviours time did understand them in What that is I have here faithfully and plainly delivered and as to myself I can say with the Apostle I believed therefore I spake so as to others I thought the truth to be of that importance and withal the time of its accomplishment so near that I was easily prevailed with by Publishing this small Treatise to do my duty in stirring up others to a more severe and strict examining and study of the Scriptures then commonly they are accustomed to I have no more to add but to recommend it to the blessing of God who can make shall and contemptible means instrumental for the effecting of the greatest Works 6th M. 6 1669. THE Doctrine of the Kingdom c. Zech. 14. v. 5. And the Lord my God shall come and all the Saints with thee or as it is in the Greek with him v. 9. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth in that day the Lord shall be One and his Name One. IN the beginning of this Chapter there is a Prophecy that Jerusalem after it is Rebuilt and the People of the Jews restored to it as is promised c. 1. 16. and c. 8. 3 4 5. shall by their enemies be besieged and taken v. 1. Presently after which Desolation the Lord himself will come down from Heaven and destroy those Nations v. 3. and 5. Jehovah of the Lord whose coming is here spoken of is no other then the Lord Christ or God Man the second Person in the Godhead who is called The Branch c. 6. 12. 13. so named either because he sprung from the stock of Jesse as a Branch doth from the Root of a Tree which is intimated Isa 11.1.10 Jer. 23.5 and so used by our Saviour Rev. 22 16. or else the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated Branch may be rendred as it is by the Greek Interpreters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Morning rise or Day-spring which very word is used by Zechary in his Prophetick Song concerning our Saviour Luke 1.78 with allusion to which Phrase the Apostle saith Heb. 7.14 It is manifest our Lord sprang Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Arose as light out of Judah To Christ in both these capacities for he is not only The Branch of Righteousness Jer. 33.15 but also The Sun of Righteousness as he is stiled Mal. 4.2 There is a Throne and supreme Dominion promised both in that 6th of Zechary and more expressly in Dan. 7.13 14. Where he is called The Son of Man which Name as I think principally with reference to that Prophecy of Daniel was by our Saviour all the while he convessed upon Earth most commonly used And that we might not doubt but is the same Person who suffered then that is spoken of to come and to Reign here mention is made v. 4. of his descent upon Mount Olivet which was a place where our Saviour whilst he was upon earth did much converse Upon the Mount of Olives He sate when he foretold the Destruction of Jerusalem and his own coming which was to follow after the Dispersion of the Jews was fully accomplished Mark 13.3 Upon this Mount he began his sufferings feeling here that Anguish and Grief of Spirit which made him sweat drops of blood Luke 22.39 From hence he ascended up to Heaven Acts 1.9.12 and hither according to the Angels promise is he to come down in the same manner v. 11. The fulfilling of which Promise and the Glory which shall follow upon it is in this place of Zechary prophecyed of Two observations are clear in the words First That the Lord Christ will come in Person and take to himself the Monarchy or Soveraign Dominion over the whole earth Secondly That when the Lord Christ comes to reign upon Earth all his Saints shall come with him
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for so it should be rendred and not Face to Face i. plainly without any thing interposed to hinder the Vision But these beamings forth of Divine glory shall be much more conspicuous and discernible hereafter in the humane Nature of Christ and equally exposed to the view of beholders For the very same person whom in the days of his Humilation and Abasement in bearing the sins of Mankind Men did abhorr him hereafter Kings shall see and arise in token of reverence and worship Isa 49.7 And as many formerly were astonied at his Visage so then in sign of their Awe and submission They shall shut their Mouths at him Isay 52.13 14 15. Of which reverence and submission to be paid by all unto the Soveraignty of Christ when he comes to Reign the Psalmist likewise prophecies Ps 72.15.17 4. This is gathered also from Isay 62 11. Isay 62.11 opened Where God calleth upon his Ministers from the vtmost ends of the Earth to proclaim unto Sion Behold thy salvation or rather thy Saviour or thy Jesus cometh behold his reward is with him which last words are used by our Saviour himself when he foretells the suddenness of his second coming Rev. 22.12 Which though it be indeed to destroy his Enemies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet the principal end is to save and to deliver his people by reigning with and among them Of which time Obadiah speaks v. 21. Saviours i. the supream and most excellent Saviour who is also called Wisdoms Prov. 9.1 as being most wise shall come upon Mount Sion to judge the Mount of Esau i. e. To punish all the enemies of his People who with reference to the enmity of Esau against Jacob are frequently called Edomites as Isa 34 5 6 8 and 63.1 4 c. and i. after that Judgement executed upon those Enemies the Kingdom i. the supream Dominion and Soveraignty of which Obadiah here prophecies shall be the Lords Lastly All those places wherein mention is made of Gods raising up David in the latter days to be King among and over his people cannot be meant of any else then of the Lord Christ who according to the Flesh was of the posterity and race of David and who in order to the fulfilling of all those Scriptures and for the solace of his faithful subjects as well as terror of his Enemies must hereafter Reign in as Visible and apparent a manner as ever David did Thus God by Ezekiel speaks expresly I will save my flock and I will set up one Shepherd over them and he shall seed them even my Servant David he shall feed them and he shall be their Shepherd and I the Lord will be their God and my servant David a prince among them Ezek. 34.23 24. so cap. 37.24.25 David my Servant shall be King over them and they shall all have one Shepherd and they shall dwell in the Land that I have given unto Jacob and my Servant David shall be their Prince for ever Of him and his personal Reign upon Earth it is that God speaks by Jeremy I will raise up unto David a righ eous Branch and a King shall reign i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He as a King shall reign and shall prosper or shall deal wisely as the Word is Translated in a Prophecy of the same Person and to the same purpose Isay 52.13 And shall execute Judgement and righteousness in the Earth in his days Judah shall he saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his Name whereby they shall call him Jehovah our righteousness Jer. 23.4.5 6. And then as he speaks in another place they shall serve the Lord their God and David their King Jer. 30 9. Of which time also the Prophet Hosea speaks in that excellent and clear Prophecy Hos 3.4 5 All which places are so full and plain for the Personal Residence and Reign of our Lord Christ upon Earth that without great violence and wrestling they cannot possibly be otherwise understood That all these Prophecies of Scripture with many more of the same Nature and Tendency must be literally interpreted as really and plainly meaning the things they speak of besides the evidence of the words themselves which have nothing in them of Darkness or Ambiquity there are these reasons which may serve farther to evince it Reason 1. First Because God is very exact and careful in the fulfilling of his Promises for this end they were written that they might be everlasting records of Gods goodness which his people might always plead in Prayer with him and wait in Hope for their full accomplishment Jer. 30 2 3. And for this end we are commanded to read them because none of those things shall sail of being effectually performed which are prophecied of Isa 34.16 And our Saviour hath given such a Testimony to this purpose as nothing can be more express Heaven and Earth saith he shall pass away before one jot or title of the Law i Of the writings of Moses and the Prophets whether we consider their precepts or their Predictions shall fail till all things be done i. Till every thing be exactly fulfilled which they have written for Gods Truth and Faithfulness which he magnifies above all his Name as the most glorious of his attributes Psal 138 2. doth engage him to the performance of the least and most minate circumstance which can from his word be rightly gathered as a discovery of his future intentions but if all their places with many more that may be quoted concerning the Personal Reign of Christ upon earth before the last and Universal Judgement may be eluded by Mistical Interpretations a very great and considerate portion of Scripture Prophecy will be utterly lost and made useless nay seem to be written to no other purpose but to beget in true Believers vain hopes which far be it from any so much as to imagine since God as he doth not Tempt James 1.14.15 so neither will he Deceive any but rather ruine this admirble frame of the Universe then not employ his whole power to effect and that to the uttermost what ever any of his servants in his Name and by his Spirit have foretold Secondly Another Reason may be taken from the litteral fulfiling Reason 2. already of other Prophecies which were much difficult in the accomplishing and some of them not tending so visibly to illustrate the glory of God and of his Christ as this I am now insisting upon among these I shall mention only two which in their several kinds are truly admirable 1. Concerning the Birth and sufferings of Christ 2. Concerning the Rise and Reign of Anti-Christ 1. The first remarkable Prophecy which hath been literally fulfilled is that concerning the Birth and sufferings of Christ that the eternal So of God should become a mortal Man that He who made the World should subject himself to the penury and want of a Calamitous life and after that so far empty
Heathen Magistrates and made a publick Edict to destroy the worshiy of all False Gods and their Temples then as many understand it was fulfilled that joyful acclamation now is the Salvation Rev. 12.10 and the Power and the Kingdome of our God and the Authority of his Christ and in part it might truly be said to have been so for wherever the true Religon is set up and the professors of it encouraged there indeed God reigns as he did in Judea in the time of David and Eusebius making mention of the glorious Churches that were then founded the great revenues that were setled the singular honour that was given to the Bishops and Ministers of the Gospel by Constantine we did saith he in this see an Embleme of the Reign of Christ but this peace and security purchased by Constantine degenerated presently into a love of ease aand worldly prosperity which made the Christians generally careless of looking after a better state to be injoyed in the first resurrection which sloath and remisneis of theirs gave advantage to the Bishop of Rome to wrest the Dominion out of the Emperours hands and by degrees to challenge unto himself the exercise of their Royalty he boasting himself to be the Vicar of Christ and the person appointed to bear rule in his stead the greatness of whose Dominion all records bear witness to that it did fully answer the extent of that Prophecy wherein it is said that the World wondered after the Beast Rev. 13.3.4 and all the Inhabitants of the earth except a few whose names were written in the book of life did worship him during whose Universal Reign and Tyranny for I am content to allow such an Universality to the Beast of Rome it is no wonder if the true kingdome of Christ was not so much as thought of as when Theives have taken possession and by force keep the house it is no wonder if the Friends and Neighbors forbear to put in any claim for the right Heir Lastly When the Anti-christian yoke was by the gracious working of the power and mercy of God in very weak and contemptible instruments thrown off in many Countries and scripture light which before was forcibly deteined and imprisoned in darkness began to recover its luster then amongst the Primitive truths this doctrine of the kingdome of Christ did in many places revive and was by several learned men at the very first reformation asserted but by the seditious attempts of some mistaken men and the horrid practises of those in Munster this opinion became generally Nauseous to the most sober and learned of our antient Protestant writers and particularly to the judicious and truly worthy Mr. Calvin whose deserved esteem in the Church of Christ hath prevailed to keep this great Scripture truth from being so much as inquired into but with due submission and reverence to the memory of so many famous men I do conceive that in this particular they were swayed too much by their prejudices and notwithstanding their authority we ought to make for our selves a more severe and impartial enquiry for every truth is of a divine original and ought no more to be denyed then the Scriptures from whence it is taken suppressed because unlearned and unstable men do wrest it both to their own and to others destruction It was indeed a great Error to say no more of those mistaken though I hope as to many of them well meaning men who thought themselves cal ed to fight up Christ into his Throne for his Kingdome is yet in Patience Rev 1.9 and will not be fully over all the world in power till he himself doth come from Heaven to establish it for he is then to abolish every Authority and Dominion besides his own 1 Cor. 15.24 That stone which Nebuchadnezer saw in his Vision to become a Mountain and to dash in peices all former powers is the Lord Christ himself and not his Saints as some suppose for it is he who was cut out without hands Dan. 2.44.45 and in the Prophets is often stiled a stone because of those saving and ruining effects which follow upon those who receive or refuse him compare Is 28.12 with Is 8.13.14 Zach. 3.9 As at the building of the Temple it was not by might or power that so difficult a work was effected but by the spirit of the Lord so will it be when our Lord erects his kingdome he alone shall be exalted in that day the sighes and groans of his oppressed people shall call him down from Heaven and in compassion not of his persecuting and smiting but of his persecuted and suffering servants he will come and save them and destroy their Enemies for them Is 35.4 They which teach otherwise do erre not knowing the Seriptures whose mistakes howevever ought not to have been looked upon to be of so dangerous and infectious a Nature as that for them the truth it self should be rejected which is not at all guilty of those consequences which rash men do unwarily strive to draw from it and so much for the first Observation The second Observation was this When the Lord Christ shall come Ob. 2. from Heaven to set up his kingdom upon earth all his Saints shall come with him whereby Saints may be meant either Angels as Mat. 16.27 and 24 30 31. who are called the Angels of his strength 2 Thes 1.7 and the mighty ones who are to descend with him as the executioners of his vengeance against all ungodly men according to Exoch s prophecy Jude v. 14.15 but I doe not take the Angels to be principally meant in this place for hereafter their office will be rather to Minister as they are described standing like an out Guard about the Elders and the living Creatures Rev. 5.11 and 7.11 Whereas the Prophet Zachary speaks of those Saints that were to Reign with Christ and to share with him in his Soveraignty And therefore by Saints here I understand Holy Men who lived before this t me and died in the Faith of Christ of whom the Apostle Paul is to be understood 1 Thes 3.13 and 2. Thes 1.10 and describing of the order of the Resurrection Choist saith he shall rise the first fruits then they that are Christs at his coming where by coming 1 Cor. 15.22.25 explained that the Apostle means his coming to reign which he calls his appearance and Kingdom 2 Tim. 4.1 is plain from that which follows then is the end when he shall deliver up the Kingdom unto the Father when he shall have abolished all Dominion and all authorety and power For he must reign till all his Enemies be put under his Feet 1 Cor. 15.23.25 From which words it appears clearly 1. That when Christ comes those that are his i. e. Saints or Believers shall come with him 2. That between this coming of Christ and the end i. e. the final destruction of the World and consumation of all things there shall be interposed the