CHAPTER XXXV.
OF THE SIGNIFICATION IN SCRIPTURE OF KINGDOM OF GOD, OF HOLY, SACRED, AND SACRAMENT.
[Sidenote: The kingdom of God taken by divines metaphorically, but in the Scriptures properly.]
The _Kingdom of God_ in the writings of divines, and specially in sermons and treatises of devotion, is taken most commonly for eternal felicity, after this life, in the highest heaven, which they also call the kingdom of glory; and sometimes for the earnest of that felicity, sanctification, which they term the kingdom of grace; but never for the monarchy, that is to say, the sovereign power of God over any subjects acquired by their own consent, which is the proper signification of kingdom.
To the contrary, I find the KINGDOM OF GOD to signify, in most places of Scripture, a _kingdom properly so named_, constituted by the votes of the people of Israel in peculiar manner; wherein they chose God for their king by covenant made with him, upon God’s promising them the possession of the land of Canaan; and but seldom metaphorically; and then it is taken for _dominion over sin_; (and only in the New Testament;) because such a dominion as that, every subject shall have in the kingdom of God, and without prejudice to the sovereign.
From the very creation, God not only reigned over all men _naturally_ by his might; but also had _peculiar_ subjects, whom he commanded by a voice, as one man speaketh to another. In which manner he _reigned_ over Adam, and gave him commandment to abstain from the tree of cognizance of good and evil; which when he obeyed not, but tasting thereof, took upon him to be as God, judging between good and evil, not by his creator’s commandment, but by his own sense, his punishment was a privation of the estate of eternal life, wherein God had at first created him: and afterwards God punished his posterity for their vices, all but eight persons, with an universal deluge; and in these eight did consist the then _kingdom of God_.
[Sidenote: The original of the kingdom of God.]
After this it pleased God to speak to Abraham, and (_Gen._ xvii. 7, 8) to make a covenant with him in these words, _I will establish my covenant between me, and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee; and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession_. In this covenant _Abraham promiseth for himself and his posterity, to obey as God, the Lord that spake to him; and God on his part promiseth to Abraham the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession_. And for a memorial, and a token of this covenant, he ordaineth (_Gen._ xvii. 11) the _sacrament of circumcision_. This is it which is called the _old covenant_ or _testament_; and containeth a contract between God and Abraham; by which Abraham obligeth himself, and his posterity, in a peculiar manner to be subject to God’s positive law; for to the law moral he was obliged before, as by an oath of allegiance. And though the name of _King_ be not yet given to God, nor of _kingdom_ to Abraham and his seed: yet the thing is the same; namely, an institution by pact, of God’s peculiar sovereignty over the seed of Abraham; which in the renewing of the same covenant by Moses, at Mount Sinai, is expressly called a peculiar _kingdom of God_ over the Jews: and it is of Abraham, not of Moses, St. Paul saith (_Rom._ iv. 11) that he is the _father of the faithful_; that is, of those that are loyal, and do not violate their allegiance sworn to God, then by circumcision, and afterwards in the _new covenant_ by baptism.
[Sidenote: That the kingdom of God is properly his civil sovereignty over a peculiar people by pact.]
This covenant, at the foot of Mount Sinai, was renewed by Moses, (_Exod._ xix. 5) where the Lord commandeth Moses to speak to the people in this manner, _If you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar people to me, for all the earth is mine; and ye shall be unto me a sacerdotal kingdom, and an holy nation_. For a _peculiar people_, the vulgar Latin hath _peculium de cunctis populis_: the English translation, made in the beginning of the reign of King James, hath a _peculiar treasure unto me above all nations_; and the Geneva French, _the most precious jewel of all nations_. But the truest translation is the first, because it is confirmed by St. Paul himself (_Tit._ ii. 14) where he saith, alluding to that place, that our blessed Saviour _gave himself for us, that he might purify us to himself, a peculiar_, that is, an extraordinary, _people_: for the word is in the Greek περιούσιος, which is opposed commonly to the word ἐπιούσιος: and as this signifieth _ordinary_, _quotidian_, or, as in the Lord’s Prayer, _of daily use_; so the other signifieth that which is _overplus_, and _stored up_, and _enjoyed in a special manner_; which the Latins call _peculium_: and this meaning of the place is confirmed by the reason God rendereth of it, which followeth immediately, in that he addeth, _For all the earth is mine_, as if he should say, _All the nations of the world are mine_; but it is not so that you are mine, but in a _special manner_: for they are all mine, by reason of my power; but you shall be mine, by your own consent, and covenant; which is an addition to his ordinary title, to all nations.
The same is again confirmed in express words in the same text, _Ye shall be to me a sacerdotal kingdom, and an holy nation_. The vulgar Latin hath it, _regnum sacerdotale_, to which agreeth the translation of that place (_1 Pet._ ii. 9) _Sacerdotium regale_, _a regal priesthood_; as also the institution itself, by which no man might enter into the _Sanctum Sanctorum_, that is to say, no man might enquire God’s will immediately of God himself, but only the high-priest. The English translation before mentioned, following that of Geneva, has, _a kingdom of priests_; which is either meant of the succession of one high-priest after another, or else it accordeth not with St. Peter, nor with the exercise of the high-priesthood: for there was never any but the high-priest only, that was to inform the people of God’s will; nor any convocation of priests ever allowed to enter into the _Sanctum Sanctorum_.
Again, the title of a _holy nation_ confirms the same: for _holy_ signifies, that which is God’s by special, not by general right. All the earth, as is said in the text, is God’s; but all the earth is not called _holy_, but that only which is set apart for his especial service, as was the nation of the Jews. It is therefore manifest enough by this one place, that by the _kingdom of God_, is properly meant a commonwealth, instituted, by the consent of those which were to be subject thereto, for their civil government, and the regulating of their behaviour, not only towards God their king, but also towards one another in point of justice, and towards other nations both in peace and war; which properly was a kingdom wherein God was king, and the high-priest was to be, after the death of Moses, his sole viceroy or lieutenant.
But there be many other places that clearly prove the same. As first (_1 Samuel_, viii. 7) when the Elders of Israel, grieved with the corruption of the sons of Samuel, demanded a king, Samuel displeased therewith, prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord answering said unto him, _Hearken unto the voice of the people, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them_. Out of which it is evident, that God himself was then their king; and Samuel did not command the people, but only delivered to them that which God from time to time appointed him.
Again, (_1 Sam._ xii. 12) where Samuel saith to the people, _When ye saw that Nahash, king of the children of Ammon, came against you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us; when the Lord your God was your king_. It is manifest that God was their king, and governed the civil state of their commonwealth.
And after the Israelites had rejected God, the prophets did foretell his restitution; as (_Isaiah_, xxiv. 23) _Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem_; where he speaketh expressly of his reign in Zion and Jerusalem; that is, on earth. And (_Micah_, iv. 7) _And the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion_: this Mount Zion is in Jerusalem, upon the earth. And (_Ezek._ xx. 33) _As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you_; and (verse 37) _I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant_; that is, I will reign over you, and make you to stand to that covenant which you made with me by Moses, and brake in your rebellion against me in the days of Samuel, and in your election of another king.
And in the New Testament, the angel Gabriel saith of our Saviour (_Luke_ i. 32, 33) _He shall be great, and be called the Son of the most High, and the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end_. This is also a kingdom upon earth; for the claim whereof, as an enemy to Cæsar, he was put to death; the title of his cross, was, _Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews_; he was crowned in scorn with a crown of thorns; and for the proclaiming of him, it is said of the disciples (_Acts_ xvii. 7) _That they did all of them contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying there was another king, one Jesus_. The kingdom therefore of God is a real, not a metaphorical kingdom; and so taken, not only in the Old Testament, but in the New; when we say, _For thine is the kingdom, the power, and glory_, it is to be understood of God’s kingdom, by force of our covenant, not by the right of God’s power; for such a kingdom God always hath; so that it were superfluous to say in our prayer, _Thy kingdom come_, unless it be meant of the restoration of that kingdom of God by Christ, which by revolt of the Israelites had been interrupted in the election of Saul. Nor had it been proper to say, _The kingdom of heaven is at hand_; or to pray, _Thy kingdom come_, if it had still continued.
There be so many other places that confirm this interpretation, that it were a wonder there is no greater notice taken of it, but that it gives too much light to Christian kings to see their right of ecclesiastical government. This they have observed, that instead of a _sacerdotal kingdom_, translate, _a kingdom of priests_; for they may as well translate a _royal priesthood_, as it is in St. Peter, into a _priesthood of kings_. And whereas, for a _peculiar people_, they put a _precious jewel_, or _treasure_, a man might as well call the special regiment, or company of a general, the general’s precious jewel, or his treasure.
In short, the kingdom of God is a civil kingdom; which consisted, first, in the obligation of the people of Israel to those laws, which Moses should bring unto them from Mount Sinai; and which afterwards the high-priest for the time being, should deliver to them from before the cherubims in the _sanctum sanctorum_; and which kingdom having been cast off in the election of Saul, the prophets foretold, should be restored by Christ; and the restoration whereof we daily pray for, when we say in the Lord’s Prayer, _Thy kingdom come_; and the right whereof we acknowledge, when we add, _For thine is the kingdom, the power, and glory, for ever and ever, Amen_; and the proclaiming whereof, was the preaching of the apostles; and to which men are prepared, by the teachers of the Gospel; to embrace which Gospel, that is to say, to promise obedience to God’s government, is to be in the _kingdom of grace_, because God hath _gratis_ given to such the power to be the subjects, that is children, of God hereafter, when Christ shall come in majesty to judge the world, and actually to govern his own people, which is called _the kingdom of glory_. If the kingdom of God, called also the kingdom of heaven, from the gloriousness and admirable height of that throne, were not a kingdom which God by his lieutenants, or vicars, who deliver his commandments to the people, did exercise on earth; there would not have been so much contention, and war, about who it is, by whom God speaketh to us; neither would many priests have troubled themselves with spiritual jurisdiction, nor any king have denied it them.
[Sidenote: Holy, what.]
Out of this literal interpretation of the _kingdom of God_, ariseth also the true interpretation of the word HOLY. For it is a word, which in God’s kingdom answereth to that, which men in their kingdoms use to call _public_, or the _king’s_.
The king of any country is the _public_ person, or representative of all his own subjects. And God the king of Israel was the _Holy One_ of Israel. The nation which is subject to one earthly sovereign, is the nation of that sovereign, that is, of the public person. So the Jews, who were God’s nation, were called (_Exod._ xix. 6) _a holy nation_. For by _holy_, is always understood either God himself, or that which is God’s in propriety; as by public is always meant, either the person of the commonwealth itself, or something that is so the commonwealth’s, as no private person can claim any propriety therein.
Therefore the Sabbath, God’s day, is a _holy day_; the temple, God’s house, _a holy house_; sacrifices, tithes, and offerings, God’s tribute, _holy duties_; priests, prophets, and anointed kings, under Christ, God’s ministers, _holy men_; the celestial ministering spirits, God’s messengers, _holy angels_; and the like: and wheresoever the word _holy_ is taken properly, there is still something signified of propriety, gotten by consent. In saying, _Hallowed be thy name_, we do but pray to God for grace to keep the first commandment, of _having no other Gods but him_. Mankind is God’s nation in propriety: but the Jews only were a _holy nation_. Why, but because they became his propriety by covenant?
[Sidenote: Sacred, what.]
And the word _profane_, is usually taken in the Scripture for the same with _common_; and consequently their contraries, _holy_ and _proper_, in the kingdom of God, must be the same also. But figuratively, those men also are called _holy_, that led such godly lives, as if they had forsaken all worldly designs, and wholly devoted and given themselves to God. In the proper sense, that which is made _holy_ by God’s appropriating or separating it to his own use, is said to be _sanctified_ by God, as the seventh day in the fourth commandment; and as the elect in the New Testament were said to be _sanctified_, when they were endued with the spirit of godliness. And that which is made _holy_ by the dedication of men, and given to God, so as to be used only in his public service, is called also SACRED, and said to be consecrated, as temples, and other houses of public prayer, and their utensils, priests, and ministers, victims, offerings, and the external matter of sacraments.
[Sidenote: Degrees of sanctity.]
Of _holiness_ there be degrees: for of those things that are set apart for the service of God, there may be some set apart again, for a nearer and more especial service. The whole nation of the Israelites were a people holy to God; yet the tribe of Levi was amongst the Israelites a holy tribe; and amongst the Levites, the priests were yet more holy; and amongst the priests, the high-priest was the most holy. So the land of Judea was the Holy Land; but the holy city wherein God was to be worshipped, was more holy; and again the Temple more holy than the city, and the _sanctum sanctorum_ more holy than the rest of the Temple.
[Sidenote: Sacrament.]
A SACRAMENT, is a separation of some visible thing from common use; and a consecration of it to God’s service, for a sign either of our admission into the kingdom of God, to be of the number of his peculiar people, or for a commemoration of the same. In the Old Testament, the sign of admission was _circumcision_; in the New Testament, _baptism_. The commemoration of it in the Old Testament, was the _eating_, at a certain time which was anniversary, of the _Paschal Lamb_; by which they were put in mind of the night wherein they were delivered out of their bondage in Egypt; and in the New Testament, the celebrating of the _Lord’s Supper_; by which, we are put in mind of our deliverance from the bondage of sin, by our blessed Saviour’s death upon the cross. The sacraments of _admission_, are but once to be used, because there needs but one _admission_; but because we have need of being often put in mind of our deliverance, and of our allegiance, the sacraments of _commemoration_ have need to be reiterated. And these are the principal sacraments, and as it were the solemn oaths we make of our allegiance. There be also other consecrations, that may be called sacraments, as the word implieth only consecration to God’s service; but as it implies an oath, or promise of allegiance to God, there were no other in the Old Testament, but _circumcision_, and the _passover_; nor are there any other in the New Testament, but _baptism_ and the _Lord’s Supper_.
-------