Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

Matt. xi. 27. all things are delivered unto me of my Father.' xxviii. 18. all power is given unto me.' Luke i. 32. the Lord God 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.' Eph. i. 20-22. when he set him at his own right hand. . . far above all principality-. Rev. i. 5. prince of the kings of the earth.' xix. 16. 'King of kings.'

[ocr errors]

...

His Church. Psal, ii. 6. yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion.' Matt. ii. 5, 6. 'thus it is written by the prophet .. out of thee shall come a governor, that shall rule my people Israel.' Luke i. 33. he shall reign over the house of Jacob.' Eph. i. 22. who gave him to be the head over all things, to the church.' Col. i. 18. he is the head of the body, the church.'

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

..

Chiefly by an inward law. Jer. xxxi. 31, 32. compared with Heb. viii. 8. and x. 16. this is the covenant that I will make with them. . . I will put my laws into their hearts.' Luke xvii. 21. 'behold the kingdom of God is within you.' John iv. 23, 24. in spirit and in truth.' xviii. 36. my kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.' Hence the law of the kingdom, the gift of the Spirit, was given at Jerusalem on the fiftieth day from the passover in Mount Sinai, Acts ii. 1. in sign that the old law was superseded by the new, the law of bondage and of the flesh by the law of the Spirit and of freedom. Rom. xiv. 17. 'the kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.' Psal. lxviii. 18. compared with

[ocr errors]

Eph. iv. 8. he gave gifts unto men,' that is, spiritual gifts. Accordingly, the weapons of those who fight under Christ as their King, are exclusively spiritual. 2 Cor. x. 4. 1 John v. 4. this is the victory that overcometh the world.' Herein it is that the preeminent excellency of Christ's kingdom over all others, as well as the divine principles on which it is founded, are manifested; inasmuch as he governs not the bodies of men alone, as the civil magistrate, but their minds and consciences,* and that not by force and fleshly weapons, but by what the world esteems the weakest of all instruments.† Hence external force ought never to be employed in the administration of the kingdom of Christ, which is the church.

[ocr errors]

Governs and preserves. Isai. ix. 6, 7. Counsellor . . . the Prince of peace: of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.' Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. in his days Judah shall be saved.' John x. 28. neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.' Heb. vii. 2. the King of righteousness... King of peace.'

[ocr errors]
[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Overcomes and subdues his enemies.

6

Psal. ii. 9. 'thou shalt break them with a rod of iron,' namely,. at his second coming. Psal. cx. 1, 2. compared with Matt. xxii. 44. Dan. ii. 44. it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms.' The world; John xvi. 33. and 1 John v. 4. Death and the law, and sin; 1 Cor. xv. 26, 54-57. the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law: but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Satan; Rom. xvi. 20. Luke xix. 27. those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither.' Rev. xvii. 14. the Lamb shall overcome them.'

6

The kingdom of Christ is also styled the kingdom of grace, and the kingdom of glory. The kingdom of grace is the same as the kingdom of heaven, which is at hand,' Matt. iii. 2. The kingdom of glory is that which is destined to be made more manifest at his second advent.

[ocr errors]

The kingdom of Christ, as appears from the authorities just quoted, is, like his priesthood, eternal ; that is, it will endure as long as the world shall last, and as long as there shall be occasion for his mediatorial office. This is clearly taught by the apostle, 1 Cor. xv. 24, 28. then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father... and shall also himself be subject unto him;' in like manner as a period is assigned to his priestly office (although that also is called eternal) as well as to his prophetical office, that God may be all in all.' See more on this subject in the last chapter of the present book, on the kingdom of Christ in glory.

[blocks in formation]

6

CHAPTER XVI.

OF THE MINISTRY OF REDEMPTION.

HAVING

AVING treated of the mediatorial office, and its threefold functions, we are now to consider the manner in which it is discharged. This includes the state of humiliation to which our Redeemer submitted, as well as his state of exaltation.

The humiliation of Christ is that state in which under his character of God-man he voluntarily submitted himself to the divine justice, as well in life as in death, for the purpose of undergoing all things requisite to accomplish our redemption.

Under his character of God-man. Philipp. ii. 6-8. he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant.' Luke xxii. 43. 'there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.' Now the presence of an angel would have been superfluous, unless the divine nature of Christ, as well as his human, had needed support. So also Matt. xxvii. 46. 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' If his divine nature had not partaken of the trial, why was it not at hand to sustain him when he demanded succour? or, if it had the ability, but not the will to help him, of what

avail was it to call upon his Father, whose will was identically one with his own?

In life. Rom. viii. 3. in the likeness of sinful flesh.' This is conspicuous even from his birth, Luke ii. 7. in his circumcision, Rom. xv. 8. by which he became a 'a debtor to do the whole law,' Gal. v. 3. whence an offering was made for him, Luke ii, 24; in his flight into Egypt, Matt. iii. in his subjection to his parents, Luke ii. 51; in his submitting to manual labour, Mark vi. 3; in his baptism, Matt. iii. in his temptation, Matt. iv. Heb. ii. 18. iv. 15; in his poverty, Matt. viii. 20. 2 Cor. viii. 9. that ye through his poverty might be rich;' in the persecutions, insults, and dangers which he underwent; for an account of which, together with the whole of his passion, it is better to refer to the gospels, than to cite the passages at length. To the same purport is the prediction of Isaiah, l. 6. I gave my back to the smiters-.' Compare also xlix. 6, 7. liii. 2. 3.

[ocr errors]

In death. Psal. xxii. Philipp. ii. 8. he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.' This death was ignominious in the highest degree; Deut. xxi. 23. he that is hanged, is accursed of God.' The curse also to which we were obnoxious, was transferred to him, Gal. iii. 13. accompanied with a dreadful consciousness of the pouring out of the divine wrath upon his head, which extorted from him the dying exclamation, Matt. xxvii. 46. 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' Lastly, he was datained in the grave three days after death; 1 Cor. xv. 4. And here may be found the solution of the difficulty respecting the descent into hell,*

* It has not been questioned whether the soul of Christ descended into hell, (as seems to be implied in the words of Milton) which no Chris

« EdellinenJatka »