God-man, Mediator, all power in heaven and in earth.' He is 'given to be Head over all things to the church.' 4. The stability of this kingdom against all attempts made to oppose or destroy it, Yet have I set my King, &c.—Though enemies roar and rage, and leave no means unessayed to hinder the erection and establishment thereof; yet all their plots shall be unsuccessful, and all their deliberations shall miscarry. I have set him as King, and will maintain his throne. The doctrinal proposition arising from the words is, DocT. In discoursing from this doctrine, I shall shew, I. That Christ is a King. II. What sort of a kingdom the kingdom of Christ is. III. The acts of his kingly office. IV. The properties of this King. V. Lastly, Deduce some inferences for application. I. I am to shew that our Lord Jesus Christ is a King. This will appear, if ye consider, 1. That he was prophesied of in the Old Testament under this character. Thus old Jacob on his death-bed says of him, Gen. xlix. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.' And says the evangelical prophet, Isa. xi. 1, 2, 3. 'There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.' 2. That he was of old promised to his people under this notion : Isa. ix. 6, 7. Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever. Zech. ix. 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh unto thee: he is just and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the fole of an ass.' Micah v. 2. 'Out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be Ruler in Israel.' He is called the King by way of eminency, Cant. i. 4. The King hath brought me into his banqueting-house.' Ezek. ، xxxiv. 24. 'I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them.' That he should be a King, was declared to his mother, by the angel, before his conception in her womb, Luke i. 32, 33. 'He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and 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.' And hence he is called 'King of kings, and lord of lords.' Rev. xvii. 14. 3. That he has all the ensigns of royalty. He has a sword: hence it is said, Psal. xlv. 3. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou Most Mighty.' By this we are to understand the word of God, which is the great instrument by which he maintains and propagates the glory and honour of his kingdom in the world.—A sceptre, which is another badge of royal majesty, Heb. i. 8. A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.' By this we are to understand his Spirit, which he puts forth in the government of the world, and in his operations of grace in the hearts of his people, guiding and conforming them, through his word and ordinances, to the holy will of God.—A crown: It is said, Rev. vi. 2. that 'a crown was given him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.' And we read of a crown where with his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, Cant. iii. 11.—An escutcheon or coat of arms: He boars the lion in his arms; hence called the Lion of the tribe of Judah,' Rev. v. 5; which imports that he should be a great conqueror and a victorious King.—A throne, Heb. i. 8. Thy throne O God, is for ever and ever.—Subjects, over whom he rules, even all the creatures in heaven and in earth, Psal. ii. 9. 'His kingdom ruleth over all,' Psal. ciii. 19. All the angels of heaven have taken the oath of allegiance to him, Heb. i. 6. Let all the angels of God worship him.' More especially he rules in the church. God the Father has set the crown on his head, and he holds it by immediate tenure from Heaven.—He enacts laws, which all his subjects are bound to obey. His laws are contained in his word, and they reach both the outward and the inward man. 4. That he sealed this truth with his precious blood.—When Pilate asked him, Art thou a King then?' he answered, 'Thou sayest that I am a King.' To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world. On this account it is said of him, that 'before Pontins Pilate he witnessed a good confession,' 1 Tim. vi, 13. From all which it is evident, that our Lord Jesus is a King. Yea, he is King of kings, and hath a pre-eminence over them all; and therefore he is called 'the Prince of the kings of the earth.' And indeed he must needs be so; for it is by him that kings reign and princes decree justice. They all hold their crowns by immediate tenure from this great King. And he infinitely outvies them all; having the highest throne, the largest dominions, and the longest possession. II. I proceed to shew the nature of Christ's kingdom, or what sort of a kingdom it is. Christ has a twofold kingdom. 1. An essential kingdom. He is Lord and King over all the creatures by nature, inasmuch as he is the eternal Son of God, equal with his Father in all things. In this respect he has a universal empire, which extends over all things in heaven and earth, yea and to hell itself. He is the sole Monarch of the whole world; and all the princes and potentates of the earth are but his vicegerents that govern under, and should rule for him. He is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords,' as the apostle styles him, 1 Tim. vi. 15. 2. He has an economical or Mediatory kingdom. Originally the kingdom belongs to him as God, and derivatively it belongs to him as God-man and Mediator. He is constituted King by divine appointment and institution, I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. He is invested with authority over all the creatures; hence it is said, Eph. i. 22. 'God hath put all things under his feet.' He rules from sea to sea, and to the ends of all the earth, yea to the utmost bounds of God's creation. 'He hath given him power over all flesh,' as this King himself says, John xvii. 2. All things are subject to his government, and ready to fulfil his pleasure, when he issues his word of command. The church is his peculiar and special kingdom. God hath given him to be head over all things to the church,' Eph. i. 22. This kingdom is a spiritual kingdom: hence he says, 'My kingdom is not of this world,' John xviii. 36. The king thereof appeared not in worldly pomp and grandeur, attended with a splendid equipage, surrounded with armed guards, or having a brilliant and magnificent court, but in spiritual splendor, suited to the nature of his kingdom, Zech. ix. 9. forecited. His throne is in the heavens, not on earth, Psal. ex. 1. His sceptre is a spiritual one, the word of God, which he wields for the good of his people; it is the rod of his strength, which he sends out of Zion, and by the instrumentality of it he makes them willing in the day of his power, Ps. ox. 2, 3. Compare Isa. ii. 3. 'Out of Zion shall go forth a law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.' The subjects of this kingdom are spiritual men, born of God, begotten of the word of truth, the incorruptible seed of the word, John i. 12. The way of its administration is spiritual, reaching neither men's bodies nor purses, but their consciences; the weapons' of it not being carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds,' 2 Cor. x. 4. Its laws are spiritual, reaching the innermost parts of the heart; and the benefits of it are spiritual, righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Ghost,' &c. The administration of his government with respect to this kingdom is either external or internal. 1, It is external; and that again is either more general, or more particular. (1.) More general, in the course of his providence. He as Mediator has a providential influence on all the affairs of this world, ordering and determining them to the special benefit and interest of his people. Hence it is that all things work together for the good of those who love God. We have an admirable scheme of divine providence in Ezek. i. There you may see how all the wheels, i. e. motions and revolutions here in this inferior world, are guided and directed by the Spirit that is in them; and in verse 26. it is all run up into the supreme cause: there you find one like the Son of Man, which is Jesus Christ, sitting upon the throne, and giving forth orders for the government of all. (2.) It is more particular, in his appointing laws, ordinances, and officers, in his church, to manage and govern it, and to inflict censures upon scandalous offenders. 2. It is internal, in the hearts of his people. He subdues them to himself in a day of power, writes his laws upon their hearts, and rules and governs them. In this respect it is said, Luke xvii. 21. The kingdom of God is within you.' There he sits enthroned King, and sways his royal sceptre. But more of this anon. III. The acts of Christ's kingly office may be reduced to these heads, viz. subduing sinners to himself, ruling and governing them, defending and protecting them, restraining his own and their enemies, and conquering them. Of each of these I shall treat in order. First, Christ exercises his kingly office in subduing a people to himself, making them willing in the day of his power to submit to his authority and sceptre, Psal. ex. 3. and so subjecting them to him as willing subjects. For this end consider, 1. That the great design of Christ's kingly office as Mediator is to raise up to himself a kingdom in the bowels of the kingdoms of the earth, Acts xv. 14. and to make the subjects of men the subjects of the divine Mediator. So that those who will not allow a spiritual kingdom within a temporal one, refuse Christ to be King. 2. Our Lord has a right to this kingdom, having purchased it with his blood, Acts xx. 28. He comes not without a title to conquer, but has the title of his Father's gift and his own purchase. Ere he could attain to the possession of this kingdom, he behoved to swim through a sea of bloody sufferings, and he purchased every subject with the immense price of his precious blood. Thus his title is indefeasible. 3. Though our Lord has this just right to the kingdom, yet his subjects have sworn allegiance to the Prince of darkness, and are in actual rebellion against him. That is the common character of them, which we have Tit. iii. 3. We ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.' And they will never yield to him, till they be overcome by his mighty power. He gets no subjects but by stroke of sword, and the exertion of the same power that was put forth in his own resurrection. 4. Christ as a King doth by power overcome them at length, and makes them willingly submit to him, renounce obedience to the devil, the world, and their own base lusts, his enemies, and causes them cheerfully stoop to the yoke of his obedience, and to say, as Isa. xxvi. 13. 'O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.' 5. The weapons wherewith Christ subdues his subjects are his word and Spirit, whereby they are effectually convinced of their sin and rebellion, and reduced to subjection to him. The word is the rod of his power, by which he has subdued nations to himself. It was by this word that in the primitive times he overturned the empire of the devil, silenced the heathen oracles, and demolished the Pagan idolatrous worship. And because the word comes to many without the Spirit, therefore Christ has many subjects in appearance only, mere pretenders to loyalty to him; they are really the subjects of Satan, and only feign submission to Zion's King. But where the Spirit comes with the word, there the heart is subjected to Chirst in very deed, 2 Cor. x. 4; and Christ has a kingdom not only among them, but within them. Secondly, Christ exercises his kingly office in ruling and governing his subjects. No kingdom can be without a government; and Christ's kingdom must needs be an orderly kingdom, which he himself governs as the supreme Head and Monarch. Now, 1. Forasmuch as the church is a visible society on earth, whose head is in heaven, Christ governs them externally. (1.) Giving them laws according to which they are to demean themselves every way towards God and towards their neighbour, Isa. xxxii. 22. 'The Lord is our Lawgiver.' Those laws which are the laws of the kingdom of Christ, are written in the Bible, and are |