A42757:486
Aaron's rod blossoming, or, The divine ordinance of church-government vindicated so as the present…Aarons rod blossoming, or, The divine ordinance of church-government vindicated so as the present…
Aaron's rod blossoming, or, The divine ordinance of church-government vindicated so as the present Erastian controversy concerning the distinction of civill and ecclesiastical government, excommunication, and suspension, is fully debated and discussed, from the holy scripture, from the Jewish and Christian antiquities, from the consent of latter writers, from the true nature and rights of magistracy, and from the groundlessness of the chief objections made against the Presbyterial government in point of a domineering arbitrary unlimited power / by George Gillespie ...Aarons rod blossoming, or, The divine ordinance of church-government vindicated so as the present Erastian controversie concerning the distinction of civill and ecclesiasticall government, excommunication, and suspension, is fully debated and discussed, from the holy scripture, from the Jewish and Christian antiquities, from the consent of latter writers, from the true nature and rights of magistracy, and from the groundlesnesse of the chief objections made against the Presbyteriall government in point of a domineering arbitrary unlimited power / by George Gillespie ...
London: printed by E.G. for Richard Whitaker, 1646
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
But will Master Hussey say that Christ reigns over the Devils and damned Spirits as Mediator or by the same Kingdom by which he reigns in his Church by and in his Ordinances? Therefore we must needs say, That Christ hath one Kingdom as the eternal Son of God, another as Mediator. Fifthly, He that hath a Kingdom in subordination to God the Father, and as his Vicegerent; and another Kingdom wherein he is not subordinate unto, but equal with God the Father, hath two most different Kingdoms. But Jesus Christ hath a Kingdom in subordination to God the Father, and another Kingdom wherein he is not subordinate unto, but equal with God the Father. Ergo: The Kingdom which Christ hath as Mediator doth (in regard of the Office of Mediatorship) constitute him in a subordination to his Father, whose ⟨p. 199⟩Commandments he executeth, and to whom he gives an account of his Ministration. So that though he that is Mediator, being the eternal Son of God, is equal with the Father; yet as Mediator, he is not equal with the Father, but subordinate to the Father, which our Divines prove from these Scriptures, Isai. 42. 1. Behold my servant. Jo. 14. 28. My Father is greater then I. 1 Cor. 11. 3. The Head of Christ is God: In the same consideration as Christ is our Head, God is Christs Head, namely, as Christ is Mediator. But that Kingdom which Christ hath as he is the eternal Son of God, he holds it not in a subordination to God the Father; but as being consubstantial with his Father, and thinking it no robbery to be called equal with God: So that in this consideration, the Father is not greater then he. Master Hussey pag. 37. saith of Christ, in respect of the Government which he hath as Mediator, He is as it were the Vicar of his Father. I hope he will not say so of that Government which Christ hath as the eternal Son of God. And pag. 27. he holds that Christ as Mediator is subject to God; But in the consideration that Christ is the second person of Trinity, so he is not inferior to God the Father. So that he himself cannot but yield my Argument. Sixthly, If Christ hath a Kingdom in time dispensed and delegate to him, and unto which he was anointed, and hath another Kingdom which is not delegate nor in time dispensed, nor he anointed to it; but doth necessarily and naturally accompany the communication of the Divine nature to him by eternal generation: