And of the Name of a Christian. The Seventh Sermon
I save declared unto you, dearly beloved, that Christ Jesus our Lord is very God and man: which will bring more plentiful profit, if we understand what the fruit of that thing is; which is chiefly known by the offices of Christ our Lord. He is king and priest of the people of God; therefore he hath a kingdom and a priesthood: which things if we shall somewhat more diligently consider, they shall declare unto us the exceeding great benefit of the divinity and humanity of Christ.
Christ Jesus is a king; therefore he is Lord of all, ruler and governor of all things which are in heaven and in earth, and specially of the catholic church itself, which is the communion of saints. And forsomuch as he is King and Lord, truly by his royal or kingly office he is the deliverer or preserver, the revenger and defender, and, finally, the lawgiver of his elect. For he crushed the serpent’s head, the
[σώματος ἐμνημόνευσεν ἡ θεία γραφή ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν ὀνομάτων τὴν ψυχὴν]
[ὅμου καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἐδήλου. Ἡμεῖς μέντοι διαιροῦμεν ὀρθῶς, καὶ φαμὲν τὰς]
[ψυχὰς ἀθανάτους εἶναι, μόνα δὲ τῶν πατριαρχῶν τὰ σώματα ἐν τῷ διπλῷ]
[κατατεθῆναι ornlaio.—Theodoret. Dial. τπ. Opp. Tom. 1v. pp. 129, 130.]
[Lutet. Par. 1642.] [2 symbolis, Lat.] 18 [BULLINGER, IIL]]
[1 Cf. Vol. 11. p. 45, τι. 7, and p. 153, n. 8; and see Bullinger. in]
[Apocalyps. Cone. xx1. p. 58, and Conc. xxvii. p. 76, and Cone. LXXVIIL]
[p. 245. Basil, 1557.] [2 in via, Lat.] [3 inter populos, Lat.]]
shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment, and making haste unto righteousness.” And again: “Behold, the time cometh, saith the Lord, that I will raise up the righteous Branch of David, which king shall bear rule; and he shall prosper with wisdom, and shall set up equity and righteousness again in the earth. In this time? shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell without fear: and this is the name that they shall call him, The Lord our Righteousness.”
And because our Lord is a king, therefore he must needs have a kingdom. As well the realm and dominion subject to a king is called a kingdom, as principality, empire, power, and manner of government itself. Therefore the church, tlie communion or fellowship of saints, being obedient and subject to their king Christ, is called the kingdom of God. For Micheas saith, “And the Lord shall reign over them in mount Sion:” therefore Sion (which signifieth the church) is the kingdom of God. And God [5 said to reign, when in the church he ruleth, governeth, keepeth, and defendeth those that be his, and endueth and maketh them fruitful with divers graces. For Paul saith, “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Moreover the kingdom of God is that eternal glory and felicity which God doth communicate to his elect. For the Lord saith in the gospel, “” Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom which is prepared for you from the beginning of the world.” And the thief even at point of death making his prayer to the Lord, who was ready to die on the cross, and desiring to be partaker of this kingdom, saith, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Again, since the gospel teacheth us how God reigneth in us in this world, in time to translate us unto himself into that other; that is, since the gospel is that thing by which the Lord reareth up his dominion; it is not unadvisedly called of Matthew, in his thirteenth chapter, the kingdom of God. In another place, for the same cause it is called “the word of the kingdom.” To be short, we at this present by the kingdom of God understand the congregation
[4 So also ed. 1584: but ed. 1577, in his time.] [5 Our Lord’s phrase in Matthew is, The kingdom of heaven: in]
[the other Evangelists, of God.] 18—2]
of saints itself, the catholic church, I mean, and the power or administration of God reigning therein, that is, preserving, governing, and glorifying the same.
And this kingdom of God is verily but only one; for there is but one God only, one king Christ only, one church, and life everlasting. But this one kingdom of God according to the dispensation of the same is considered two ways: first, according to the omnipotency of God; for he, since he is the highest and omnipotent, hath and executeth over all creatures, visible and invisible, most just rule and equal power, nill they or will they be obedient: secondly, according to his Spirit, whereby he reigneth in his elect. And so the kingdom of God is again two ways considered: for either it is earthly, and is called the kingdom of grace; or else it is heavenly, and is called the kingdom of glory. Ln The earthly kingdom of grace is not therefore called earthly, as though it were carnal and earthly, like the kingdom of Babylon, Persia, Alexandria, or Rome; but because it is on earth. For a good part of the holy church of God is conversant on this earth, being partaker of flesh and blood while it liveth on the earth, though it live not an earthly life according to the flesh; for according to the Spirit, whereby it is ruled, it liveth a heavenly life. Not that the partakers of the kingdom of God sin not: for “the just man falleth and riseth seven times in a day.” Whereupon it is also called the kingdom of grace: for as long as we live in this world, our king and Lord never denieth his grace and mercy to us that crave pardon. And the faithful on.. da wholly hang upon the grace of their king: they embrace! continual repentance, and endeavour themselves to things of more perfectness; for they frame all that they do according to the laws of their king and prince. For he reigneth in his elect by the word of truth, and by the Holy Ghost. By the word of truth he teacheth what the saints should do, and what they should avoid: by his Holy Spirit he moveth their hearts, and giveth strength to fly evil and follow that is good. For truly our king reigneth not so much for himself as for us: for he maketh us also kings, that we, being delivered from the devil, damnation, sin, and the curse, ἢ may be lords over the devil, damnation, sin, and the curse,