him this superiority over all things must himself be superior to him; and indeed, considering Christ as mediatorial king, he is no more than his Father's viceroy, and doth only act by deputation from him, and rule and govern for him; and hence the Father styles him his king, Psalm ii. 6. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. So that now he is subject to the Father in the capacity of a viceking to a supreme sovereign, and whatsoever he doth in this capacity he doth in his Father's name and by his authority; for he mediates, as for men with God, in doing which he is our advocate; so for God with men, in doing which he is our king. God's part is to govern us, and our part is to sue to him for favour and protection; and both these parts our Saviour acts as mediator between God and us: he acts our part for us in being advocate, and God's part for him in being king. So that in that rule and government which he now exercises over us, he is only the supreme minister of his Father's power and dominion; and as the Father reigns by his ministry, so he reigns by the Father's authority. But though now, while his mediatorial kingdom doth continue, he is subject to the Father in the administration of it, yet, from this passage of St. Paul, it is evident,

IV. That when he hath delivered it up to the Father, he will be otherwise subject to him than he is now; for so, ver. 28. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, that is, actually, and as they will be at the day of judgment, when the good are crowned, and the wicked consigned to that fearful execution, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that did put all things under him;

which necessarily implies, that then he should enter into a different state of subjection to the Father from that wherein he was before. Why then shall the Son himself be subject to him? Was he not subject to him before? Yes, doubtless he was; and therefore either this then must be impertinent, or then he shall be so subject to him as he was not before. Before he was subject to him as he was his mediatorial king or viceroy, as he reigned under him and by his authority; but then he is to be subject to him after a different manner: for the explication of which it is to be considered, that now the Son, considered as mediator, reigns under God in the right of what he did and suffered in his human nature hypostatically united to his godhead; for it was because he humbled himself, and became obedient to the death, even the death of the cross, that God highly exalted him, Phil. ii. 8, 9. Now it was as he was man that he became obedient to death; and it was in the right of that obedience that God exalted him to his mediatorial kingdom; so that now as mediator he not only reigns in his human nature, but in right of the passion of his human nature: his mediatorial kingdom is the purchase of his blood, by which he both obtained the new covenant for us, and regal power to execute it upon us. When therefore he hath executed it to the full, (as we are sure he will do at the day of judgment,) this regal power of his, which he purchased with his blood, will cease, as having fully accomplished that for which it was given and intended. And now he being to reign no longer in right of the sufferings of his human nature, his human nature will be subject to the Father in a more

different manner than it was before.

Before it was

subject to him as authorized in consideration of its passion to reign and govern under him; but then, having delivered up its reign and government, it will be subject to him in a more private capacity, as the presidents of the Roman empire were subject to Cæsar while they governed under him, but when they rendered back their character, they became his subjects in a more private station. Not that the humanity of Christ shall be any way depressed or degraded by his delivering up his mediatorial kingdom; but as an ambassador, after he is discharged of the burden of his embassy, doth still retain the honour and dignity of it, so the human nature of Christ, after he hath surrendered up its mediatorial dominion, shall still remain as highly exalted in honour, dignity, and beatitude as ever; and angels and saints shall for ever render to it the same religious respect and veneration as they did before he surrendered it: for it shall still remain hypostatically united to his godhead, and so God shall for ever reign in it, though it shall not for ever reign with God. So that it being still the temple of the Deity, and all the glorious achievements it made during its humiliation and mediatorial reign reflecting still the same honour and praise and glory upon it, it will to eternity be as great and glorious throughout all the heavenly world, as ever it was in the full splendour of its kingdom: so that in this respect what the ancient fathers added to the Nicene creed is most true, his kingdom shall have no end; because, without possessing it, he shall for ever enjoy the glory and honour and beatitude of it.

V. And lastly, That the Son being thus subjected

to the Father, all power and dominion shall from thenceforth be immediately exercised by the Deity; that is to say, by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost; for so ver. 28. Then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that did put all things under him, that God may be all in all. Where the variation of the person is very observable for it is not said, that the Son shall be subject to him that did put all things under him, (i. e. the Father,) that he may be all in all, but that God may be all in all; that is, the triune Godhead subsisting in three Persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost for had he meant the Father only, he ought, according to the common rules of speech, to have said he, or the Father, of whom he had been before speaking, instead of God. Nor can it be reasonably supposed, that after the resignation of the mediatorial kingdom, the Father only shall act and reign, and the Son and Holy Ghost sit still for ever and do nothing. But the meaning is, that this mediatorial kingdom ceasing, in which the Son as man as well as God now reigns, there shall from thenceforth be no other kingdom or dominion exercised in that celestial state, but what is essential to the Godhead, in which the Son and Holy Ghost, subsisting together with the Father, shall for ever reign together with him. For this I take to be the meaning of that phrase, that God may be all in all; that is, that he may rule and govern all things immediately by himself; that his immediate will may reign alone in all, and be the proximate guide of all that blessed world; that there may be no mediate or mediatorial government between him and us, to exact our obedience, and convey to us his favours and re

wards, but that we may render all our duty immediately to him, and derive all our happiness immediately from him; so that as now Christ the Theanthropos, or God-man, is all in all, Col. iii. 11. because the Father doth all things and governs all things by him, having given him all power in heaven and earth; so when this economy ceases, God alone, or the triune Godhead, shall be all in all, because he shall do all things and govern all things by himself immediately. Thus, when the Son of man is subjected to him' that did put all things under him, that one divine essence, whence all things did proceed, and in which the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost subsist, shall from thenceforth resume all rule and dominion to itself, and only the Son of God together with the Father and the Holy Ghost shall reign. But yet in this purely divine government there is no doubt but those divine Persons I will still continue to act in subordination to each other, according to that natural subordination in which they are placed by their personal properties: for the Godhead being communicated from the Father to the Son, the Father, in the order of nature, must necessarily be prior to the Son; and the same Godhead being communicated to the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son, both Father and Son must also, in order of nature, be prior to the Holy Ghost so that between these sacred three there is an internal necessary subordination that can never be altered or inverted; and therefore there is no doubt, but that, as they will always be subordinate, so they will always act subordinately. The Father as the first, the begetter and the fountain of divinity, will be always first and supreme in the divine monarchy; the Son, as begotten by him, will still