with their zeal for their religion was not inconfiftent, than Chrift's doctrine was; this, with the high efteem they had of thefe fathers, laid them under fuch a byafs against Chrift's kingdom, which is not of this world, as nothing but the power of God's grace could conquer. The gratifying of their pride and other lufts, in a connection with zeal for their religion, and the authority of their worthy ancestors, whofe greatnefs and goodness, and capacity to understand the prophecies, it was not lawful to call in question, made up three fold cord not easily to be broken.

And thus were Jewish builders led into that fatal carnal notion of the Meffiah's kingdom, wherewith our Lord's appearance and doctrine was fo inconfiftent, that they could not bear it, but rejected him. They could not endure a Meffiah delhitute of worldly honour and wealth, a man of forrows, and acquainted with grief, a pattern of self-denial in all refpects, and calling all his followers to deny themselves, and take up their crofs and follow him, and, inftead of a worldly kingdom, telling them of the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom not coming with obfervation, a kingdom within men, and a kingdom that they could have no part in by virtue of that birth of which they boasted as they were the feed of Abraham, and which gave them a part in the Old-Testament kingdom, unless they fhould be born again of the Spirit, born from above; and, inflead of these great things they were looking for on earth by the Meffiah, pro mifing nothing in this world without perfecution, and railing mens expectations from this world to the world to come. This was as alien from the Jewish fenfe of the prophecies, as the following queftions are alien from the prophecies and the New-Teftament fenfe of them, viz. Whether thefe called malignants fhould have places of truft civil or military? Whether a national church thould be governed by a fubordination of courts, compofed of prefbyters acting in parity, or alfo by a fubordination of officers? and, Whether the national clergy should manage the king and parliament, &c. or the king and parliament manage then? And there has been as much zeal as the Jews could boaft of spent upon these fame questions.

Now, as the carnal notion of Chrift's kingdom lay at the bottom of the rejection of our Lord by the Jewish builders, fo, thinks Mr Erskine, lies it at the bottom of the rejection of Chrift in the day we live in. And, when we come to the application of what has been faid of the Jewish builders unto the evils and corruptions of the day we live in, it is needless

to

to go further than that instance that gave occafion to all the zeal expreffed in the fermon; which is, the depriving of the Christian people of their right of chufing their own pastors, by the late act of affembly, whereby it is put in the hands of heritors, many of them difaffected to the church, and of elders or reprefentatives of the people, the majority of both together; and this, together with patronages, by law efta blished, which the church calls a grievance, and yet submits.

Mr Erskine is of the mind, that a carnal notion of Christ's kingdom lies at the bottom of this evil and corruption of the day we live in; but how? is indeed the question; which, till he do it to better purpose himself, must be answered by way of inference from the hints he has given. And how should this evil come, but by the church's connection in politics with the powers of the earth, that serves unto the external peace, plenty, and profperity of the church? This connection began in the days of Conftantine, when the man of fin was brought forth. The churches had been pregnant with this conception of iniquity before; but then it was brought forth, and from thence nurfed up by the Christian emperors, till the Roman empire was broke into ten kingdoms, and yet remained united in the one clergy when the man of fin, being come to age, fat down on his throne, and began to have poffeffion of the fuperiority over the nations, in the bounds of the Roman empire, that the rulers of the empire had before.

In the days of Conftantine, the Chriftian builders, seeing a door opened for worldly honour, riches, and ease, and forgetting the old doctrine of self-denial, mortification to the world, and of the spiritual heavenly nature of Chrift's king. dom, which they could not but think of under the cross, began to infift on the old Jewish fenfe of the prophecies, and to compliment Conftantine, a Christian catechumen, with David's throne, and fo to call upon him to act fuch a part about the church, as the good kings of Judah did about the temple: and the good man accepted the compliment, complied with the exhortation of his teachers, and thought he could not do too much for the church, to make her flourish with external peace, plenty, and profperity; and that was all that was in his power.

The Chriftian builders had men of divers occupations profeffing Chriftianity before; but they never imagined, that the profeflion of Chriftianity made any further change in thefe oc

cupations,

cupations, than to make the men more upright and self-denied in them fo that there was no difference betwixt a Heathenifh and a Chriftian physician or mechanic, but in the prin ciples and ends of their actions in these occupations. But they made another kind of diftinction betwixt a magistrate and a Chriftian magiftrate. He had such duties incumbent on him as the kings of Judah had, about the worship of God; as, to cut off heretics and fchifmatics, to establish Christianity as the religion of the empire, in the room of Heathenifm, and to fuffer the open exercife of no other religion, and to make provifion for the maintenance of the clergy.

When fuch duties were incumbent on the Christian magiftrate, and fuch fervices to be done by him, he behoved to have fome, privileges connected with these services. The nature of the thing required it; yea it was not disagreeable to the nature of the Chriftian law, that always connects privi. leges with fervices: fo that if Chrift's law required these services of the magiftrate, and if the New Teftament made him the executer of the laws of Chrift, it is very peculiar, if it granted him therewith no privilege. It is certain, at least, it was not fo in the cafe of the kings of Judah.

When the earth helped the woman at the Reformation, or when some of the powers of Europe interpofed, no doubt with political views, to ftem the tide of Romish perfecution, the preachers and profeffors of the gospel, being thus eased, began to do the fame thing with the kings and princes of the earth, that the ancients did with Conftantine, and required of these kings and states, that there fhould be a legal provifion for the maintenance of the minifters fet in the room of the parish-priests; and this after the church-lands had been. alienated. It was, no doubt, every way reasonable, that, in confequence of this, the legislative power of the ftate should have fomething to fay, as to these that should enjoy that maintenance which the law provided.

The connection of the church with the powers of the earth, could not but make a different outward state of the church from that which was before there was any such connection, and produce effects, that all the influence of the gofpel, and the ablest ministers of it, and the connection of the church with the corner ftone, did not produce before. For it made the people of the nations come into a profeffion of Chriftianity, not of free choice, nor by the influence of the gospel itself upon their minds, but by the influence of the powers of the earth. And in confequence of this, the

moft

most of the people born and bred in a country, fo made and called Chriftian, are Chriftians the fame way that people born and bred in a Heathenish or Mahometan country, are Heathens or Mahometans. Thus we have heard of a great church, and leffer churches alfo come of her, and separated from her, boafting of being the spouse of Chrift, and the mother of God's children, while, at the fame time, the most of the children appear plainly never to have been begotten by the feed of God's word, but by the influence of the kings of the earth, standing in connection with the church. And this is very like what the New Teftament fpeaks of the mother of harlots, committing fornication with the kings of the earth. And in confequence of this, the children of the true church, that appeared to be begotten by the word of God, have been feen living with that mother of harlots, and with these harlots sprung of her, and feparated from her, as children in the fame family with that fpurious brood; yea, and fo far imposed on, as to call any of these harlots their mother; and yet this is nothing else but the daughter of Zion dwelling with the daughter of Babylon. And the Lord's call to them now is to come forth, that they share not in her fins, and in confequence of that, of her plagues: for he that scattered Ifrael will gather him and feed him as a fhepherd doth his flock, and bring his fheep out of all places,, where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark Antichriftian day.

The native confequence of this conjunction of the church, and the kings of the earth, to bring forth Chriftians, was fuch a form of the Christian profeffion, as is consistent with a visible denial of the power of it, or fuch as under which men might vifibly feek themfelves, and follow the courfe of this world, and fulfill the lufts thereof, and fo Christianity become a broad way, wherein all the people of a nation might walk with cafe, as Chrift foretold falfe prophets would make it, and not a ftrait and narrow way, as our Lord and his apoftles made it for the nations, peoples, and multitudes, begotten between the church and the kings of the earth, could not walk in that way: The gate was too strait, and the way too narrow for them. And it can be no won der, to fee even a great multitude stirred up to great zeal for the strictest form of national Chriftianity, while others are for a more easy form; because the stricteft form of it must ftill be fo easy as to admit of a whole nation under it: and men must be fond of a way wherein they may walk with

fome

fome ease to their lufts, and yet believe they are in the nar row way that leads to eternal life. Though the disappoint. ment will be hard upon them in the iffue, yet, in the mean time, it gives their confciences fome more eafe, and it foothes their pride too.

Another confequence of this connection of the church with the powers of the earth, is that which is called the coercive power of the magiftrate about the church: for by the fame influence behoved the nations to be kept in fubjection to the national form of Chriftianity, by which they were at first brought under it: and as this was not owing to the influence of the word of the gospel, fo neither could the clergy truft to it for the other. And as if the fanctions of Chrift's laws were not fufficient, and he not fufficient to make them effectual unto all their ends, the magiftrate behoved to annex fanctions of his own to the laws of Christ, and fo make them effectual upon a people that would not be influenced by the fanctions that Jefus Chrift had annexed to his laws: So that the profeffed fubjection of these people to these laws, was not a profeffion of fubjection to Jefus Chrift and his authority, as was the profeffed fubjection of men to the gospel at the firft; but a profeffion of subjection to the magiftrate instead of Chrift. Thus Mr Erfkine, in one of his fermons, cannot be defended from bringing an unrighteous charge against these potentates, that take upon them to grant a toleration to any doctrine, or any worship, inconsistent with the doctrine, worship, and government, that Christ hath instituted; when he ranks them among these that juftle Christ out of his place, as he on whofe fhoulders the government of the church is laid for if these potentates he may mean did otherwise, they would then ftand in his place, and take his government upon their fhoulders, and rule the fear, or worship and service of God, inftead of him who is the ruler of the fear of God; yea, and bring in their own fear in the room of the fear of God.

By this power of the kings of the earth about these national churches, they stood adorned with the furniture of the kings of the earth, who alfo fhielded them in the enjoyment of the privileges that they beftowed on them, and defended them against heretics and fchifmatics: whereas Jefus Chrift is the shield and glory of the true church, that is cloathed with him, and has this world under her feet, and wears the doc. trine of his apostles as her crown.

And this is also another fruit of the connection of the

church