Christ's Kingly Office

Quest. 16. How does Christ execute the office of a King?

Resp. In subduing us to himself, and in restraining and conquering his and our enemies.

Now of Christ's regal office, (Revelation 19:16) And he has on his vesture, and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.

Jesus Christ is of mighty renown, he is a King; he has a kingly title, High and mighty (Isaiah 57:15). 2. He has his Insignia Regalia, his ensigns of royalty, Corona est insigne Regiae potestatis; His crown (Revelation 6:2), his sword (Psalm 45:3), Gird your sword upon your thigh. His scepter (Hebrews 1:8), A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. 3. His escutcheon, or coat of arms, he gives the Lion in his arms (Revelation 5:5), The lion of the tribe of Judah. And he is, the text says, 〈in non-Latin alphabet〉, King of Kings. He has a preeminence of all other Kings, he is called the Prince of the Kings of the Earth (Revelation 1:5), 〈in non-Latin alphabet〉 — He must needs be so, for by him Kings reign (Proverbs 8:15). They hold their crowns by immediate tenure from this great King. Christ infinitely out-vies all other princes, he has the highest throne, the largest dominions, and the longest possession (Hebrews 1:8), Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever. Christ has many heirs, but no successors. Well may he be called King of Kings, for he has an unlimited power; other kings their power is limited, but Christ's power is unlimited (Psalm 135:6), Whatever he pleased, that did he in heaven and earth, and in the seas. Christ's power is as large as his will. The angels take the oath of allegiance to him (Hebrews 1:6), Let all the angels of God worship him.

Quest. How does Christ come to be King?

Resp. Not by usurpation, but legally: Christ holds his crown by immediate tenure from Heaven. God the Father has decreed him to be King (Psalm 2:5-6), I have set my king upon my holy hill; I will declare the decree. God has anointed and sealed him to his regal office (John 6:27), Him has God the Father sealed. God has set the crown upon his head.

Quest. In what sense is Christ King?

Resp. Two ways: 1. In reference to his people. And, 2. In reference to his enemies.

1. In reference to his people: 1. To govern them, it was prophesied of Christ before he was born (Matthew 2:6), And you Bethlehem are not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of you shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. It is a vain thing for a King to have a crown on his head, unless he has a scepter in his hand to rule.

Quest. Where does Christ rule?

Resp. His kingdom is spiritual: he rules in the hearts of men. He sets up his throne where no other king does, he rules the will and affections, his power binds the conscience: he subdues men's lusts (Micah 7:19), He will subdue our iniquities.

Quest. What does Christ rule by?

Resp. By law, and by love: 1. He rules by law. It is one of the Iura Regalia, the flowers of the crown, to enact laws; Christ as King makes laws, and by his laws he rules: the law of faith, Believe in the Lord Jesus; the law of sanctity (1 Peter 1:15), Be holy in all manner of conversation. Many would admit Christ to be their advocate to plead for them, but not their King to rule them.

2. He rules by love: He is a King full of mercy and clemency; as he has a scepter in his hand, so an olive branch of peace in his mouth. Though he be the Lion of the Tribe of Judah for majesty, yet the Lamb of God for meekness. His regal rod has honey at the end of it. He sheds abroad his love into the hearts of his subjects; he rules them with promises as well as precepts. This makes all his subjects become volunteers; they are willing to pay their allegiance to him (Psalm 110:3), Your people shall be a willing people; Plur. Gnam nedabot.

2. Christ is a King to defend his people, as Christ has a scepter to rule them, so a shield to defend them (Psalm 3:3), You, O Lord, are a shield for me. When Antiochus did rage furiously against the Jews, he took away the vessels of the Lord's House, set up an idol in the Temple; then this great King, called Michael, did stand up for them to defend them (Daniel 12:1). Christ preserves his Church as a spark in the ocean, as a flock of sheep among wolves. That the sea should be higher than the earth, and yet not drown it, is a wonder: so that the wicked should be so much higher than the Church in power, and not devour it, is because Christ has this inscription on his vesture and his thigh, King of Kings (Psalm 124:2), If it had not been the Lord who was on our side; they had swallowed us up. They say lions are Insomnes, they have little or no sleep; it is true of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, he never slumbers nor sleeps, but watches over his Church to defend it (Isaiah 27:2-3), Sing to her a vineyard of red wine; I the Lord do keep it lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. If the enemies destroy the Church, it must be at a time when it is neither night nor day, for Christ keeps it day and night. Christ is said to carry his Church as the eagle her young ones upon her wings (Exodus 19:4). The arrow must first hit the eagle before it can hurt the young ones, and shoot through her wings: the enemies must first strike through Christ, before they can destroy his Church. Let the wind and storms be up, and the Church almost covered with waves, yet Christ is in the ship of the Church, and so long there is no danger of shipwreck. Nor will Christ only defend his Church as he is King, but deliver it (2 Timothy 4:17), He delivered me out of the mouth of the lion; namely, Nero. (2 Chronicles 11:14) The Lord saved them by a great deliverance. Sometimes Christ is said to command deliverance (Psalm 44:4), sometimes to create deliverance (Isaiah 65:18). Christ as a King commands deliverance, and as a God creates it. And deliverance shall come in his time (Isaiah 60:22), I the LORD will hasten it in his time.

Quest. When is the time that this King will deliver his people?

Resp. When the hearts of his people are humblest, when their prayers are most fervent, when their faith is strongest, when their forces are weakest, when their enemies are highest; now is the usual time that Christ puts forth his kingly power in their deliverance (Isaiah 33:2, 8-9).

3. Christ is a King to reward his people; there's nothing lost by serving this King. 1. He rewards his subjects in this life: 1. He gives them inward peace and joy; a bunch of grapes by the way; and oftentimes riches and honor. Godliness has the promise of this life (1 Timothy 4:8). These are as it were the saints' wages; but besides, the great reward is to come, an eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). Christ makes all his subjects kings (Revelation 2:10): I'll give you a crown of life. This crown will be full of jewels, and it will never fade (1 Peter 5:5).

2. Christ is a King in reference to his enemies, in subduing and conquering them: he pulls down their pride, befools their policy, restrains their malice. That stone cut out of the mountains without hands, which struck the image (Daniel 2:34), was an emblem, says Augustine, of Christ's monarchical power, conquering and triumphing over his enemies. Christ will make his enemies his footstool (Psalm 110:1). He can destroy them with ease (2 Chronicles 14:11): it is nothing for you, Lord, to help. He can do it with weak means, without means. He can make the enemies destroy themselves; he set the Persians against the Greeks; and (2 Chronicles 20:23) the children of Ammon helped to destroy one another. Thus Christ is King in vanquishing the enemies of his church.

This is a great ground of comfort to the church of God in the midst of all the combinations of the enemy — Christ is King, and he can not only bound the enemies' power, but break it. The church has more with her than against her; she has Immanuel on her side, even that great King to whom all knees must bend.

Christ is called a Man of War (Exodus 15:3); he understands all the policies of warfare; he is described with seven eyes, and seven horns (Revelation 5:6). The seven eyes are to discern the conspiracies of his enemies, and the seven horns are to push and vex his enemies.

Christ is described with a crown and a bow (Revelation 6:2). He that sat on the white horse had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. A crown is an emblem of his kingly office, and the bow is to shoot his enemies to death.

Christ is described with a vesture dipped in blood (Revelation 19:13). He has a golden scepter to rule his people, but an iron rod to break his enemies. Revelation 17:12, 14: The ten horns you saw are ten kings; these shall make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb shall overcome them; for he is King of Kings. The enemies may set up their standard, but Christ will set up his trophies at last. Revelation 14:18, 19: And the angel gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God, and the wine-press was trodden, and blood came out of the wine-press. The enemies of Christ shall be but as so many clusters of ripe grapes to be cast into the great wine-press of the wrath of God, and to be trodden by Christ till their blood comes out. Christ will at last come off victor, and all his enemies shall be put under his feet: Gaudeo quod Christus dominus est, alioqui desperassem, said Miconius in an epistle to Calvin. I am glad Christ reigns, else I should have despaired.

Use 1. Branch 1. See hence it is no disparagement to serve Christ — he is a King, and it's no dishonor to be employed in a King's service. Some are apt to reproach the saints for their piety; they serve the Lord Christ, he who has this inscription upon his vesture, KING OF KINGS. Theodosius thought it a greater honor to be a servant of Christ than the head of an empire. Servire est Regnare — Christ's servants are called vessels of honor (2 Timothy 2:21), and a royal nation (1 Peter 2:9). Serving of Christ ennobles us with dignity: it's a greater honor to serve Christ than to have kings serve us.

Branch 2. If Christ be King, it informs us that all matters of fact must one day be brought before him. Christ has Ius vitae & necis, the power of life and death in his hand (John 5:22): the Father has committed all judgment to the Son. He who once hung upon the cross shall sit upon the bench of judicature: kings must come before him to be judged; they who once sat upon the throne must appear at the bar. God has committed all judgment to the Son, and Christ's is the highest court of judicature: if this King once condemns men, there is no appeal to any other court.

Branch 3. See where we are to go when we are foiled by corruption — go to Christ; he is King; desire him by his kingly power to subdue your corruptions, to bind these kings with chains (Psalm 149:8). We are apt to say of our sins, these sons of Zeruiah will be too strong for us; we shall never overcome this pride and unbelief. Aye, but go to Christ; he is King; though our lusts are too strong for us, yet not for Christ to conquer: he can by his Spirit break the power of sin. Joshua, when he had conquered five kings, caused his servants to set their feet on the necks of those kings; so Christ can and will set his feet on the necks of our lusts.

2. Use of Caution: Is Christ King of Kings? Let all great ones take heed how they employ their power against Christ: Christ gives them their power, and if this power shall be made use of for the suppressing of his kingdom and ordinances, their account will be heavy. God has laid the key of government upon Christ's shoulders (Isaiah 9:7), and to go to oppose Christ in his kingly office, it is as if the thorns should set themselves in battle formation against the fire, or a child fight with an archangel. Christ's sword on his thigh is able to avenge all his quarrels: it is not good to stir a lion. Let not men provoke the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, whose eyes are as a lamp of fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him (Nahum 1:6). He shall cut off the spirit of princes (Psalm 76:12).

Use 3: If Christ is a great King, submit to him. Say not as those Jews, We have no King but Caesar, no King but our lusts. This is to choose the bramble to rule over you, and out of the bramble will come forth a fire (Judges 9). Submit to Christ willingly; all the devils in Hell submit to Christ, but it is against their will, they are his slaves, not his subjects. Submit cheerfully to Christ's person and his laws. Many would have Christ their Savior, but not their prince; such as will not have Christ to be their king to rule them, shall never have his blood to save them. Obey all Christ's princely commands; if he commands love, humility, good works, be as the needle which points whichever way the loadstone draws.

Branch 2: Let such admire God's free grace, who were once under the power and tyranny of Satan, and now Christ has made them of slaves, to become the subjects of his kingdom. Christ did not need subjects, he has legions of angels ministering to him; but in his love, he has honored you, to make you his subjects. O! how long was it before Christ could prevail with you to come under his banner? How much opposition did he meet with, before you would wear this prince's colors? But at last omnipotent grace overcame you. When Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, an angel came and beat off his chains (Acts 12:7). So when you were sleeping in the Devil's arms, that Christ should by his Spirit smite your heart, and cause the chains of sin to fall off, and make you a subject of his kingdom: O admire free grace! You who are a subject of Christ, are sure to reign with Christ forever.