in the words of my text, Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.

Where we may notice,

1. The royal office and character of our glorious Redeemer; he is a King; this name he has “on his vesture, and on his thigh," Rev. xix. 16.

2. The authority by which he reigns; He is my King, says God the Father, and I have set him up from everlasting: "The Father judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." The world disowns his authority, but I own it; I have set him, I have “given him to be head over all things to the church."

3. His particular kingdom over which he rules; it is over my holy hill of Zion, an eminent type of the gospel-church. The temple was built upon mount Zion; and therefore called a holy hill. Christ's throne is in his church, it is his headquarters, and the place of his particular residence; "The Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation. His laws go out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. There are the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David."

4. Notice the firmness of the divine purpose with respect to this matter; Yet have I set him King. As if he had said, Whatever be the plots of hell and earth to the contrary, he reigns by his Father's ordination.

OBSERVE, That Christ is King in Zion, the alone Sovereign of his church, by his Father's appointment and ordination, Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.

In discoursing on this doctrine, I shall endeavour, through divine assistance,

I. To speak a little of this sovereign Prince.

II. Of the kingdom which he governs.

III. Why God the Father hath appointed and ordained him King in Zion.

IV. Apply.

I. As to the first, I shall endeavour, 1. To prove that Christ is a Prince of royal authority. 2. Give some of his excellent qualities and properties, to recommend him to all.

As to the first, his sovereignty and royal authority appears, 1. From scripture prophecy; Gen. xlix. 10: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." Luke i. 32, 33: "The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his king

dom there shall be no end." Mic. v. 2: "The Ruler of Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

2. From scripture-types. David, Solomon, and others of the kings of Judah, who were active in building and repairing the temple and worship of it, all typified him in his royal office; and though the royal family of David be extinct on earth, yet it is perpetuated in him for ever in heaven.

3. From scripture-titles that are ascribed to him: "Messiah the Prince," Dan. ix. 25. "The Prince of peace," Is. ix. 6. "The Prince of the kings of the earth. The king of kings, and Lord of lords," &c.

4. From the concurring testimony of enemies and strangers. The wise men of the east, when they come in quest of him, they inquire, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" And it was not without the hand and counsel of God, that Pilate was directed, to the disgusting of the Jews, whom he had, contrary to his light and conscience, gratified with the blood of Christ, to affix that title to his cross, in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Balaam, Numb. xxiv. 17: "A star shall arise out of Jacob, and a sceptre out of Israel, that shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth." 5. From the badges of sovereignty every where ascribed to him.

We read in scripture, 1st. Of his solemn investiture with the government; his mounting the throne, when he ascended up on high. See the solemnity of his instalment, spoken of, Psal. xlvii. 5: "God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet," &c.

2dly. We read of his throne, Psal. xlv. 6: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever;" and his throne is "high and lifted up," Is. vi. 1. The very same throne upon which his Father sits, Rev. iii. 21; "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me upon my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my father upon his throne.

3dly. We read of his coronation, and that both by his Father, and the church, called his mother. You read of his Father's crowning him with glory, Heb. ii. 7: "Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownest him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands." And you read of the church, his mother, crowning him, Cant. iii. 11: "Go forth, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart," &c.

4thly. We read of his royal sceptre, the rod of his

strength, which is also a rod of iron, to govern his subjects, and to dash his enemies in pieces.

5thly. We read of the laws issued out by his authority from Zion, and for Zion, for the government of his subjects. It was he that gave forth the law of commandments from mount Sinai, and it is he that gives forth the law of faith from mount Zion, Is. ii. 3: "The law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

6thly. We read of courts, both for worship and discipline, held in his name; speaking of Zion, or the church, it is said, "There are the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David." In the church are courts for worship, where his subjects attend him, both for hearing his voice in his word, and for paying the rent of worship and adoration they owe him. And then for courts of judgment or government, we see a synod held in his name, Acts xv.; and "wherever two or three" of his officers "meet in his name,” for exercising the keys of doctrine or discipline, he promises to be in "the midst of them."

7thly. We read of the officers of his kingdom, such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, elders and deacons. And the apostle, speaking of ministers of the gospel, calls them "ambassadors of Christ," 2 Cor. v. 20. Every faithful minister has commission from Christ, as King in Zion; although, alas! many who pretend to carry his commission now-a-days, are changing their holding.

8thly. We read of the keys of the kingdom. Christs says to his apostles and ministers, "Unto. you I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven." By the keys we are to understand the doctrine and discipline of his appointment.

9thly. The power of peace and war, of life and death, are in his hand. He casts out the white flag of peace to his enemies in the gospel. We preach the gospel of peace, publish the word of reconciliation, "That God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." And if peace be not accepted, in his name we denounce war against sinners that do not believe in him: "He will wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of him that goeth on in his trespasses." "He that believeth not, is condemned already; and the wrath of God abideth on him."

10thly. He is constituted the sovereign Judge of heaven and earth, of men and angels. The legislative and executive power is in his hand, "the keys of hell and death;" and it is left solely in his hand, for "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." From all these things it appears, that Christ is a sovereign King, a Prince of royal authority.

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Secondly. I would give you a view of the excellent qualities of Zion's King, and let' them serve as so many motives to strangers to submit to his authority, and as so many cordials to his friends and loyal subjects, in this dark and cloudy. day.

1. Then, He is a very ancient King. He is indeed "the Ancient of days:" he is no upstart; his throne was "set up from everlasting;" none can compete with him for antiquity, "The everlasting Father; Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth were of old, from everlasting."

2. He is a King of incomparable wisdom: "A" wiser "than Solomon is here." Solomon's wisdom was but folly compared with his; for "in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

3. A King of irresistible power, and absolute authority: "All power in heaven and earth are his." He is "the man of God's right hand;" the arm of JEHOVAH is in him: he hath a name above every name, and at his name every knee shall bow," &c.

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4. He is a King of unspotted holiness and purity. "The holy One of Israel is our King; of purer eyes than that he can behold iniquity." His name is a holy name. His throne is a holy throne; he "sits upon the throne of his holiness." His laws are holy laws; "The law is holy; and the commandment holy, and just, and good." His covenant with his subjects is a holy covenant; "he hath commanded his holy covenant." The officers that bear the vessels of his house are, and should be holy.

5. He is a righteous King. "Justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne.-Behold a King shall reign in righteousness," Is. xxxii. 1. We have an account of the equity of his administration, Is. xi. 1-3, &c.; Psal. xlv. 7; "He loveth righteousness, and hateth iniquity," &c.

6. He is a gracious King. His name is "the Lord, gracious and merciful." He is said to be "full of grace;" and grace comes by him, and rivers of grace run from his throne, Rev. xxii. 1; Psal. xlvi. 4: "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God." The throne on which he sits is a throne of grace, and acts of grace are emitted from his throne, even the "great and precious promises," which are the edicts of the King, or beneficial laws issued out for the benefit of the subject.

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7. He is a most merciful and compassionate King. He has bowels of compassion towards his enemies; he would have gathered his enemies in Jerusalem, "as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings;" and when his enemies prove obstinate, he "weeps over them," &c. He is loath, at his very

heart, to give up with a people that are giving up with him, Hos. xi. 8: "How shall I give thee up, O Ephraim?" &c.

8. O wonderful sympathy with his subjects! He is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities:" he reckons any favour or injury done to them, as done to himself, Matth. xxv., at the close.

9. A King of immense riches, and unbounded liberality and bounty. "His riches are unsearchable:" "Riches and honour are with him." And as for his bounty, he distributes his grace as freely as the sun scatters his beams through the earth. He invites all the world to come and share of his fulness, Is. lv. 1: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters," &c. Prov. ix. at the beginning.

10. He is a King of untainted veracity and truth. One may depend upon his royal word, "He is not a man that he should lie, neither the Son of man that he should repent." His name is "Truth, the Word of God." One may venture his salvation with safety, on his word, for he never failed; "all the promises of God are in him yea and amen." He has sealed them with his blood, and sets to his royal amen, as "the faithful and true witness," to every one of them.

11. He is an immortal King. Other kings "die like men, they fall like the sons of the mighty;" death brings them out of their high seats, and puts them upon a level with the beggar; but the king of Zion "lives for ever and ever." It is true, he was once dead; but being "the Prince of life," it was not possible that death, the king of terrors, could detain him in his territories, Rev. i. 18: I was dead, but am alive," &c. And the life of all his subjects is bound up in his life.

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12. He is at present an invisible King, out of the sight of our bodily eyes. He has gone within the veil, "to appear in the presence of God for us;" he pleads the cause of all his subjects in the highest heavens. But still he is visible to the eye of faith; "Whom, having not seen, we love." And, in a little [time,] he will be visible to every eye, Rev. i. 7: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him."

13. He is an eternal King: "The King eternal." As his kingdom is "from everlasting," so it is "to everlasting;" "and of the increase of his kingdom and government there shall be no end."

14. He is an independent King. All the powers of the earth depend on him: "By me kings reign, and princes decree justice;" but he depends upon none. It is true his mediatory kingdom is committed to him by his Father, but his essential kingdom is as independent as that of God the Fa