Hobbes - Leviathan.pdf

shall be a new heaven and a new earth; the kingdom of Christ is not to
begin till the general resurrection. And that is it which our
Saviour saith, "The Son of Man shall come in the glory of his
Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man
according to his works."*(2) To reward every man according to his
works is to execute the office of a king; and this is not to be till
he come in the glory of his Father, with his angels. When our
Saviour saith, "The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat; all
therefore whatsoever they bid you do, that observe and do";*(3) he
declareth plainly that he ascribeth kingly power, for that time, not
to himself, but to them. And so he doth also, where he saith, "Who
made me a judge or divider over you"*(4) And, "I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world."*(5) And yet our Saviour came into
this world that he might be a king and a judge in the world to come:
for he was the Messiah, that is, the Christ, that is, the anointed
priest and the sovereign prophet of God; that is to say, he was to
have all the power that was in Moses the prophet, in the high
priests that succeeded Moses, and in the kings that succeeded the
priests. And St. John says expressly, "The Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all judgement to the Son."*(6) And this is not
repugnant to that other place, "I came not to judge the world": for
this is spoken of the world present, the other of the world to come;
as also where it is said that at the second coming of Christ, "Ye that
have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in
the throne of his glory, ye shall also sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel."*(7)
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* John, 18. 36
*(2) Matthew, 16. 27
*(3) Ibid., 23. 2
*(4) Luke, 12. 14
*(5) John, 12. 47
*(6) Ibid., 5. 22
*(7) Matthew, 19. 28
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If then Christ, whilst he was on earth, had no kingdom in this
world, to what end was his first coming It was to restore unto God,
by a new covenant, the kingdom which, being his by the old covenant,
had been cut off by the rebellion of the Israelites in the election of
Saul. Which to do, he was to preach unto them that he was the Messiah,
that is, the king promised to them by the prophets, and to offer
himself in sacrifice for the sins of them that should by faith
submit themselves thereto; and in case the nation generally should
refuse him, to call to his obedience such as should believe in him
amongst the Gentiles. So that there are two parts of our Saviour's
office during his abode upon the earth: one to proclaim himself the
Christ; and another by teaching, and by working of miracles, to
persuade and prepare men to live so as to be worthy of the immortality
believers were to enjoy, at such time as he should come in majesty
to take possession of his Father's kingdom. And therefore it is that
the time of his preaching is often by himself called the regeneration,
which is not properly a kingdom, and thereby a warrant to deny
obedience to the magistrates that then were; for he commanded to
obey those that sat then in Moses' chair, and to pay tribute to
Caesar; but only an earnest of the kingdom of God that was to come
to those to whom God had given the grace to be his disciples and to
believe in him; for which cause the godly are said to be already in