Christ is King of the Nations

Jesus Christ, as Mediator, in his office as King, rules not only over the church, but over all things, as Paul says in Ephesians 1:22: "Head over all things to the church." Although disputed by many, yet it has been the distinctive testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the broad testimony of many Reformed divines outside the RP Church, that Christ indeed, as King, does govern all things, and that his kingly rule is not confined merely to the church.

In March 2016 I began to undertake an historical survey of Reformed literature on the subject, and was delighted to see how many Puritans, Huguenots, Reformed Baptists, Dutch Reformed theologians and modern Reformed divines have also affirmed this important aspect of Christ's mediatorial kingly rule. The fruit of my research is a paper which can be found at a new website, which I hope will serve as a resource for those interested in delving further into this topic. It is a chronological survey covering the period from the 1500s to the present day demonstrating that there is broad historic appreciation within the Reformed church for the Covenanter distinctive doctrine that Christ rules over nations as well as the church in his kingly office.

For those who are interested, please bookmark this page for your reference, and I encourage you to not only read the quotes that I have assembled but also to click on the hyperlinks to the authors' own writings, and to study this important and practical, but often neglected, doctrine at greater length. May the Lord bless your studies, and may Christ's crown and covenant be lifted high among the nations.

A Plea to America

A.A. Hodge, Popular Lectures on Theological Themes, pp. 284-287:

And if Christ is Lord of lords and King of kings, if he is really the Ruler among the nations, then all nations are in a higher sense one nation, under one King, one law, having one interest and one end. There cannot be two laws for Christians—one to govern the relations of individuals, and the other the relations of nations. We must love our neighbor-man as ourselves, so the Master says; therefore we must love our neighbor-man as our own. The rivalries, jealousies, antagonisms and cruel wars between nations are all hideous fratricidal contests and satanic rebellions against Christ our common King. How miserably small and narrow and selfish is the form of so-called patriotism which our poor children are taught is so great a virtue, in comparison with that holy, uplifting passion which comprehends all nations as inseparable parts of the one living universal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Suppose your enterprise in the great competitions of manufacture and trade surpasses theirs, and you grow rich and gild your palaces with the spoils of their poverty; suppose your sinews of war or your personal prowess and valor surpass theirs, and your empire grows great out of the ruins of their commonwealth,—what are you, after all, but the betrayer of your brother's peace or the destroyer of your brother's life and the disloyal render of the body of your common Lord? Alas, that we have yet to learn that the so-called code of honor among nations is just as mean and vulgar a thing as the code of honor among individuals!

And if Christ is really King, exercising original and immediate jurisdiction over the State as really as he does over the Church, it follows necessarily that the general denial or neglect of his rightful lordship, any prevalent refusal to obey that Bible which is the open lawbook of his kingdom, must be followed by political and social as well as by moral and religious ruin. If professing Christians are unfaithful to the authority of their Lord in their capacity as citizens of the State, they cannot expect to be blessed by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in their capacity as members of the Church. The kingdom of Christ is one, and cannot be divided in life or in death. If the Church languishes, the State cannot be in health, and if the State rebels against its Lord and King, the Church cannot enjoy his favor. If the Holy Ghost is withdrawn from the Church, he is not present in the State; and if he, the only "Lord, the Giver of life," be absent, then all order is impossible and the elements of society lapse backward to primeval night and chaos.

Who is responsible for the unholy laws and customs of divorce which have been in late years growing rapidly, like a constitutional cancer, through all our social fabric? Who is responsible for the rapidly-increasing, almost universal, desecration of our ancestral Sabbath ? Who is responsible for the prevalent corruptions in trade which loosen the bands of faith and transform the halls of the honest trader into the gambler's den ? Who is responsible for the new doctrines of secular education which hand over the very baptized children of the Church to a monstrous propagandism of Naturalism and Atheism ? Who is responsible for the new doctrine that the State is not a creature of God and owes him no allegiance, thus making the mediatorial Headship of Christ an unsubstantial shadow and his kingdom an unreal dream?

Whence come these portentous upheavals of the ancient primitive rock upon which society has always rested? Whence comes this socialistic earthquake, arraying capital and labor in irreconcilable conflict like oxygen and fire? Whence come these mad nihilistic, anarchical ravings, the wild presages of a universal deluge, which will blot out at once the family, the school, the church, the home, all civilization and religion, in one sea of ruin ?

In the name of your own interests I plead with you; in the name of your treasure-houses and barns, of your rich farms and cities, of your accumulations in the past and your hopes in the future,—I charge you, you never will be secure if you do not faithfully maintain all the crown-rights of Jesus the King of men. In the name of your children and their inheritance of the precious Christian civilization you in turn have received from your sires; in the name of the Christian Church,—I charge you that its sacred franchise, religious liberty, cannot be retained by men who in civil matters deny their allegiance to the King. In the name of your own soul and its salvation ; in the name of the adorable Victim of that bloody and agonizing sacrifice whence you draw all your hopes of salvation; by Gethsemane and Calvary,—I charge you, citizens of the United States, afloat on your wide wild sea of politics, There Is Another King, One Jesus: The Safety Of The State Can Be Secured Only In The Way Of Humble And Whole-souled Loyalty To His Person And Of Obedience To His Law.

"I charge thee in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession, that thou keep the commandment, without spot, without reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: which in its own times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power eternal. Amen" (1 Tim. 6 : 13-16).

Christ is King Over All

William Dyer, Christ's Famous Titles, pp. 25-30:

...the second title of Jesus Christ is King of Kings, I pray you to take notice of it, it is now to be handled, in Rev. xix. 16, "He had a name written, saith the text, KING of KINGS, and LORD of LORDS. Here is his title now, KING of kings. Beloved, Jesus Christ is a threefold king:

First, His enemies King.

Secondly, His saints King.

Thirdly, His Father's King.

The first, he rules over.

The second, he rules in.

The third, he rules for.

I shall begin with the first, and take them in order.

First, Christ is his ENEMIES King. That is, he is King over his enemies. Christ is a King above all kings, and over all kings, and therefore the Scripture calls HIM, "King of kings!" as you have it in 1 Timothy 6:15. Christ is a King above all kings; for if he were not a King above all kings—he could not be a King over all kings. Two Scriptures prove that Jesus is a King above all kings. God the Father says, "I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth." Psalm 89:27. Now, who is the first-born? Why, it is Jesus Christ; as he is elsewhere called, "the first-born of every creature." "Now," says God, "I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth: higher in glory, higher in power, higher in majesty!" So in Revelation 1:5—there Christ is called, "the Ruler of the kings of the earth."

Alas! alas! what are all the mighty men, the great, the honorable men of the earth—compared to Jesus Christ! They are but like a little bubble on the water; for if all the nations, in comparison to God, be but as the drop of the bucket, or the dust of the balance, as the prophet speaks in Isaiah 40:15— Oh how little then must be the kings of the earth!

Nay, beloved, Christ Jesus is not only above the kings of the earth, and higher than kings—but he is higher than the angels. Yes, he is the head of angels; and therefore all the angels in heaven are commanded to worship him! Col. 2:12, "He is the head of all principalities and powers," which includes angels. And in Hebrews 1:6. "Let all the angels of God worship him." God will have the angels worship Christ—as well as men.

Oh, sirs, Christ is a King, before whom angels veil their faces, and kings of the earth cast down their crowns!

Again, as he is a King above all kings—so he is a King over all kings too. Jesus Christ is an universal King. He is the King over all kingdoms, over all nations, over all governments, over all powers, over all people! Daniel 7:14, "He was given authority, honor, and royal power over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.'' You here see that Christ is not only King of saints—but King of nations too! Therefore you find in Psalm 2:8, "Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth Your possession!" The very heathen are given to Christ, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.

As the Lord Jesus Christ has all the kingdoms of the earth given to him—so likewise he has all power given to him. If this were otherwise, he would have no ability to rule his kingdoms. Matthew 28:18, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Oh, here is a text that should revive the hearts of saints! So that it is he who binds kings in chains, and princes in fetters of iron! It is he who allows no man to do them wrong; yes, he reproves kings for their sakes, and breaks mighty kings in pieces for the saints' sake! And therefore it is he who over-rules kings, and overcomes the kings of the earth that make war with the saints!

Revelation 17:14, "These will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them," and why? "Because he was King of kings, and Lord of lords!" This is the first, Jesus Christ is his enemies King, that is, he is a King above their kings, and over their kings. As Jesus Christ is his enemies King—so he is his saints King.

Secondly, Christ is his SAINTS King. I will give you two Scriptures to prove it: Revelation 15:3. There Jesus Christ is called the saints' King, "O King of saints." So also in Matthew 21:5, "Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey—even on a donkey's colt." So that by these two Scriptures, you see Jesus Christ is King of saints.

Now, beloved, I beseech you here to listen carefully. Jesus Christ you see, is King of the wicked, and of the godly; but as for the wicked, he rules over them by his power and might; but the saints, he rules in them by his Spirit and graces. Now to this the Scripture witnesses, that Jesus Christ rules in the saints, and is the King of the saints; and therefore it tells them, Col. 1:27, "Christ in you the hope of glory," and elsewhere, "Know you not that Christ is in you." Mark, Christ must be in you, "Christ in you the hope of glory." So in Psalm 24:7, "Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be you lifted up, you everlasting doors, that the King of glory may come in." Here Christ is called the King of glory; and the psalmist calls upon men to open their hearts that the King of glory may come in. So in Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me."

Oh this is Christ's spiritual kingdom, and here he rules in the hearts of his people, here he rules over their consciences, over their wills, over their affections, over their judgments and understandings; and therefore he is called the King of saints. It is true, other kings may bear rule ever the estates of men; but as for the soul—that only belongs to Christ! Therefore believers are said to be all glorious within. "The king's daughter is all glorious within," Psalm 45:13. The King of glory rules there, and dwells there! God dwells in the highest heavens—and in the humble hearts. Christ is not only the King of nations—but King of saints; the one he rules over, the other he rules in.

Thirdly, Jesus Christ is his FATHER'S King. So his Father calls him in Psalm 2:6, "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." Well may he be our King—when he is God's King. But you may say, How is Christ the Father's King? Because he rules for his Father. There is a twofold kingdom of God committed to Jesus Christ:

First, A spiritual kingdom, by which he rules in the hearts of his people, and so is King of saints.

Secondly, A providential kingdom, by which he rules the affairs of this world, and so he is King of nations. Now, beloved, the Scripture says, "That the Father has put all things in Christ's hands." And the apostle tells us, "God has put all things under his feet." The Father judges no man—but has committed all judgment to the Son, and he has appointed him over his own house. Now, as Christ has all, so he does all, and rules all for his Father; and therefore the Father calls him his servant. Isaiah 41:2, "Behold my servant." He rules for his Father, and does his Father's will. So that, beloved, in these respects, Christ is a King.

The Duty of Nations

James R. Willson, Political Danger: Essays on the Mediatorial Kingship of Christ over nations and their political institutions 1809-1838, ed., Gordon J. Keddie, pp: 260-261:

Nations Must Acknowledge Christ

Nations are bound, in the constitutions of their government, to recognize formally the authority of the Mediator as their King.

The duty of nations as nations

It is the duty of all individuals who compose a nation to obey Christ. Therefore, the collective body should expressly acknowledge Emmanuel as sovereign Lord. This recognition ought to be embodied in the fundamental law of the empire. When every person in the commonwealth "is under the law to Christ" (1 Cor. 9:21), the whole nation, in its convention representing all, is bound by the law of God, to do homage to Him "who is Lord of all." "All the parts are equal...to the whole" (William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England [London, 1791], Book II, p. 164). As then, when acting apart, every man owes allegiance to Christ, so, when acting together, they cannot nationally be freed from their [obligation] to "the King of kings." "And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people" (Acts 3:23). "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake" (1 Pet. 2:13). Man, who is subject to Christ, ordains civil government by the will of the majority, in the name of the Lord. And this is the formal reason of the willing submission, or obedience. It is for the Lord Christ's sake, from whom the people derive their right to frame the government, by whom the moral laws of the empire are enacted, whose honor and glory are to be promoted, and for whose sake alone that allegiance is due to this ordinance of man.

A Covenanter's 200th Birthday

James M. Willson, American Reformed Presbyterian Covenanter, was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on November 17, 1809 -- the son of another influential Covenanter minister, James R. Willson (1780-1853) -- and died there on August 31, 1866.

He graduated Union College in 1829; served as principal of a high school in Troy, New York; pastored the First Congregation of Philadelphia from 1834 to 1862; served as Professor of Theology at Allegheny Theological Seminary from 1859 onward; and edited both the The Covenanter starting in 1845 and the (joint) Reformed Presbyterian and Covenanter magazines starting in 1863 until his death. He wrote treatises on the diaconate, psalmody, social covenanting, civil government and a variety of other subjects. He was awarded a doctorate of divinity by Westminster College in 1865. He was influential in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America for three decades while he lived, and his writings have continued to bear witness to the Crown and Covenant of Christ, and the distinctives of his church. See W.M. Glasgow, History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America, pp. 723-727, for more detailed biographical information.

Earlier this year, Crown & Covenant Publications published a collection of essays by the senior Willson on subjects ranging from slavery to the doctrine of the Mediatorial Kingship of Christ and its implications for American society entitled Political Danger.

Mediatorial Kingship of Christ

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isa. 9.6-7)

Samuel Davies traces the course of God's redemptive plan through the historical rise, present reality and developing progress of the mediatorial kingdom of Jesus Christ in a famous delivered on May 9, 1756, at Hanover, Virginia, called The Mediatorial Kingdom and Glories of Jesus Christ:

The kingdoms of the world have their rise, their progress, perfection, declension, and ruin. And in these things, the kingdom of Christ bears some resemblance to them, excepting that it shall never have an end.

Its rise was small at first, and it has passed through many revolutions in various ages. It was first founded in the family of Adam, but in about 1600 years, the space between the creation and the flood, it was almost demolished by the wickedness of the world; and at length confined to the little family of Noah. After the flood, the world soon fell into idolatry, but, that this kingdom of Christ might not be destroyed quite, it was erected in the family of Abraham; and among the Jews it continued until the coming of Christ in the flesh. This was indeed but the infancy of his kingdom, and indeed is seldom called by that name. It is the gospel constitution that is represented as the kingdom of Christ, in a special sense. This was but very small and unpromising at first. When its founder was dying upon Calvary, and all his followers had forsaken him and fled, who would have thought it would ever have come to any thing, ever have recovered? But it revived with him; and, when he furnished his apostles with gifts and graces for their mission, and sent them forth to increase his kingdom, it made its progress through the world with amazing rapidity, notwithstanding it met with very early and powerful opposition. The Jews set themselves against it, and raised persecutions against its ministers, wherever they went. And presently the tyrant Nero employed all the power of the Roman empire to crush them. Peter, Paul, and thousands of the christians fell a prey to his rage, like sheep for the slaughter. This persecution was continued under his successors, with but little interruption, for about two hundred years.

But, under all these pressures, the church bore up her head; yea, the more she was trodden, the more she spread and flourished; and at length she was delivered from oppression by Constantine the Great, about the year 320. But now she had a more dangerous enemy to encounter, I mean prosperity: and this did her much more injury than all the persecutions of her enemies. Now the kingdom of Christ began to be corrupted with heresies: the ministry of the gospel, formerly the most dangerous posts in the world, now became a place of honour and profit, and men began to thrust themselves into it from principles of avarice and ambition; superstition and corruption of morals increased; and at length the bishop of Rome set up for universal head of the church in the year 606, and gradually the whole monstrous system of popery was formed and established, and continued in force for near a thousand years. The kingdom of Christ was now at a low ebb; and tyranny and superstition reigned under that name over the greatest part of the christian world. Nevertheless our Lord still had his witnesses. The Waldenses and Albigenses, John Hus, and Jerome of Prague, and Wickliffe in England, opposed the torrent of corruption; until at length, Luther, Calvin, Zuinglius, and several others, were made the honoured instruments of introducing the Reformation from popery; when sundry whole kingdoms, which had given their power to the beast, and particularly our mother-country, shook off the papal authority, and admitted the pure light of the gospel. Since that time the kingdom of Christ has struggled hard, and it has lost ground in several countries; particularly in France, Poland, Bohemia, &c. where there once were many Protestant churches; but they are now in ruins. And, alas! those countries that still retain the reformed religion, have too generally reduced it into a mere formality; and it has but little influence upon the hearts and lives even of its professors. Thus we find the case remarkably among us. This gracious kingdom makes but little way in Virginia. The calamities of war and famine cannot, alas! draw subjects to it; but we seem generally determined to perish in our rebellion rather than submit. Thus it has been in this country from its first settlement; and how long it will continue in this situation is unknown to mortals: however, this we may know, it will not be so always. We have the strongest assurances that Jesus will yet take to him his great power, and reign in a more extensive and illustrious manner than he has ever yet done; and that the kingdoms of the earth shall yet become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. There are various parts of the heathen world where the gospel has never yet been; and the Jews have never yet been converted as a nation; but both the calling of the Jews and the fulness of the gentiles, you will find plainly foretold in the 11th chapter to the Romans; and it is, no doubt, to render the accomplishment of this event the more conspicuous, that the Jews, who are dispersed all over the world, have, by a strange, unprecedented, and singular providence, been kept a distinct people to this day, for 1700 years; though all other nations have been so mixt and blended together, who were not half so much dispersed into different countries, that their distinct original cannot be traced. Posterity shall see this glorious event in some happy future period. How far it is from us, I will not determine: though, upon some grounds, I apprehend it is not very remote. I shall live and die in the unshaken belief that our guilty world shall yet see glorious days. Yes, my brethren, this despised gospel, that has so little effect in our age and country, shall yet shine like lightning, or like the sun, through all the dark regions of the earth. It shall triumph over heathenism, Mahometism, Judaism, popery, and all those dangerous errors that have infected the christian church. This gospel, poor negroes, shall yet reach your countrymen, whom you left behind you in Africa, in darkness and the shadow of death, and bless your eyes with the light of salvation: and the Indian savages, that are now ravaging our country, shall yet be transformed into lambs and doves by the gospel of peace. The scheme of Providence is not yet completed, and much remains to be accomplished of what God has spoken by his prophets, to ripen the world for the universal judgment; but when all these things are finished, then proclamation shall be made through all nature, “That Time shall be no more”: then the Supreme Judge, the same Jesus that ascended the cross, will ascend the throne, and review the affairs of time: then will he put an end to the present course of nature, and the present form of administration. Then shall heaven and hell be filled with their respective inhabitants: then will time close, and eternity run on in one uniform tenor, without end. But the kingdom of Christ, though altered in its situation and form of government, will not then come to a conclusion. His kingdom is strictly the kingdom of heaven; and at the end of this world, his subjects will only be removed from these lower regions into a more glorious country, where they and their King shall live together for ever in the most endearing intimacy; where the noise and commotions of this restless world, the revolutions and perturbations of kingdoms, the terrors of war and persecution, shall no more reach them, but all will be perfect peace, love, and happiness, through immeasurable duration. This is the last and most illustrious state of the kingdom of Christ, now so small and weak in appearance: this is the final grand result of his administration; and it will appear to admiring worlds wisely planned, gloriously executed, and perfectly finished.

What conqueror ever erected such a kingdom! What subjects so completely, so lastingly happy, as those of the blessed Jesus!

Mono to Theo Doxa

"Mono to Theo doxa" (Greek, "To God alone be glory") -- William Symington's personal motto.

William Symington (1795-1862) was a Scottish Reformed Presbyterian minister and theologian known best for two works The Atonement and Intercession of Jesus Christ (1834) and Messiah the Prince (1839). Although his sons published a memoir of Symington's life which appeared in the 1881 edition of Messiah the Prince, and Dr. Roy Blackwood contributed a brief article about him the Dictionary of Scottish Theology, there has been precious little written about this man of God over the years, although the legacy of his writings has made him an enduring representative of Second Reformation principles.

Thankfully, a new book has been published by Reformation Heritage Books which seeks to remedy this oversight. William Symington: Penman of the Scotttish Covenanters (2009, RHB) by Dr. Roy Blackwood and Michael Lefebvre is a helpful guide to the life, theology and writings of this man. It provides a good overview of the principles he stood for and the history of the Covenanters, as well as the experiences and influences of his own life. In addition, we learn something about Dr. Blackwood, whose life was impacted by a thesis he wrote on Symington many years ago. The in-depth examinations of his two greatest works on the atonement and the mediatorial kingship of Jesus Christ (I commend the article linked here on the subject by Pastor Phil Pockras) are valuable, especially for those who are new to these principles; they include helpful diagrams which express the principles visually. The book is well-documented with footnotes (although it lacks an index, which would be helpful to include if there is a future edition).

Russ Pulliam, associate editor of The Indianapolis Star, commends this book highly on the back cover, having been personally influenced by Dr. Blackwood's thesis on Symington years ago to better understand a key teaching of Symington: that the mediatorial kingship of Christ applies to all areas of life.

In what I consider to be his magnum opus, Messiah the Prince (most recently reprinted by BiblioLife in 2009 and available for purchase at Amazon here, as well as to read online here), Symington aims to explore the far-reaching principles associated with Christ's kingly office. As the eternally begotten Son of the Father, Christ has always had authority as God; but in a particular way, as Savior, he obtained royal authority to govern the universe through his victory at the cross, resurrection and ascension, all of which is prophesied in Psalm 2. This we refer to as his mediatorial kingship, which is specially directed to his church, but extensive over all creation, and all spheres of life, relationships and associations. With special reference to Christ's kingship over church and state (and the state's relationship to the church in matters circa sacra), Symington's lays out the Biblical groundwork for understanding both the doctrine and the application of his mediatorial dominion. Christ indeed governs now, not only spiritually in the hearts of his saints, who willing in the day of his power, but presently, in this very world even in the midst of his enemies, even through magistrates, who are his ministers, and even through the tyrants appointed by him to scourage his people. His kingship is not limited to a spiritual reign in the church but extends to all reaches of life, even outside the church. The implications of this dominion are profound, as many who have studied this doctrine will testify. There is no better treatise on the subject than that which Symington wrote over 150 years ago.

I commend this new biography of the man, as well as his own writings to you, dear reader. God grant that every knee would bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is both Lord and King. Thank the Lord for sending William Symington to help us understand what this means, and to men like Dr. Blackwood and Mr. Lefebvre, and others, who have kept his testimony alive. Messiah the Prince rules, let all the nations rejoice!