For the presbytery hath challenged the power to excommunicate their own kings,and to be the supreme moderators in religion,in the places where they have that form of Church government,no less than the Pope challengeth it universally.
The words are,"Verily I say unto you,that there be some of them that stand here,which shall not taste of death,till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power."Which words,if taken grammatically,make it certain that either some of those men that stood by Christ at that time are yet alive,or else that the kingdom of God must be now in this present world.And then there is another place more difficult:for when the Apostles after our Saviour's resurrection,and immediately before his ascension,asked our Saviour,saying,"Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"he answered them,"It is not for you to know the times and the seasons,which the Father hath put in His own power;but ye shall receive power by the coming of the Holy Ghost upon you,and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem,and in all Judaea,and in Samaria,and unto the uttermost part of the earth":which is as much as to say,My kingdom is not yet come,nor shall you foreknow when it shall come;for it shall come as a thief in the night;but Iwill send you the Holy Ghost,and by him you shall have power to bear witness to all the world,by your preaching of my resurrection,and the works I have done,and the doctrine I have taught,that they may believe in me,and expect eternal life,at my coming again.How does this agree with the coming of Christ's kingdom at the resurrection?And that which St.Paul says,"That they turned from idols,to serve the living and true God,and to wait for His Son from heaven";where "to wait for His Son from heaven"is to wait for his coming to be king in power;which were not necessary if his kingdom had been then present.Again,if the kingdom of God began,as Beza on that place would have it,at the resurrection;what reason is there for Christians ever since the resurrection to say in their prayers,"Let thy kingdom come"?It is therefore manifest that the words of St.Mark are not so to be interpreted.There be some of them that stand here,saith our Saviour,that shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come in power.If then this kingdom were to come at the resurrection of Christ,why is it said,some of them,rather than all?For they all lived till after Christ was risen.
But they that require an exact interpretation of this text,let them interpret first the like words of our Saviour to St.Peter concerning St.John,"If I will that he tarry till I come,what is that to thee?"upon which was grounded a report that he should not die.Nevertheless the truth of that report was neither confirmed,as well grounded;nor refuted,as ill grounded on those words;but left as a saying not understood.The same difficulty is also in the place of St.Mark.And if it be lawful to conjecture at their meaning,by that which immediately follows,both here and in St.Luke,where the same is again repeated,it is not improbable to say they have relation to the Transfiguration,which is described in the verses immediately following,where it is said that "After six days Jesus taketh with him Peter,and James,and John"(not all,but some of his Disciples),"and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves,and was transfigured before them.And his raiment became shining,exceeding white as snow;so as no fuller on earth can white them.And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses,and they were talking with Jesus,"etc.So that they saw Christ in glory and majesty,as he is to come;insomuch as "they were sore afraid."And thus the promise of our Saviour was accomplished by way of vision.For it was a vision,as may probably be inferred out of St.Luke,that reciteth the same story,and saith that Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep:but most certainly out of Matthew 17.9where the same is again related;for our Saviour charged them,saying,"Tell no man the vision until the Son of Man be risen from the dead."Howsoever it be,yet there can from thence be taken no argument to prove that the kingdom of God taketh beginning till the day of judgement.
