Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	king_n	law_n	resist_v	2,184	5	9.6676	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36929	Three sermons preached in St. Maries Church in Cambridg, upon the three anniversaries of the martyrdom of Charles I, Jan. 30, birth and return of Charles II, May 29, gun-powder treason, Novemb. 5 by James Duport ...	Duport, James, 1606-1679.	1676 (1676)	Wing D2655; ESTC R14797	53,659	86

have them impos'd nor commanded becaus indifferent And is not this said to proceed from tenderness of conscience and fear of doing somthing against the will of God reveal'd in his Word Thus men must be disobedient to lawful Autority and so resist the Ordinance of God even for conscience sake And though sure they do not much honour the King who disobey him by transgressing his Laws yet such men think they fear God as much yea more than any and that they are the most if not the only religious and conscientious men and all others but formalists and time-servers and meer moral men in comparison 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But now becaus there is such a nois of conscience I would earnestly entreat and beseech such men for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ diligently to search and examin their own hearts for the heart is deceitful above all things and see whether instead of that they call conscience and make it a plea for their disobedience there may not be something else lying at the bottom that looks like conscience when indeed 't is nothing less but rather humour or passion or fancy or faction or prejudice or interest or singularity or hypocrisie or spiritual pride If our heart condemn us saith St. John God is greater then our heart and knows all things I am very well aware of what follows in the next vers from whence some would infer that they may boldly and lawfully do whatever their conscience bids them If our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God But sure that must be understood of a heart and conscience truly enlightned and rightly inform'd otherwise we have no caus to be confident for our heart may deceiv us and conscience if misguided is a dangerous thing and will soon marr all and make foul work and set the whole world on a flame Did not Paul persecute the Church out of Zeal to Religion and did not they that kill'd the Disciples and Saints of Christ think they did God good service Thus conscience if misled and not well guided taught and instructed may do a world of mischief where it is But then again is it not easie to pretend it where it is not for have not we known the most horrid and devilish designs carry'd on under a shew and pretence of conscience and the Caus of God and Religion The truth is Conscience is made a sadle for every hors a bush or sign to hang at every door And as long as the heart is so deceitful as long as there is so much hypocrisie in the world we have little reason to trust every such show and pretence of conscience either in our selvs or others Especially when we have a more clear light to guide and direct us and a more sure rule to walk by viz. the Word of God Conscience is a dark close secret intricate thing it has many crooked windings and turnings but the Word of God at least in things necessary to Salvation such as is obedience to lawful Autority is plain and easie clear and evident and there are no such Maeanders or ambages in it Conscience may err and lead us into errour like an Ignis fatuus 't is fallible and uncertain it may deceiv and be deceiv'd but the Word of God is an unerring guide a certain and infallible rule Conscience then is no sure rule to trust to we have a more sure rule even the sure Word of God whereunto we shall do well to take heed as to a light that shines in a dark place as our Apostle St. Peter speaks In brief the Word of God is the rule of our lives and of our consciences both and truly conscience will play mad pranks if not regulated and guided by this rule and for men to pretend conscience against the express Word and Commandment of God what is it else but to turn Antiscripturists and so Atheists under pretence of Religion Does not Solomon counsel us to keep the Kings commandment and that in regard of the oath of God where we see he expresly makes Religion towards God the ground and foundation of our obedience to the King so that he that keeps the King's commandment keeps the commandment of God And is not this the clear and express commandment of God here in the Text Honour the King And shall any then plead conscience for not Honouring him Can any man in conscience truly fear God and not honour the King for can a man fear God and not keep his commandments And is not the fifth commandment one of the ten or can any one honour the King and yet slight his Autority or refuse to obey his Laws And are not the Ecclesiastical Laws by the way the King's Laws And have not they the impress of Regal Sanction and the stamp of Royal autority set upon them as well as the Civil What plea then or excuse can men have for not keeping and observing of them especially when they pretend to be so good Christians to fear God and keep his commandments If mens consciences be misled and mistaken which is the best can be imagin'd yet God and the King must not loos their right An erroneous conscience cannot cancel the bond of obedience nor excuse any from doing his duty Indeed it may so ensnare and entangle him that durante illâ conscientiâ he cannot proceed one way or other without Sin but still datur exitus for Nemo angustiatur ad peccandum saith the School still there 's a way left to get out and to extricate himself and that is deponere errorem conscientiae to rectifie his conscience to quit and forsake his errour which he may do by giving all moral diligence and using all good means for his better information And if he would do that let him not lean too much to his own understanding but rather distrust his own judgment than the judgments of so many wise grave learn'd and godly men his Superiors in Church and State the King and those that are in autority under him And then let him in the fear of God duly and impartially weigh and examin the grounds and reasons of his dissent and disobedience not thinking it sufficient that he has met with some little umbrages and shadows of offence in general taken at the King 's Ecclesiastical Laws the Orders and Ceremonies and Liturgy of the Church but let him come to particulars and then seriously consider and ask his own heart whether indeed he be able to prove by Scripture or reason any one thing enjoyn'd to be unlawful and repugnant to the Word of God for till that be done 't is in vain for any to plead or pretend tenderness of conscience for their contempt and disobedience And then let him ask himself but one question more viz. how far he thinks some few needless niceties doubts and scruples about things indifferent will bear him out and excuse him another day for his

neglect of so necessary and fundamental a duty as honouring the King and yeilding obedience to his Laws That submission to lawful Autority and Obedience either active or passive is a most necessary duty no Christian can or will deny I say Obedience either active or passive active in things lawful passive in others Now if men bring themselves into danger or lie under any hardship for disobeying the King and not performing his lawful commands what joy of heart their passive obedience can be to them or what great content or comfort they can find in their sufferings I cannot conceiv but shall leavs it to all prudent and unprejudiced and impartial men to judge And here I shall only add this as to the matter of Non-conforming to the Kings Ecclesiastical Laws and so draw to a conclusion Let men diligently take heed and beware lest in stead of conscientious Non-conformists for some such I believ there are though it's pity there should be men of of such weak and tender consciences that for want of due instruction and right information they are really and truly dissatisfy'd I say let men take heed lest in stead of being such they prove as too many I fear there are pervers and stubborn and obstinate Schismatics or which is all one fanatic hypocritical Rebels And if so then as I said before to the prophane ranting Royalists That by their vicious and ungodly lives they bring a scandal and reproach upon Loyalty So I must say to these men That by their spurning at lawful Autority and their undutifulness to the Higher Powers they bring a scandal and reproach upon Christianity while they make Religion a cloak for Rebellion and pretend conscience for their disobedience I have been the longer upon this because indeed 't is Morbus Epidemicus the diseas of the times and I would fain if possible help to beat men out of this hold viz. of making the fear of God a plea for not honouring the King a pretence so directly contrary to the Doctrine of St. Peter here in the Text where he joyns these two duties together in a bond of inseparable union I say these two Duties which I have hitherto prov'd to be like Hippocrates's twins that live and dy together Fear God Honour the King so that no man can do the one and omit the other and as he that is a prophane wicked and ungodly man cannot be a true faithful and loyal subject so on the other side he that is a fals disloyal undutiful subject pretend what he will cannot be a holy good and godly Christian. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the thing I have been proving all this while viz. that No man can truly fear God but he that honours the King Now there are several ways of honouring or giving honour to any several sorts of honour I mean of honour strictly taken as here in the Text for otherwise honour is taken in a more large acception as oppos'd to contempt scorn or hatred and so in the beginning of the vers Honour all men that is have a due respect to all do not hate nor scorn despise nor contemn any But honour strictly and properly taken is only due to Superiors and so in this sens there are several sorts of honour these three especially The honour of Obedience the honour of Reverence and the honour of Maintenance and all these comprehended and included in the word honour both in the fifth commandment where we are bid to honour our Parents and also here in the Text which is a branch of that commandment where we are bid to honour the King Of the first of these I have been speaking all this while viz. of the honour of Obedience and for the two latter the honour of Reverence and the honour of Maintenance as I have now no time so no need I hope to say much of them For that both these sorts of honour are due to the King or Supreme Magistrate as well as that of Obedience is out of all question it being so consonant to the principles both of Religion and Reason and so agreeable to the rules both of Divinity and Policy So that most men yeild their assent to the truth of it as to the Theory though in the Practice sometimes they fail and fall short So then besides that of Obedience there are these two other sorts of honour more both confessedly due to Kings and Princes viz. the honour of Reverence and the honour of Maintenance the one for the safeguard and defenc of their Royal Persons the other for the support of their Regal Estate Crown and Dignity For first if their Persons be once slighted undervalu'd and disesteem'd their lives will soon be in danger and then again if their jura Regalia their Regalities or Revenues of the Crown be clipt and cut short the Reverence of their Persons will not long continue Therefore we find Honour in Scripture sometimes put for supply or maintenance or payment of rights and dues as of Tithe or Tribute and Offerings and the like Honour the Lord with thy substance and so the King too Honour widows that is maintain them by supplying their wants and necessities and to this purpose St. Paul in that 13th to the Rom. v. 7 Render therefore to all and so to Kings and Princes their dues tribute to whom tribute c. where we have tribute and custome and honour put together tribute and custome being a great part of the honour due to Kings Therefore our Saviour commends and commands it both by his precept and practice by his precept in his Reddite Caesari by his practice when he pay'd tribute himself yea and rather than not pay it he would work a miracle and fetch it out of a fishes mouth and he made St. Peter to do it which St. Peter's Successor the Fisherman of Rome I fear is not so forward to do to pay tribute I mean to Kings and Emperours but rather make them pay homage and tribute to him which if they refuse to do and so prove Heretics Rebels to the Apostolic See the Chair of Rome and the Triple Crown presently ipso facto they forfeit their own Crowns I and their Lives too away with 'um depose and kill ' um This is the Jesuits Doctrine but they learnt it not of Jesus nor Peter nor Paul nor Tertullian nor of any of the ancient Fathers What Christ and Peter and Paul have said we have already heard Let us hear now if you will what Tertullian saith for himself and the rest of the Primitive Christians of his time Colimus Imperatorem tanquam hominem à Deo secundum solo Deo minorem We honour and worship and reverence the Emperour next to God And St. Chrysostome to name no more upon that famous place to the Romans Omnis anima Let every soul be subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though he be an Apostle or Evangelist or Bishop or whatever he be if he come within the