greatest men for Temporal Honour and Advancement our Saviour in taking down their Ambitious Heats and Strivings about Superiority convinceth them of their Folly by an Argument drawn from the different Offices of Worldly Kings and those of the Apostles by an Antithesis of their distinct Constitutions in these Words The Kings of the Gentiles exercise LordShip over them and they that exercise Authority upon them are called Benefactors By Kings of the Gentiles our Saviour not only expresseth Heathenish Monarchs but all Political Magistracy and they are express'd here Synecdochicè by Kings of the Gentiles either because Gentile Monarchs did then especially Govern the Kingdoms of the Earth or else because the Word Gentiles denotes all People collectively whether Heathens or Christians And he there expresseth the Office of the Publick Magistrate in these two Words Dominari and Benefici For the punishment of evil Doers and for the Praise of them that do Well That the Authority of the Supreme Magistrate is necessary for the punishment of evil Doers nothing is more clear for without the Magistrates Sword every private Man's would be set against his Neighbours and the excellent Seneca could tell us that the not punishing of Malefactors is to Scourge and Torment good men And upon this account was it that St. Paul says of the Supreme Magistrate that he bears not the Sword in vain by the Sword is understood the Power of exercising and putting the Penal Laws in execution against Malefactors to give them suitable Punishments to their demerits and by bearing the Sword he alludes to the custom of Princes and Majestrates who have the Sword and other Ensigns of Authority carry'd before them We need not urge quotations from Holy Writ to shew how much the impartial execution of Justice exalts a Nation nor need we enumerate those Positive Commands from the Almighty to those who are in Authority That Judgment run down as Waters and Righteousness as a mighty Stream Nor need we so much as remind you what Comminations are denounc'd what Woes are threatn'd to those who turn Judgment backward who make Justice stand a far of c. For 't is enough that we take notice how much the very Esence and Constitution of Government it self is indanger'd whilst the execution of the Penal Laws is Baulk'd and Publick Offenders in the very Face of Authority unpunish'd For First if Malefactors be not Punish'd by Malefactors I mean not only Murtherers Fellons c. but all others who live in an open and wilful breach of the known Laws if these be not punish'd and suppress'd by Authority the Natural good of men is endanger'd i. e. the Lives and Bodies of the Kings good Subjects are continually hazarded Secondly If Malefactors be not Punish'd our Moral good is indanger'd Virtue will be discourag'd run down and suppress'd and Vice will become no less spreading than Fatal and Destructive Thirdly If Malefactors are unpunish'd our Civil good is indanger'd our Goods and Possessions cannot be call'd our own Fourthly If the Penal Laws are unexecuted our Spiritual good is most of all indanger'd our Religion as now by Law establish'd will be made a prey to our Enemies who already laugh us to Scorn and who would gladly be crying once more with those Impious men the Psalmist mentions Down with it down with it even to the Ground But God we trust will defend this part of his Catholick Church which he himself hath planted in these Kingdoms And though She be Militant against Principalities and Powers against Spiritual Wickednesses and though She hath so many incarnate Agents who causelesly conspire Her fall yet as the Psalmist zealously Let God arise and all her Enemies be scatter'd and the joynt contrivances of Devils and Men against Her shall be brought to nought And to this end Let us beseech God with the Church that he would strengthen the hands of our Gracious King Charles and all that are put in Authority under him with Judgment and Justice to cut of all such Workers of Iniquity who would unhinge the present Government in Church and State that so they may never prevail against us or Triumph in the ruine of God's Church amongst us We come now in a word or two to the Third Inference from our Subject which is That none may â—…atter themselves who make no Conscience to disobey the Lawful Commands of a Lawful Authority we shall only remind such and leave it to their serious Consideration Although they may for the present escape the Temporal Sword by their Politick Contrivances yet the Judge of all the Earth shall meet with 'em for as there is a reward for the Righteous so doubtless there is a God that Judgeth the Earth At the entrance of Abraham's Expostulation with God in the behalf of Sodom and the other Cities Gen. 18.25 he useth these Words Shall not the Judge of all the world do right And Job tells us Far be Wickedness from God and Iniquity from the Almighty surely God will not do Wickedly neither will the Almighty pervert Judgment Now though some men may hug themselves with that Heathenish Divinity Prosperâ—m Faelix scaelus virtus vocatur though they may Blasphemously Father the success of their unjust Proceedings upon the Providence of God though they may for the present so manage their Extortions Oppressions Libels Mutinies Factions Treasons c. as that no humane Laws can hinder their Endeavours Contrivances and Caballs in order to their Rending the beautiful Frame and Constitution of Church and State and all this to gratify their Pride ill Nature and Intrest yet shall not God meet with such and pay them what they deserve Though men may so Tamper with the Country as that they shall be brought off and clear'd in this World whilst yet they live in the open breach and defiance of the known Laws yet God will not be mock'd the Judge of all the Earth shall do right upon ' em And though for a moment men may impose upon and flatter their Consciences having got the weather gage of the Penal Laws and have provided how to put by the Stroke of the Magistrates Sword and then say the Law is open if any be griev'd let them remedy themselves we must indure it and there 's an End yet assuredly God will enter into Judgment with such and there will be no error assign'd in his Judgment For says one there is no appeal from God not throughly inform'd to God better inform'd because he always knows all Evidence before it be given therefore however we may Juggle here upon Earth yet when he comes to Judge all the Workers of Iniquity sâ—… confess his Judgment to be right though the reâ—…t be their own Eternal Condemnation Now that all of us in our several Places and Callings may so respectively discharge our Duties to God and our Neighbours that this Life ended we may be receiv'd into Everlasting Habitations God grant for Christs sake Amen FINIS
Imprimatur Octob. 18. 1682. SAM CROBROW A SERMON Preached July 26. 1682. IN THE Cathedral Church Of St. Peter in YORK At the Assizes for that County By James Hickson M. A. and Rector of St. Cuthbert's in York LONDON Printed for Richard Lambert Bookseller in York 1682. To the Honourable WILLIAM LOWTHER Esq HIGH-SHERIFF Of the County of YORK SIR HAD not your desire which I shall always look upon as Equivalent to a Command such have been your repeated Favours to have those unpolish'd Notes made Publick delivered before you never calculated for the Press overpersuaded me no other Motive should have prevail'd And for a Reason of this my Resolution once positively espous'd and determin'd upon I could tell the World as others have done if I had that kindness for it for my Inability and draw up an Indictment against my own Imperfections but these if ever will be too soon discover'd and who will applaud that Mans discretion who should knowingly uncover his Defects before those who instead of Pitty and Redress would expose and deride ' em My Design in the ensuing Tract is Just and Honest and the knowing Reader will connive at though he cannot commend the Method and Management of it As for the censorious who are commonly prejudic'd and disaffected whose Bolts are soon Shot as it hath never been my Practice either Publickly or Privately to Claw and Curry their Factions humors so I shall not be concern'd for their Disrespect One thing will recommend the Discourse to the Generality namely its Brevity which in a great Measure will compensate for the coursness of the dress I am SIR Your real and obedient Servant James Hickson PROV 20.8 A King that sitteth in the Tbrone of Judgment scattereth away all Evil with his Eyes IN the Fourth Chapter of the First Book of the Kings we there read the Wisdom of King Solomon particularly discrib'd and character'd from the effects of it for if we consider him only quatenus Man none of the Philosophers since Adam may be compar'd to him either for Ethicks Politicks Physicks or Metaphysicks So great a Botanist so curious a Simpler that he writ from the Cedar to the Hyssop so admirable in Natural Philosophy that he spake of Beasts and Fowl and Creeping things and Fishes And though all his profound Commentaries upon Nature are withdrawn from Mankind which would but have fed their Curiosities yet his Divine Morals in this incomparable Book of the Proverbs are transmitted to all Ages and shall out-live the World By these our Lives are directed and the Enormities of them curb'd and condemn'd I find good Proverbs recommended by one above other Discourses for five Excellencies which we shall only Name First For their Antiquity Antiquiora nobiliora and in this respect these of our Royal Author are especially valluable Secondly Their Brevity doth signallize their Worth in that they do not like tedious Discourses so burthen the Memorative faculty Thirdly Their Significancy in couching a great deal of matter in a few words is no small addition to their worth and upon this account I find 'em call'd Mucrones verborum Pointed Speeches whose succinct profoundness makes amends and recompenseth for their plain homely and familiar habit Fourthly Their Experience pleads fair for their entertainment They have for the most part a Probatum est affix'd to them for their ground and rise was from experience and that many times woful So that we may be wise upon better and more safe and easy Terms than those who made 'em or from whom they had their rise Fifthly They are to be reverenced for their Truth and though Proverbs have their limits as well as General Rules have their exceptions and though they do not always hold good yet there is presumption that for the most part they do The Greeks express them by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 high-way Expressions because as a Father observes such Proverbs or Sentences were written and ingraven by the High-ways for the information as well as for the delight and divertion of Travellers not only affording them matter of Contemplation but also to confer and discourse of with others as they Journy'd The Proverbs of Solomon are call'd his Sons Reigning by them as gloriously in his Wisdom as he ever did over Israel by his outward Splendor and Magnificence They are for the most part independent and intire of themselves without having any relation to the precedent or subsequent Words of which our Subject is one A King that sitteth in the Throne of Judgment scatterth away all Evil with his Eyes We shall First Explain the particulars of the Proverb it self Secondly Deduce those natural inferences from it which may serve both for our Admonition and Caution A King that sitteth in the Throne of Judgment 'T is a Hebrew phrase and Lavater upon the place makes the signifiation of it very large and extensive It implies to know Causes to administer true Justice to defend the Good and to force and compel the Refractory and Disobedient and this saith he is the Duty of all Kings and Magistrates This if they do impartially and without respect of Persons then nutu oculorum they will depress and run down Wickedness and Vice with the greatest ease and facility The Septuagint render it When a just King sits upon his Throne Evil dare not face him it dare not offer or present it self before him For the Generality though they have so little of Christianity how great a Clamor and Noise soever they may seemingly make about it as not to obey the Publick Magistrate for Conscience sake because 't is their duty and commanded them by the express Word of God yet when once Justice comes to be impartially executed few or none of such great Pretenders will indure the Lash of the Penal Laws A King that sits in the Throne of Judgment i. e. saith Lapide the Jesuit A King who makes use of his Regal Authority committed to him by God himself by being a Father and a Tutor to the Good but to the Disobedient a Revenger to execute Wrath. Great saith another is the Majesty of a King many ways but he is in his greatest Majesty when he sitteth upon the Throne of Judgment for when Judgment is his Throne then Glory is his Canopy A Monarch is then in his true altitude his Lustre is then vertical and in its full brightness A King who thus sits in the Throne of Judgment who irrespectively commands that Justice shall be executed according to the demeris of those who transgress the Laws will scatter away all Evil with his Eyes His angry Eyes against Evil being so sharp that the Transgressors dare not look upon him to appear before him Then are the Sun and the Wind met the Sun of his Wisdom and the Wind of his Power by searching and punishing to drive away and disperse even all the Clouds of Wickedness Scattereth away all Eveil with his Eyes His Eyes are the beholding of
they were even then Obedient when the particular Cruelties against them gave the greatest advantage unto Temptations of Disobedience If we peruse the Acts of the Apostles and the History of the Primitive Christians we may by the perspective of History contemplate their Inprisonment though unjustly Committed but not behold them in the Camp to resist Authority we may behold them drawn before Magistrates not drawing Magistrates before them as the Authour to the Hebrews more fully informs you They were Stoned but we never find them Stoning Stricken with the Sword but we never find them Striking with the Sword We do not find them like our Saints of the late Edition binding their Kings in Chains and their Nobles in Fettors of Iron And though as one says all Christs Subjects are Free yet 't is a Freedom from Spiritual Bondage not from Civil Subjection Christs Free-men are oblig'd to Obedience for Freedom from Rule argues Slaves to Sin True Liberty is a Power to do what we ought not what we will consisting in a Freedom from the Dominion of mens Lusts not from Humane Laws a Freedom from Sin not to Sin In a word it consists in a Liberty to serve God and not in disobeying the Lawful Magistrate And 't were well if all who conceit themselves Saints and Precious ones were really so for then they would be better Christians and better Subjects And granting for suppositions sake that these tender ones were really Saints truly and universally Consciencious yet they are not Angels and consequently as they are but Flesh and Blood they may both do Wrong and suffer Wrong and so stand in need of the Publick Magistrate to keep 'em right and to do 'em right Fourthly If men would enjoy those Properties and Priviledges which they keep such a noise about they must Pray for all who are set in Authority over them that under them we may lead quiet and peaceable Lives Subjects should have their Eyes up to Heaven for those who sit at the Helm of State whilst they are Consulting for our Safety we should be Praying for them And that God requires this Duty from us is plain from St. Paul's command 1 Tim. 2.1 2. I will therefore that first of all Prayers Supplications Intercessions and giving of Thanks be made for all men and then comes to particularize in Kings and all that are in Authority But as if these were no Apostolick Command as if this were no part of Gods revealed Will by which man must be Saved the Generality what by the prejudice of Education and the conduct and advice of some Factious Shebaes are strongly possess'd that those plain Commands of Obedience to Authority are cancell'd and may be dispenc'd with if they be perswaded in their Consciences that the Commands of their Superiors cross and thwart with the Divine Laws they themselves being the Sole Judges and must they not keep their Consciences Now 't is notoriously evident and in all Ages has been demonstrated by woful Experience that the pretences of Conscience have not failed to Patron and abet the greatest Villanies which have ever been practic'd upon the Face of the Earth But the plain truth is When People pretend a tenderness of Conscience in Indifferences before they are Commanded by Authority and in the mean time make no Conscience of Obedience and Subjection to the Lawful Commands of their Lawful Sovereign they mean nothing by their Consciences but themselves the securing and advancing of their Temporal Interest And consequently if you tell People of this Bran and Genius of the practice of the Primitive Church tell 'em of Turtullian's Apology for the Subjection and Obedience of those Christians when at the same time they wanted not Force if they would have turn'd Rebels and you may as well tell 'em a Story out of any ordinary Romance or out of the Legend If you can help such men to Wrest and Misinterpret the Penal Statutes if you can direct 'em how to elude the Penal Laws so as they may continue in the open breach and defiance of the Positive Commands of Lawful Authority then you do something then you shall not want the reward of Divination Give men thus tenderly Conscienc'd a Lawyer better read in Tully's Offices than the Whole duty of Man Give 'em an Attorney of a Dexterous Application which is only a Periphrasis or Modish Synonima for a Knave who can provide for the nicking of a Cause that the Wicked may not triumph over the People of the Lord and then you please them We come now to the Second Observable inferr'd from our Subject which is to shew you that as the King's Throne is Gods so God hath constituted him over his People for the Punishment of Wickedness and Vice to execute Vengeance upon Malefactors as well as for the Praise of the Good That the King's Throne is God's we find demonstrated and plainly evidenc'd by that Quotation out of the first Book of the Chron. Ch. 29. Ver. 23. Solomon sat in the Throne of the Lord as King instead of David his Father The Scepter of the King is Gods Scepter and as 't is given by him none else can take it from him Those men strike at the Center of all Power God himself who assert that the King's Power is of the Peoples Creating As some men have Atheistically Imagined That the Soul of man is nothing else but a resultance of the Temperement and Constitution of the Body of man and not an infussion from God So says one Excellently for men to think and I wish it were no otherwise communicated that that Power by which the World is Govern'd to be but a resultance of the consent and the tacit voice of the People and no particular Ordinance of God is an undervaluing a false conception a misapprehension of those Beams of Power which God from himself derives upon those whom himself calls Gods in this World and thus we find them Styl'd in several Places in Holy Writ I have said ye are Gods c. And 't is well as one Excellently upon the 82. Psalm that Kings are not the Children of the most Voices but of the most High and though says he the Approbation of the People may serve ad Pompaâ—â— yet not ad Necessitatem They may add something to the Solemnity but nothing to the Essence of the Constitution That God hath constituted the Supreme Magistrate over his People for the Punishment of Malefactors is not only discribed at large by St. Paul Rom. 13. but our Lord and Saviour likewise assures us of as much St. Luke Ch. 22. Ver. 25. you read there that the Disciples contending amongst themselves which of them should be accounted the Greatest the ground and bottom of the contest had its rise from that Petition which Zebedee preferr'd to our Saviour at the instance of her two Sons St. James and St. John that the one might sit on his Right hand the other on the Left in his Kingdom i. e. be the