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A43651 A discourse of the soveraign power in a sermon preached at St. Mary Le Bow, Nov. 28, 1682, before the Artillery Company of London, and now published at their desire / by George Hickes ... Hickes, George, 1642-1715. 1682 (1682) Wing H1845; ESTC R2173 18,621 42

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I shall make some practical inferences from this Loyal Doctrin proper to this Audience and the exgence of the Times in which we live I. First then that Soveraign Princes are Gods Ministers and Vice-Gerents and Reign by his special ordinance is plain from many express texts of the Old and New Testament which are the Loyallest as well as the Divinest Books in the World I will begin with the Old Testament whose Autority were it not of divine inspiration ought upon the account of its antiquity to preponderate with us above any other Volume in the World There as † l. 5. c. 24. Irenaeus observes God saith in the 8th Ch. of the Book of Poverbs By me Kings Reign and Princes decree justice by me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the Earth Hence Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon is called Gods Servant or Minister Jerem. 27.5 6. I have made the Earth and given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me and now I have given all these Lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon my Servant and all Nations shall serve him and his Son and his Sons Son untill the very time of his Land come and then many Nations and great Kings shall serve themselves of him Accordingly when Daniel spoke unto him he said Thou O King art a King of Kings for the God of Heaven hath given thee a Kingdom Power and Strength and Glory Chap. 2.37 and afterwards speaking of him unto Belshazzar his Son he said O thou King the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy Father a Kingdom and Majesty and Glory and Honor and for the Majesty that he gave him all People trembled and feared before him whom he would he slew and whom he would he kept alive and whom he would he set up and whom he would he pulled down According to this Doctrine also God calleth Cyrus his Shepherd and Anointed the very Titles which he gave the Kings of Israel whom he set over his own People Thus saith the Lord I am the Lord that maketh all things that Stretcheth forth the Heavens alone that saith of Cyrus he is my Shepherd and Thus saith the Lord to Cyrus his Anointed I have even called thee by thy name I have surnamed thee tho thou hast not known me I have chosen to instance in these two Pagan Kings rather than in the Kings of Israel because you may see that there is no difference among Soveraign Princes as to the Divinity of their Title but that the Sacred Order of Kings in general is the Ordinance of God And therefore God to Lecture this Doctrine more Emphatically unto us hath together with the Soveraign Autority communicated unto them his own name Thou shalt not revile the Gods saith God nor curse the ruler of thy People and saith the Psalmist Ps 82. God standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty he Judgeth among the Gods and I have said ye are Gods and all of you are Children of the most high In allusion to which saith our Saviour in his own defence Is it not written in your Law I said ye are Gods and if he called them Gods about whom the word of God was spoken say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the World thou blasphemest because thou sayest I am the Son of God That is as much as to say if Kings who arc Anointed and sent by God are called Gods and the Sons of God then how can it be blasphemy in me who am the Messias himself sent from God to say I am his Son Yes Kings are petty Gods who Govern men upon Earth as Michael and Gabriel Govern their Angels in Heaven by immediate delegation from God Their Soveraignty is an Image of his Soveraignty their Majesty the Figure of his Majesty and their Empire a similitude of his Empire they are Supream on Earth as he is in Heaven they derive not their Autority from their Subjects for that would be a contradiction as he derives not his from his creatures but from him alone they derive it they are his Lieutenants and Trustees the honor or dishonor we do them terminates in him who gives them their Scepters and sets them as the Scripture saith he set Solomon upon his own Throne and made him King for the Lord his God 1 Chr. 29.23.2 Chr. 9.8 This is further evident out of the New Testament from that solemn acknowledgment which our blessed Saviour as a Subject of the Empire made of the Soveraign Power of Tiberius whom he owned by paying the Tribute which was due unto him for the Minister of God For for this cause saith the Apostle pay you Tribute also because they are Gods Ministers attending continually upon this very thing To which I shall only add the verses before and after my text Let every soul be subject to the higher powers for there is no power but of God the powers that be are ordained of God whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation Wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same for he is the Minister of God to thee for good But if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the Sword in Vain for he is the Minister of God a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil Wherefore you ought to be subject not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake Here you see how Emphatically the Apostle styleth the Power the Ordinance and the Potentate or Ruler the Minister of God And according to this Apostolical lesson the Primitive Christians did acknowledge the Autority of their persecuting Emperors to be derived from God † Ad Antol. L. 1. Theophilus Bishop of Antioch saith I will honor the Emperor but not adore him I dore the true God knowing that by him the Emperor is ordained And to the same purpose again He is not himself God but a man appointed by God and after a sort entrusted by God with the Oeconomy of the Empire So * Legat. pro Christ Athenagoras Addressing his speech to Marcus Antoninus and his Son Commodus to you saith he the power of all things is committed you have received the Empire from above So * L. 8. Origen tells Celsus that it was not the Heathen God Saturn but God who Governeth all things that setteth up Kings and giveth them Power to Reign and * Eccles Hist l. 7. c. 11. in Eusebius Dionysius of Alexandria saith in the name of the Christians we worship and adore the one God who hath committed the Kingdom to out Sacred Emperors Valcrianus and Gallienus And * l. 5. c. 24. Prenoeus Bishops and Martyr after a particular proof of this Doctrine by many texts of Scripture and this of mine among the rest concludes with these words By whose Command Kings are born Men by his Command