Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	ordinance_n	power_n	resist_v	1,861	5	9.7674	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59803	The case of the allegiance due to soveraign powers further consider'd, and defended with a more particular respect to the doctrine of non-resistance and passive-obedience : together with a seasonable perswasive to our New Dissenters / by Will. Sherlock ...	Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.	1691 (1691)	Wing S3277; ESTC R13361	22,670	34

also to those who are sent by him who receive their Authority and Commission from the Soveraign Prince St. Paul tells us at large That all Power is of God and that the power is the Minister of God and he that resisteth the power resisteth the ordin●nce of God and therefore we must needs be subjest not only for Wrath that is for fear of being punisht by Men but also for Conscience sake out of reverence to God and fear of his Judgment This St. Peter comprises in one word which includes it all Submit your self to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake for How is God concerned in our Obedience to Princes if they be not his Ministers who are appointed and advanced by him and act by his Authority and if it be not his Will and Command that we should obey them and therefore he adds For this is the will of God that with well-doing that is by obedience and subjection to Princes ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men that is that you may put to silence those foolish men who ignorantly accuse you as fond of Changes and troublesome and dangerous to Government But then St. Peter observing that Christian Liberty was made a pretence for Seditions and Treasons he cautions them against that also As free but not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness that is to cover and excuse such wickedness as Rebellion against Princes but as the servants of God You must remember whatever Freedom Christ has purchased for you he has not delivered you from Obedience and Subjection to God you are His servants still and therefore must be subject to those who receive their Power and Authority from God as all Soveraign Princes do This is as plain one would think as words can make it but nothing can be so plain but that Men who are unwilling to understand and who set their wits on work to avoid the force and evidence of it may be able to find something to say to deceive themselves and those who are willing to be deceived and therefore it will be necessary to consider what false Colours some men have put upon these words to elude and baffle the plain scope and design of the Apostle in them As first they observe that St. Peter calls Kings and subordinate Governours an Ordinance of Man or a human Creature and from hence they conclude that Kings are only the Peoples Creatures they are made by the people and receive their Power from them and therefore are accountable to them if they ●●use their Power In answer to this we may consider 1. That this Interpretation of St. Peter's words is a direct contradiction to St. Paul who expresly asserts That there is no power but of God the powers that be are ord●ined of God but according to this Exposition of Hu●an Creature or the Ordin●nce of Man there is no power of God but all pow●r is derived from the people Kings and Princes may be chosen by Men as it is in Elective Kingdoms and as it was at that time in the Roman Empire but they receive their power from God and thus St. Paul and St. Peter may be reconciled But to affirm That St. Peter calls Kings an Ordinance of Man because they receive their ower and Authority from Men is an irreconcilable contradiction to St. Paul who affirms That they ●eceive their power from God That they are God's and not the peoples Ministers Now though St. Peter and St. Paul did once differ upon a matter of Prudence it would be of ill consequence to Religion to make them differ in so material a Doctrine as this is and yet there is no way to reconcile them but by expounding St. Peter's words so as to agree with St. Paul's for St. Paul's words can never be reconciled with that sence which these men give of St. Peter's and that is a good Argument to me that is not the true interpretation of St. Pe●er for I verily believe that these two great Apostles did not differ in this point 2. St. Peter exhorts them to submit to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake which plainly signifies that whatever hand Men may have in modelling Civil Governments yet it is the Ordinance of God and Princes receive their power from him For it is no act of Disobedience to God to resist our Prince nor of Obedience to God to submit to him if he does not derive his power from God and act by his Authority and Commission especially in such cases when he opposes the Government of God and the Interest of Rel●gion and oppresses not only God's Creatures but his most faithful and obedient People who are his peculiar care and charge In such cases as these if Princes do not receive their power from God they are oppo●●te and rival-powers and we can no more submit to them for God's sake than we can submit to a Reb●l for the sake of that is out of Duty and Loyalty to our Natural Prince And therefore when the Apostle exhorts them for God's sake to submit to their King he plainly supposes what St. Paul did particularly express That Kings receive their p●wer from God and therefore are God's Ministers even when they abuse their power and he that resists resists the Ordinance and Authority of God 3. But suppose we should grant That when St. Peter calls Kings the Ordinance of Man he means That they receive their Power and Authority from Men yet I cannot see what good this will do them for he plainly disowns their consequence That therefore Princes are accountable to the people as to their Superiors and may be resisted deposed and brought to condign punishment if they abuse this power as will appear from these two Observations 1. Tha● He gives the King the Title of Supreme who is above them all and is invested with the supreme and soveraign power Now the supreme power in the very notion of it is i●resistible and unaccountable for otherwise it is not supreme but subject to some superiour Jurisdiction which it is ev●dently known the Roman Emperors of whom the Apostle here speaks were not And 2. That he requires Subjection to this Human Ord●nance which as appears from St. Paul signifies Non-Resistance so that tho' we should grant that the King derives his Power from the people yet it seems God confirms and establishes the Crown on his Head and will not suffer people to take it off again when the● please A Seasonable Admonition to our new Dissenters LET us have a care of our Zeal that we may not mistake an earthly Fire which burns and consumes for that Divine and harmless flame which is kindled at God's Altar A true Zeal for Religion is nothing more nor less than such a hearty Love for it as makes us very diligent in the practice of it our selves and very industrious to promote the knowledg and practice of Religion in the World by all lawful and prudent means A true Christian Zeal will not suffer us to transgress the strict bounds of our Duty to God or of our Duty to Men especially to Kings and Princes whatever flattering prospect of Advantage it may give To lye to forswear our selves to hate and revile each other to reproach and libel Governours in Church and State to stir up or countenance with the least thought any seditious practices against the King or Government is not a Zeal for God nor for Religion for this Wisdom is not from above but is earthly sensual and devilish for where Strife and Contention is there is C●nfusion and every evil work Let us be wary how we begin to entertain or to whisper our Discontents how we begin to listen to Suspicions of our Prince or of his Government and to hear with pleasure any scandalous stories or reflections on either GOD of His infinite Mercy preserve our King and Queen and these Kingdoms our Liberties Laws and Religion from the wicked Conspiracies of all our Enemies Which is the last thing I shall recommend to you to praise God for his Preservation of our King hitherto and earnestly beg that the same Providence would still watch over him for the time to come Let us bless God and let us honour our King and receive him with Joy and Thanksgiving as a new Gift and Present from the hands of God When we are heartily thankful for the Mercies we have already received this will ma●e our Prayers more effectual for the continuance of them O Lord save the King and Queen who putteth their Trust in thee send them help ●rom thy Holy Place and evermore mightily defend them let their Enemies have no advantage against them nor the Wicked approach to hurt them Which God of His infinite Mercy grant through our Lord Jesus Christ to whom with the Father c. FINIS

they must be subject to their Prince too because he acts by God's Au●hority and Commission Were a Soveraign Prince the Peoples Creature that might be a good Maxim Rex major singulis sed minor universis that the King is greater than any particular Subject but less than All together but if he be God's Minister he is upon that account as much greater than All as God is And that the whole Body of the People all together as well as one by one are equally concerned in this Command of being subject to the Higher Powers is evident from this consideration That nothing less than this will secure the Peace and Tranquility of Human Societies The Resistance of single persons is more dangerous to themselves than to the Prince but a powerful Combination of Rebels is formidable to the most puissant Monarchs The greater number of Subjects rebel against their Prince the more too they distress his Government and threaten his Crown and Dignity and his Person and Authority be sacred the greater the Violence is which is offered to him the greater is his Crime Had the Apostle exhorted the Romans after this manner Let no private and single man be so foolish as to rebel against his Prince who will be too strong for him but if you can raise sufficient Forces to oppose against him if you can all consent to depose or murder him this is very innocent and justifiable nay an Heroical Atchievement which becomes a free born people How would this secure the Peace and Quiet of the World How would this have agreed with what follows That Princes are advanced by God and that to resist our Prince is to resist the Ordinance of God and that such men shall be severely punisht for it in this World or the next For can the Apostle be thought absolutely to condemn Resistance if he makes it only unlawful to resist wh●n we want power to conquer Which yet is all that can be made of it if by every soul the Apostle means only particular men not the united force and power of the Subjects Nor can there be any Reason assigned why the Apostle should lay so strict a Command on particul●r Christians to be subject to the higher Powers which does not equally concern whole Na●ions for if it can ever be lawful for a whole Nation to resist a Prince it may in the same circumstances be equally lawful f●r a particular man to do it If a Nation may conspire against a Prin●e who invades their Rights their Liberties or their Religion why may not any Man by the same Reason resist a Prince when his Rights and Liberties are invaded It is not so safe and prudent indeed for a private man to resist as for great and powerful numbers but this makes Resistance only a Matter of Discretion not of Conscience If it be lawful for th● whole Body of a Nation to resist in such Cases it must be equally lawful for a particular man to do it but he does it at his own peril when he has only his one single force to oppose aga●nst his Pri●ce So that our Apostle must forbid Resistance in all or none for single persons do not use to resist or rebel or there is no grea● danger to the Publick if they do but the Authority of Princes and the Security of publick Government is only endangered by a Combination of Reb●ls when the whole Nation or any considerable part for numbers power and in●erest take Arms against their Prince If Resistance of our Prince be a sin it is not the less but the grea●er sin the greater and the more formidable the Resistance is and it would very much unbecome the Gravity and Sacredness of an Apostolical Precept to enjoin sub●ection to private Christians who dare not who cannot resist alone but to leave a powerful Combination of Rebels at liberty to resist so that every Soul must signifie all Subjests whether single or united for whatever is unlawful for every single person considered as a Subject is unlawful for them all together for the whole Nation is as much a Subject to the higher Powers as any single man Thus I am sure it is in our Government where Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament own themselves the Subjects of the King and have by publick Laws disclaimed all Power of raising any War either offensive or defensive against the King Having heard what St. Paul's Doctrine was let us now consider what St. Peter taught about this matter he had as much reason to learn this Lesson as any of the Apostles our Saviour having severally rebuked him for drawing his Sword against the lawful Powers as you have already heard And indeed his rash and intemperate zeal in this Action cost him very dear for we have reason to believe that this was the chief thing that tempted him to deny his Master He was afraid to own himself to be his Disciple or that he had been in the Garden with him because he was conscious to himself that by drawing his Sword and smiting the Servant of the High-Priest he had incurred the penalty of the Law and had he been discovered could expect nothing less but to be severely punish'd for it it may be to have lost his Life for his resistance And indeed this has very often been the fate of those men who have been transported with a boistrous and intemperate Zeal to draw their Swords for their Master and his Religion against the lawful Powers that they commonly deny their Master and despise his Religion before they put their swords up again But St. Peter having by our Saviour's Reproof and his own dear-bought Experience learnt the Evil of Resistance neve● drew his Sword more and took great care to instruct Christians not to do so 1 Pet. 2.13 14 15 16. Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as supreme or unto Governours as to them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of them that do well For so is the will of God that with well-doing ye may put to sil●nce the ignorance of foolish men As free and not using your liberty as a cloak of maliciousness but as the s●rvants of God This is the very same Doctrin which St. Paul taught the Romans Let every soul be subj●ct to the higher powers for the same word is used in the Original and therefore to submit and to be subject is the same thing which as St. Paul tells us signifies Non-Resistance only St. Paul speaks of not resisting the Higher Powers that is Emperors and Soveraign Princes herein including all those who act by their Authority S. Peter to prevent all Cavils and Exceptions distinctly mentions both That we must submit to all humane Power and Authority not only to the King as Supreme that is in St. Paul's phrase to the Higher Powers to all Soveraign Princes who are invested with the supreme Authority but