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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
hand_n	call_v	great_a	king_n	4,654	5	3.5737	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
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

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

Honour and never do them hurt or damage but Defend them to your Power But if notwithstanding your Care and Endeavours to the contrary any disaffected Persons have or may hereafter creep in among you let their Right-hands forget their Cunning and cease to be dextrous in handling the Sword Let them never be able to stretch forth Hand or Sword against the Lords Anointed or if they do let them prosper according to the presage of our Blessed and Obedient Saviour who said He that taketh up the Sword that is without or against Autority shall perish by the Sword Let their Calamity as Solomon saith rise suddenly Let swift Destruction as David pray'd against his Enemies come upon them unawares let them be as the Chaff before the Wind and the Angel of the Lord scattering them Let all this come upon them as upon Absalom Brutus Cassius and Choerea and I hope there is none so disloyal in this Audience at least in this Honourable Company that will not heartily say Amen There are other Excellent Uses to be made of this Doctrine especially against the unchristian Practises of those Men who not having the fe●r of the King of Kings before their Eyes love to speak and do every thing as far as safely they may against the Honour of his Vice-gerent standring his Person and Government belying or mis-construing his best Proceedings blaming or Censuring his most Innocent Actions delighting in his Misfortunes Triumphing in his Wants Aggravating his Infirmities dispersing Stories and Rumours to his Prejudice and loving to do every thing that tends to weaken his Autority and withdraw the Hearts of his People from him and render him Odious and Contemptible in their Eyes If you ask these Men with what Conscience they can thus treat their Soveraign they will tell you they do nothing but what they can Justifie by Law as if the Laws of the Land and not the Laws of the Gospel were the compleat and adequate Rule of Christian Duty Subjection and Obedience Or as if Men were to be Try'd at the last Judgment by those and not by these But alas the Man of God as the Apostle calls a Christian cannot be made Perfect in any one Duty by the Laws nor furnished by them unto every good Work but quite contrary the Laws of the Realm will allow us to do many grievous things against Father Mother Wife Children or any other sort of Relations or Neighbours for which without Repentance we shall be surely Damned Wherefore as the Laws of the Land are not the Measure of our Duty of our Parents c. so neither are they the Perfect Rule of our Duty to our Prince as it is plain from the Verse after my Text where the Apostle having told the Romans that the Emperour was the Minister of God he then adds Wherefore you must needs be subject not only for Wrath or fear of Legal Punishment but also for Conscience-sake To Conclude all these Disloyal Men with which these Kingdoms so abound Act more like Greeks than Christians and as if they had been bred at Athens and Sparta rather than in the School of Christ Otherwise they would be better Affected towards Gods Anointed they would Pray more for him and Murmure and Clamour less against him as knowing that God giveth us what Kings soever he pleaseth and that the Kings Heart is in the Hand of the Lord and that he turneth it whithersoever he will He is King of Kings Lord of Lords and the only Ruler of Princes He is the Fountain of Soveraign Power every King is his Vice-gerent and every Kingdom a Theocracy and therefore let us bless the Lord before all the Congregation and say in the words of David 1 Chron. 29. Thine O Lord is the Greatness and the Power and the Glory and the Victory and the Majesty For all that is in the Heaven and in the Earth is thine thine is the Kingdom O Lord and thou art exalted as Head above all Which in other words is the very Doctrine of the Apostle who saith That there is no Power but of God and that he beareth not the Sword in vain because he is the Minister of God To whom Father Son and Holy Ghost be ascribed c. AMEN