Selected quad for the lemma: hand_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
hand_n	david_n	lord_n	saul_n	9,635	5	10.3237	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67247	The antidote: or, a seasonable discourse on Rom. 13. 1 Shewing the necessity and reasonableness of subjection to the higher powers. With an account of the divine right or original of government. By John VValker, M.A.	Walker, John, 1650-1730.	1684 (1684)	Wing W392; ESTC R222266	59,633	307

make us humble and patient self-denying and obedient and to render us throughly conformable to the Institution and Gospel of the Holy Iesus This was all the purple and tissue all the Ensigns of Royalty they endeavour'd or desir'd to clad and adorn their Followers withall Nor did they covet and ambition any other Scepter than that of Righteousness or any other Crown than that of Martyrdom Let then both Consistory and Conclave peremptorily define and determine what they please against the Higher Powers to advance their own secular Pomp and Grandeur Interest and Authority we are not to attend unto and obey it Let him be the greatest of men so that he be but less than God let him be the holiest of Saints so that he be but less than Christ let him be an Apostle nay let him be an Angel from Heaven if he brings this Message this Doctrine so repugnant and contrary to that of God and his Christ to that of Truth and the Gospel we are to reject it And therefore should another Pope Pius with his Cardinals from Rome or another Pope Knox with his Fellow-Presbyters from Scotland these by a Bull the other by a Remonstrance endeavour to dissolve and break the Sacred Bond and Tye of your Duty and Allegiance to your Natural Liege Lord and Sovereign you are to look upon these big words only as Bruta Fulmina empty Cracks and the Breathings of the Spirit of Antichrist you are to assure your selves that the Lord was not nor ever will be in this whirlwind earthquake and fire but in the still small voice that of Love and Peace that of Humility and Obedience and to remind your selves of that Doctrine and Lesson St. Paul the more infallible Doctor hath taught you and accordingly to direct and order your Lives and Manners Add to this That none can dispense with God's Laws but God himself nor any cancel that Bond wherewith we are justly oblig'd and ty'd to pay Subjection and Obedience to the Supreme Magistrate but He who at first ratifi'd and confirm'd it the Great Almighty Law-giver so that 't is as absurd as wicked at once both vain irrational and irreligious to attempt and endeavour to alter disannul or make void that which in the nature of the thing is to us impossible And therefore the Bishop of Rome the Great Ring-leader of the Antimonarchical Faction and the Chiefs of his Bigotted Party here should ere they went about and proceeded to exert that transcendency of Power as to alter and change the tenure of Crowns and Kingdoms undeniably evince and prove by as good Records and Evidence as that of the Word of God which in this case is impossible that they are lawfully empowred hereunto otherwise they do but obtrude for Doctrines the Commandments of Men even their own and mock and fool themselves into destruction And 't will be the same repeated Impudence Folly and Madness in us if we obey the meer Ipse Dixit saying of the Bishop of Rome though a Pope or zealous Assertion of a Covenanting Minister though a Presbyter before the Voice of God certainly and undoubtedly reveal'd and manifested unto us in the Holy Scriptures You see then that 't is to the Higher Powers we are to pay Subjection and Obedience Come I now in the second place to shew unto you what that Subjection and Obedience is To be subject or Subjection in the general Notation and Use of the word signifies Subordination and Inferiority And so is well defin'd by the Reverend and Learned Bishop Davenant to be Nihil aliud quàm divina dispositio quâ imperfectiora perfectioribus subordinata sunt ut per hanc subjectionem illa ab his perficiantur regantur conserventur Which Mr. Daille according to his Translator hath thus paraphras'd viz. To be an Order that God hath generally established in all things which constitute any kind of Body whether it be in Nature or in Angelical and Humane Society that some should depend on others That is that as God hath made some things more some less excellent so some should be above some beneath some higher some lower and so the feeble and imperfect find their perfection in the conduct of such as are more perfect Now though this is very true consider'd in the general ex parte Dei subjicientis and in respect of God subjecting that is constituting such an Order as the Bishop well distinguishes yet ex parte Creaturae subjectae if we consider it in respect of the Creature subjected hereunto it farther denotes a ready inclination and willingness to obey this Divine Disposition or Ordination of God's And this is the virtue of Subjection that properly of my Text whereunto the Apostle hath oblig'd and enjoin'd us viz. when being sensible of that Inferiority and Subordination Lower Rank State Quality Condition or Order God hath plac'd us in this World we heartily submit thereunto and sincerely endeavour to perform and pay all that appertains unto and are the Requisites and Appendages of that state and condition and so being by rank and place but Subjects to give that Obedience and Dutifulness to our Governours which by the Divine Dispensation and Will is become their Due and Right Now that we may the more fully and distinctly understand and know what the Particulars of this Subjection are or wherein it consists 't will be fit and necessary for us to take a survey and prospect of those several excellencies God hath impress'd upon the Higher Powers exclusively to all others in that these as well as the Positive Divine Will are a reason and cause of our Obedience and from which as from several Springs and Fountains flow and derive the Severals of our Subjection The Excellencies then to be consider'd in the Higher Powers are First Their Eminency and Dignity Secondly Their Authority and Power And Thirdly Their Necessity and Usefulness to Mankind First If we consider the Dignity of the Higher Powers we shall find it to be very great and excellent in that God hath plac'd them above all others and made their Persons sacred by a peculiar Unction and Consecration For designing them by their Place and Office more immediately and specially to represent his Majesty and Image he prescrib'd the Solemnity of their Inauguration by the effusion of oyl or anointing A Ceremony as of his own institution and appointment so always made use of by him to signifie and denote a more peculiar Eminency Sacredness and Dignity Separation and Hallowing Nearness and Relation to himself Hence is it that we find them in Scripture call'd The Lord 's Anointed So David concerning Saul The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master to stretch forth my hand against him seeing he is the Anointed of the Lord. And accordingly we find him speaking to the Amalekite that brought him tydings of the death of Saul How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thy hand to destroy the LORDS

anointed So David himself is called the anointed of God The Ensigns of their Royalty are God's indeed derived only and especially from him who hath said I have said Ye are Gods And by his saying so hath given and conferred upon them not only in shadow and title but reality and substance that extraordinary honour and dignity of being as he is superior unto and above all the rest of mankind And in this sense is it that St. Paul calls them Principalities in my Text Powers And Ver. 3. Rulers i. e. the Chieftains or Chiefs and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 uncontroulable above being ask'd or question'd for what they do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Historian speaks above giving a reason for what he commands They are the Captains the Heads of the Body Politick The Mountains which stand aloft and overlook the Earth The truth is so great and excellent is their Eminency that Earth cannot afford us a Parallel or fit Representation of it If we would find out one we must ascend into Heaven and there behold it in God the grand Archetype in whom alone 't is infinitely seated and plac'd For what he is in Heaven they are on Earth Supreme and Superlative to all others Now from this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 excellency of Dignity doth derive and flow as the learned Bishop Andrews observes one part of our Subjection or Duty to our Governours viz. Honour And this both inward and outward First Inward Honour which is when we have a worthy esteem an honourable and good Opinion of their Persons and Places when considering that eminency and height God hath placed them in we no longer look upon them as common persons as men of our rank and quality but as those that are very much above us as exalted to a Throne of Majesty and made to partake of a Respect and Esteem though less in degree yet the same in kind with that we are to pay to God himself I do not mean a Religious Esteem or Respect such as is to be paid to God as he is God viz. a thinking him to be infinitely great and honourable as in his Essence and Nature so in his Properties and Attributes But such as is to be paid to him as he is the great universal Governor viz. a believing him to be Chief of the Community of those he rules and governs And of this sort his Vicegerents and Deputies as they bear and express his Character and Excellency are to have their share and part as you may see Rom. 13.7 1 Pet. 2.17 'T is that we call a Civil Respect and indeed is so When the Members depending upon the Head as in a Body Natural for life and energie motion and spirits so in a Body Politick for Union Preservation and Strength do judge and believe it the Head to be the principal the best and most precious part of the whole Honourable then and worthy thoughts are we to entertain of our Governors such as become their Quality and Place But as this their Excellency claims an inward so secondly an outward Honour and Respect And this consists in a decent and worthy Demeanour and Behaviour of our selves towards Them when we pay unto Them all those marks and expressions of Respect and Honour the Customs of the Country where we live and Prescriptions of the Divine Writ oblige us to 'T is generally call'd good manners and is neither a speaking nor acting either in their presence or absence any thing that is contumelious and dishonourable unworthy of and derogating from their place and dignity And now would we but impartially reflect and consider what could we apprehend or judge more just and fit than thus to dignifie and honour those whom God hath so greatly honour'd and dignifi'd 'T is a justice that he may very rightly and truly challenge from us to give his wisdom the preference and precedence to ours to acknowledge and confess that he better understands and knows who is worthiest and fittest to be preferr'd and exalted than we do And 't is as just that we should take our measures from him be directed and guided by that rule and way he hath prescrib'd and set down for us to walk in especially here where his very Example is implicitely a Command and our following it the safest and wisest course we can pitch upon or propose to our selves Indeed were he as Man of a finite terminated understanding easie to be deceiv'd and impos'd upon there would be some reason of suspecting his wisdom and prudence and the reasonableness of his prescriptions and of withdrawing or at least with-holding our assent But when he is infinitely wise as well as infinitely great ordering all things after an admirable and excellent manner and chusing the best and most suitable means for the Ends designed and intended by him 't would be the height of folly and madness as well as of temerity and presumption in us not readily to comply with and obey the Dictates and Commands of so wise and infallible an Instructor and Guide And as it is just so is it fit and decent for us thus to act For what can better become us than to honour those who best merit and deserve it and are the fittest and most proper Objects of our respects and service Others may be above us but none in that degree as our Governors Others may call for our Esteem and Honour to be paid to them but none can lay claim to so much as the Supreme Magistrate He is eminently above all and therefore to be honour'd by us before all Besides the Thrones they sit upon the Dignity they possess is God's his in the Origination and Spring his too when deriv'd and communicated to them So that to honour them is in the consequence and result of it to honour him to perform that obedience and dutifulness he exacts and requires of us when it is not only an imply'd and interpretative but an explicit and express Command of his That we should honour the King and render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars To all which we may add That though Honour is one of the easiest and cheapest Oblations we can offer unto them yet it is the most valuable and precious Iewel of the Crown and best Supporter of the Throne in that without this the one will quickly lose its majesty and lustre the other fall and tumble down and the substracting or taking of it away is like the Prisons of Princes always ominous and fatal and the next step to ruine and desolation A King without Honour is only one in imagination a meer titular precarious thing And therefore as Princes and Rulers have a great deal of reason and cause of jealousie and care that they part not with the least moiety of it or suffer it to be abus'd trampled upon and laid in common and outrag'd by noise and tumult so should it be our especial study diligence and endeavour as