Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A77909
|
Dr. Burnet's sermon before His Highness the Prince of Orange, at the Cathedral of Exon, on reading his declaration
|
Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715.
|
1689
(1689)
|
Wing B5870C; ESTC R42711
|
13,893
|
17
|
brought forth or whether it be by the Sword that he cuts his way or whether it be by the Consent of Men that he is pitcht upon still these are but the means the ways and the methods of a Nation whereby a Prince is brought to the Throne 'T is God that gives him his Commission to Reign in it the Right of Governing the Authority he hath over his People the Power of Life and Death the Crown and Scepter the Regalities and Prerogatives of a King however he may diminish or give some of them away they are owing only to the Courtesie of Heaven In this case 't is necessary for us to distinguish between the Power it self and the Choice or Application of the Person to that Power Now the Power is God's by whom Kings Reign But under God there may be divers Subordinate Instrumental and Ministerial hands to give a man a Right to that Power Anciently and first of all Monarchical Soveraignty went by Lineal Descent and Proximity of Blood and this was the Regal and best way But in after Ages the Wickedness of a few Nations altered this course and Monarchies came to be Elective And though a Prince be chosen by the Suffrages of the People yet this is but a Qualification of him to use that Power and to exercise that Authority which is given by the King of Kings Nay though they Anoint and Crown him yet in all this they are the only Masters of the Ceremonies to declare their Obligations to Obey and to Assist in the Princes Investitures still the Authority whereby he acteth the Substantial and Essential Unction is from above They may put on his Robes and gird him with the Sword and place him in his Imperial Chair and cover his Head with a Royal Diadem but when he is in his Throne 't is by a Superior Authority that he strikes with his Sword and by a Divine Commission that he Commandeth Governeth and Ministreth Justice unto the People which he is set over And so Valentinian told his Soldiers when they had chosen him Emperor and asked him something which he did not like It was in your Power to chuse me to rule over you saith he but since you have chosen me what you desire dependeth not upon your pleasure but mine Your business is as my Subjects to obey me and my business is as your Prince to order what you are to do Though Valentinian was taken from among the Soldiery yet his Power was not derived from the Camp but it was from God as King Saul's was when he was fetcht from among the Stuff 1 Sam. 10. Things are best understood when they are Illustrated by familiar Instances Take then 1. an Instance in an Ecclesiastical matter Judas the Traitor being dead the Eleven think of Substituting some other in his Room and by lot they Elected Matthias Acts 1. But Matthias was not their Delegate nor did he Act by their Commission or in their Name or by their Power but his Authority was from Christ as the rest of the Apostles was They indeed pitcht upon the Man but his Apostleship his Ministerial Character his power to Preach to Administer Sacraments to Bind and Loose this Power was from Heaven 2. Take a second Instance in an Oeconomical matter Say a Servant chuseth his Master or a Wife her Husband each of these pitch upon the Man but neither of them gives him his Authority but both consent to submit unto it his power of Governing his whole House-hold is from Nature 3. Take a third Instance yet in a Political matter Say a Parish do chuse their Constable or a City their Mayor or a County their Sheriff these indeed determine upon the Person but they give them not their Power nor do they act in the Names of their Electors but their Authority to keep the Peace to Distrain Goods to Sieze and Execute Malefactors is from the King and the Kings Officers they are Why much like hereunto is that other Instance when a People chuse their King though it would be better for the World if no People did so Haereditary Government being the best After a great deal of Clamour Disorder Animosity Strife Confusion Distraction and perhaps Bloodshed at last Necessity brings them to agree upon the Man But the Kings Authority comes not from the dirty hands of a Rout nor doth he act in the name of a Soveraign multitde but his Power is from God By his Command Kings are constituted by whose pleasure Men are born God appoints them and fits them according to the condition of the Times saith Irenaeus Iren. lib. 5. adv Haeres cap. 24. And so Tertullian affirms that the Emperor is thence whence the man was before he was Emperor Tertul. Apol. c. 30. He receivenh his Power from the same hand which gave him his Spirit And elsewhere saith he We Christians worship the Emperor so as 't is lawful for us and expedient for himself as a Man next unto God as one that hath received all that he hath from God and as one that is inferior to God alone Tertul. adv Scapul Now if the case be thus where a Monarchy is Elective as the Roman Empire was whatever is suggested to the contrary the Plea is much the stronger for the Divine Authority of a Prince where the Crown descendeth by Inheritance as God be blessed it doth with us and for the good of the Kingdom may it descend still in that Natural and Peaceful course to the Worlds end In this case the Consent of the People is neither Essential nor Accessory as they are not capable of conferring the Authority so they are praecluded the liberty of disputing about the Person where there is an apparent or undoubted Heir for God and Nature have alread determin'd the Controversie Men may Recognize his Right and in point of Conscience are bound to do so as the Men of Israel did Recognize Saul's Right after he had been Anointed but where a Kingdom is Hereditary ones Right taketh place upon the voidance of anothers Possession which is the ground of that Maxim in our Law which is the sharpest Dagger in the Republicans Heart that the King cannot dye I have been the longer upon clearing the account of the Divine Authority of Kings because it was the only consideration which David had in his thoughts when he was moved to proceed so severely against this Amalekite for offering violence unto Saul Quare non Timuisti How came it about that thou wast not afraid that thy Heart did not sink that thy Soul could suffer thee to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed And hence we may fairly proceed to Two Conclusions 1. That it is a Fearful thing even to Resist the Lords Anointed A Fearful thing indeed according to St. Paul's Divinity if it be a Fearful thing to be Damned For Opposition tendeth to Destrustion and there is no more difference between Resisting and Killing then there is between the means and
our Hearts for that loud and clamorous Rebellion which brought the Destruction of the Lords Anointed and a Man according to Gods own Heart too though he was destroyed and murder'd not by our own Hands but by the Hands of Amalekites and that so long since Now what if we should conceive that when this City was turned into a Flaming pile the righteous God came to purge it from the Bloud of his Anointed When the Jews of old were in any sharp afflictions the business of the Golden Calf usually came fresh into their minds and on every turn they mistrusted that God afflicted them from the Iniquity of their Fathers in making a Golden Calf The story of it you have at large in Exod. 32. the People would have some Representation to go before them instead of Moses their proper Captain and Leader they prevailed with Aaron to consent and concur with them and they contributed their Riches their Gold and their Ear-rings to carry on the Work of the day and at last out came a Calf a little Similitude of the Great Idol which was Worshipped in the House of Bondage whence they had now been delivered so that though they had escaped out of Egypt yet they espoused the Egyptian Religion And why should we not think now that when God visited us with his Judgments he did not remember Peoples Ingratitude to him and his Anointed Or why should we not fear that he will remember us again and that with more Sore and more Dreadful Judgments if People persist in their Ingratitude still For this is a Sin of no ordinary rate but one of the First Magnitude the King's Authority being a Donative of Heaven and a Ray of God's Majesty and his Power to Govern and Punish being given by God's own Warrantry the Sin of Rebellion must necessarily be of a Damning Nature and of a Clamorous Tongue however some whose Consciences are Armour proof against all Arguments from Scripture and Antiquity have begun again to speak of the Lawfulnes of Resistance as if their hands were already laid upon the Hilts of their Swords Take heed therefore you especially of this Great City that ye join not in the Confederacies of Korah least ye utterly Perish in his gain saying Is the Iniquity of Peor and the Sin of the Golden Calf to little for us Are not the Judgments which we have groaned under heavy enough yet but do we sollicite God to add more Talents to the weight still Assure your selves that if People Repeat their Rebellious Sins God will not fail to Repeat and Double his Blows and he hath more Judgments in Treasure besides the Plague and the Fire and the Posterity that cometh after us will as we our selves have done see the â—ollies and smart greatly for the Impieties of their Fathers for as Ezra said upon the Return out of Captivity After all that is come upon us for our Evil deeds and for our Great trespass seeing that God hath punished us less than our iniquities deserve and hath given us a Deliverance a miraculous deliverance out of our Thraldom should we again break his Commandments and join with the People in these Rebellions would not God be Angry with us till he had Consumed us so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping For the preventing of the worst of Evils it is our great Concernment and ought to be our great Care and 't will be found to be our best Interest when all is done to lay aside all Unnatural Animosities and Heart-burnings which Evil Men have so long made use of In order to distract this Kingdom and to be filled with the true and primitive Spirit of Christianity to be Meek and Gentle and of Humble Minds to â—ct according to that Wisdom which is Pure and Peaceable to Study to be Quiet to endeavour by all possible means to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace to be Tractable and Honest in Heart to be subject to the Higher Powers and that not for fear of the Laws only but readily and ingenuously and for Conscience-sake to Fear God to Honour the King and to Love the Brother-hood to be in perfect Charity and Vnity among our selves as becometh Brethren and so in all manner of well-doing to commit our selves to God to whom be Glory Dominion and Praise Amen This Discourse ought to have been insisted on by the Doctor rather than that seditious Sermon that he preach't at Exon. FINIS With Allowance