Fathers who were likeliest to know the meaning of such commands in Scripture to let the World see that we exact no more of men for our Christian Princes than they were willing to afford the very Heathen Emperors And when it appears the duties we require to be paid them are challenged by the Word of God and the Doctrine of the Ancient Church let any sober man judge whether we be blame-worthy for preaching or others for refusing to practice them First then for the Nature of this Honour It is as I said a word of large extent and Dâ—vines bring all under three Heads 1. Honor in corde 2. Honor in ore 3. Hâ—nor in opere Honour in the heart Honour in the tongue Honour in the Act. And according to this distribution I shall here take notice of it for there is no one of these three but a Prince may claim it as his due 1. Honor in corde Honour in the heart by which is meant a reverent estimation of the person to whom it is born Thus the word is used by the Apostle Rom. 12.10 in honour preferring one another And thus we are called to give it unto Kings Rom. 13.7 Render therefore to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due custome to whom custome fear to whom fear honour to whom honour the putting these together as well as the discourse foregoing shewes the Supream Magistrate is here intended Mean and low thoughts are not fit to be entertained of those who are exercised in high employments Whom God hath raised in the World those should we raise in our esteem This indeed ought to be the fountain whence all other duties flow the foundation whereon the rest of our services are built for without an bearty value for them none of our outward performances will be sincere towards them Nay suppose God should at any time set over us such a King as is a wicked man we must look upon his publick station abstracting from his personal faults David owns Saul for Gods Anointed and payes him a reverence accordingly Christ shewes no dis-respect either to Pilate or Herod Their failing in not honouring God is no warrant for us to fail by not honouring them Punished they shall be for the one and punished we shall be if faulty for the other And certainly this is plain enough from the Text. For this direction given to these Christian converts of honour ing the King had either relation to Claudius or Nero the better of them was a man bad enough This then is the first kind of honour and there are two reasons why it should be paid to all Kings 1. Because of those honourable titles which God himself hath given them Persons who have titles of honour conferred upon them by earthly Princes challenge an esteem proportionable thereunto how much more they who have these from God Where he affords his marks of honour there should we yield our testimonies of honour as closing with his dispensations and making his providence in disposal of the one our rule for a disposal of the other Among those titles I shall name no more than that of Gods Psal 82.6 I have said ye are Gods It is true that name doth point at their duty that as Gods they should excel in holiness in justice and such like vertues not fearing the face of men or consulting onely their interest with men but withal it points at our duty that we should honour them as we honour God Not by sacrificing or performing any divine worship to them after the Idolatrous custom of the Heathens no nor by yielding them an unlimited obedience as will appear hereafter but by affording them a real and high esteem in our hearts to shew that as we are bound to entertain no thoughts of God but such as are suitable to his Majesty so no thoughts of them but such as are agreeable to their quality 2. Because of the honourable place wherein God hath set them He hath made them caput populi the head of the people and as all the members honour the head so should we honour them They are his immediate Vice-gerents à quo sunt secundi post quem primi ante omnes super omnes Deos in Tertullians phrase the very next to him before all and above all feigned Deities Now as the nearer any person is to the King the greater honour he may claim Apolog. cap. 30. so the nearer the King is to God the more honour doth his place confer upon him Magistracy is not only Gods ordinance but particular Magistrates are of his appointing Promotion cometh neither from the East nor from the West nor from the South but God is the Judge he putteth down one and setteth up another Psal 75.6 7. And this I am sure was the sence of the Primitive Church Witness Theophilus of Antioch about 170 years after Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 1. adâ— Autolycum pag. 76. Edit Morell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The King indeed is not a God but he is a man appointed to his office under God Irenaeus about ten years after him Cujus jussu homines nascuntur ejus jussu Reges constituuntur * Adv. Haereses lib. 5. cap. 20. By whose word men are born by his word Kings are appointed We have seen two plain testimonies for the Greek let us see two more for the Latine Church One is from Tertullian about 200 Years after Christ Apol. cap. 30. Inde est Imperator unde homo antequà m Imperator Inde potestas illi unde spiritus The same God who made the man makes the Emperour Thence hath he his power whence he receives his soul And as if that had not been enough he goes on more fully It is necessary we look upon the Emperour ut eum quem Dominus noster elegit c. as the person whom our Lord hath chosen So as I may well say Noster est magis Caesar ut a Deo nostro constitutus Apol. cap. 33. Caesar is the more Ours because appointed by our God To him I adde St. Austin * Aug. de Civit. Dei lib. 4 cap. 33. Deus terrenum regnum piis impiis dat sicut ei placet c. God according to his own pleasure disposeth of earthly power to the righteous and to the wicked †Lib. 5. cap. 21. He that promoted Marius did likewise promote Caesar He that gave the Scepter to Augustus gave it to Nero He who committed the Empire to both Vespasians committed it also to Domitian and He who exalted Constantine the Christian exalted Julian the Apostate If this doctrine be not embraced now it is a sign men are fallen from what was admitted before Nor is it onely the doctrine of the Fathers but theirs because the doctrine of the Scripture Christ owns Pilates power to be from heaven Thou couldst have no power against me unless it were given thee from above John 19.11 and St. Paul saith
FOUR SERMONS Preached upon Solemne Occasions I. The Troubler of Israel Preached before the Judges II. The Righteous Mans Concern for the Churches Misery Preached before the Judges III. Caesars due Honour Preached before the Mayor and Aldermen of Leicester May 29. 1669. IV. Davids Work and Rest Preached before the Election of the Mayor By Tho. Stanhope A. M. Vicar of St. Margarets in Leicester LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun at the West End of St. Pauls 1670. Imprimatur Rob. Grove R. P. Dom. Episc Lond. a Sac. Dom. To the Right Reverend Father in God WILLIAM Lord Bishop of LINCOLNE My Lord THese Sermons now published do pardon the expression challenge your Lordships Name to be praefixed before them as yours in point of Right They were preached in your Diocese where I now reside and are the First-Fruits of my poor Labours exposed to the World and upon that score ought to be offered into your Lordships Hands It is not a curious Itch of Popular Applause which hath drawn me into Print I could never fancy any thing of mine deserved any Persons notice Nor will I alleadge the Importunity of Friends as a Ground of this Vndertaking though sometimes sufficiently sollicited But to say truth The Auditors were so ingenuous as favourably to accept them when Preached which makes me hope they may be serviceable from the Press as they seemed to be from the Pulpit Such as they are I humbly present them to your Lordship as a real Testimony how much I am My Lord Your Lordships most faithful Servant Tho. Stanhope Leicester Novem. 9. 1669. THE TROUBLER OF ISRAEL A SERMON Preached before the Judges at St. Maries Church in Leicester March 18. 1668 9. By Tho. Stanhope A. M. Vicar of St. Margarets in Leicester The Troubler of ISRAEL 1 Chronicles 2.7 Achar the troubler of Israel who transgressed in the thing accursed WHen Reuben by default forfeited the right of first-born that priviledge was shared between Jâ—seph and Judah Gen. 48.22 Gen. 49.8 Joseph had the double portion Judah the dominion over his Brethren for the Scepter was not to depart from him nor a Law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh came His Tribe therefore hath the first place among the twelve where the Israelitish pedigree is drawn down from Adam to the times of Ezra who if not the Author of may well be conceived an additional supplier to this Book Three Sons he had by Shuah but his Family multiplied most by Pharez and Zarah begotten upon Tamar one of the four wicked women mentioned by St. Matthew in our Saviours Genealogy to shew that descending from he came to save sinners And the Progeny of these is slightly passed over with a bare naming till Achar comes in play whose life being more notorious his Character is delivered more at large Achar the troubler of Israel who transgressed in the thing accursed If the Judge be set upon the Bench 't is no marvel to see a Prisoner at the Bar. You my Lords appear by this solemnity ready to sit upon your Judgement-seat my Text presents a Malefactor to be tried and draws an Indictment against him wherein after the usual form you may please to observe 1. His Name 2. His Crime His Name Achar His Crime declared more generally more particularly More generally He was the troubler of Israel More particularly He transgressed in the thing accursed I. His Name Achar saith the Text Achan saith the Book of Joshua An easie alteration by only changing the last Letter Josh 7.1 to express the evil ensuing upon his Wickedness Nabal is his Name and folly is with him so the Scripture of that fottish dolt 1 Sam. 25.25 Achar is his name and trouble comes by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gods Spirit loves sometimes to be Rhetorical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. i. 29 -31 within 3 verses together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gilgal shall go into Captivity Amos 5.5 Once more out of either Testament Fear the pit and the snare are upon thee Isai 24.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 12.3 With several such Paranomasia's Nor are we Ministers always blame-worthy if scattering some Flowers of Elegancy in our Sermons Discourses from the Pulpit may as well be nauseous when slovenly worded as when starchedly delivered All men have not the Gift of neat Elocution where God hath bestowed it why may it not be employed to take mens ears for the gaining their souls But to leave this Criticisme The Person was Achar Great-granchild to the Son of Judah Gen. 32.28 descended from Jacob who as a Prince had power with God and with men and prevailed Piety we see is not hereditary Men may bequeath Lands and Houses and Goods but they cannot draw a Conveyance of Grace We may from our Parents derive the Features of their Faces Tertull. Apolog cap. 18. not the Endowments of their Souls Fiunt Christiani non nascuntur For being men we thank our fathers on earth for being Christians we thank our Father in Heaven Who knows not that faithful Abraham begat a scoffing Ismael Acts 13.22 that from Holy Isaac proceeded a prophane Esau David the man after Gods own heart saw among his Children a rebellious Absalom and an aspiring Adonijah Yea Elies Sons though he a religious Priest were sons of Belial 1 Sam. 2.12.17 and through their sin men abhorred the offering of the Lord. Look among the Kings of Judah at an exact checker-work in four immediate Successions Vzziah is followed with a good Jotham that Jotham with a wicked Ahaz that Ahaz with a pious Hezekiah that Hezekiah with a notorious Manasseh So free are the dispensations of Grace without confinement to places or families Our vertuous Progenitors could not entail Holiness upon their Posterity All are not Israel that are of Israel neither Rom. 9.6.7 because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children As Jeroboams wicked house may yield one in whom is found some good thing towards God 1 Kings 14.13 so from the root of Jacob may grow such a luxuriant putrified branch as this Person in the Text Achar the troubler of Israel But as he derived his pedigree from Jacob so from the first house of his race the eminentest of the Tribes that of Judah Gen. 49 8â— On whom Father Israel bestowed the ruling-power as his death-bed Legacy thy Fathers children shall bow down unto thee A Tribe appointed by God as Captain over the rest in the Canaanitish War Judg. 1.2 A Tribe Heb. 7.14 out of which came his chosen King David and afterwards the son of David Christ Jesus our Saviour Hereby ennobled above them all like the Lyon its ensign of honour above the beasts of the field Great men are not always good nor can the best extraction warrant the best condition Especially of late sinning is
vindicate him True he is a patient in every Crime as all sins strike against his law but more especially in some than in others and in none more than this of Sacriledge A word of as large a comprehension as the thing is of a pestilent nature It is usually reckoned of three sorts with relation to things to places and to persons The last Ages have had Wide throats and greedily swallowed many holy Morsels What is past lies not within your power to remedy but if any ravenous Harpie be fastening upon that which remains be so just to God to beat him off and pluck it out of his Claws Secure his Portion and rest satisfied he will secure your estates Cast an eye upon the Holy places and let them partake a little of your care suffer not our Churches to be excommunicated nor our Congregations to be gathered into Barns whilst the Houses of God stand too too empty Certainly there is a relative holiness in them by their solemn dedication to Gods service if so this offence is Sacriledge unless Aquinas was mistaken by whom it is defined Sacrae rei violatiâ— Aquin. 2. 2. Q. 99 Art 1. resp ad arg 3. Gravius peccatum est sacrilegium quò peccatur contra personam sacram quam quò peccatur contra locum sacrum Aquin. 2. 2 qu. 99. Art 3. Exod. 15.11 and that violatio interpreted by quaecuncue irreverentia But the Schools agree the hainousest Sacriledge is against a Person and what person greater than God All holy things challenge a reverence by Vertue of their holiness He most of all who hath stiled himself glorious in holiness Do not thou overlook any thing which may reflect upon Him If you find that his Name be blasphemed that his word be profaned that his Ordinances be contemned that his day be unhallowed and alas these sins are too common among us for Gods sake let them not escape an especiall remark from you nor the offenders some serious rebukes from your Lordships Pardon my zeal in these passionate wishes Gods honour must be regarded if ever we expect to be happy I fear being tedious and therefore will contract May all who are concerned in the affairs of these days either as Jurors or Witnesses beware of Achars faults If once forsworn you are guilty of them both In case you are employed between party and party you rob your neighbour of his goods either by procuring or confirming an unjust title If between the King and the prisoners you either rob your Soveraign of a subject by condemning the innocent or you steal from justice by acquitting the guilty Besides God hath stamped holiness upon an Oath Therein men use his name they call him to witness the truth of their words therefore Perjury is a branch of Sacriledge Exod. 20.7 and as such it shall be rewarded for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain Once more I return to your Lordships and present Achar not as standing at the Bar but as lying in his Prison Places of that nature were certainly designed to be houses of instructions as well as of correction that however the body might suffer the soul might be bettered that however the guilty might smart for their faults before men they might be drawn to repentance before God That if the Crimes they committed deserved death helps might not be wanting to prepare them for it and if through the laws clemency they came off with life their former restraint might be a dayly Monitor to warn them against such ungodly courses But experience proves Goals are Goals in a double sense fellons are held as fast in the fetters of sin as in the fetters of Iron and it is hard for a man to enter the Prison a child of hell but he leaves it ten times worse It might not be unworthy of your Lordships to think of this particular along your Circuit Here God be blessed through the charity of Benefactors a provision is made for teaching the prisoners in some other places I am sure it is not where at this time it needs sufficiently Dâ—ylâ— Be pleased therfore to consider the condition of those poor creatures that your sentence from the bench speak not death both to body and soul It will certainly be an act of the highest compassion and an imitating the example of that good Joshua who endeavoured to work so effectually with Achar that the same stones might not kill him and damn him Let them suffer under your justice here so they meet not with Divine vengeance hereafter The sum of all is God must not be dishonoured Israel must not be troubled Laws must not be infringed Achars must not be spared And then will our land enjoy peace and tranquility the blessing of the Almighty will rest upon our heads we shall partake of his present favour and in due time of his future Glory Which God grant we way all do through Jesus Christ our Lord. To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be Honour Praise and Dominion henceforth and for evermore Amen THE Righteous Man's Concern FOR THE Churches Misery A SERMON Preached before the Judges at St. Maries Church in Leicester July 22. 1669. By Tho. Stanhope A.M. Vicar of St. Margarets in Leicester The Righteous Mans Concern for the Churches Misery Psalm 11.3 If the foundations be destroyed what can the Righteous do HOly Men have usually met with their share of troubles The way to heaven is paved with flints and strawed with Roses Our world is a Sea and the best sail through it with the wind in their faces That Royall Prophet to whose composure this psalm pretends though by the infallible spirit declared a man after Gods heart Acts. 13.22 18 am 26.20 was sufficiently sensible how dear a rate his piety cost him with a wicked Saul who sought his life and endeavoured his destruction Hunted he was like a Patridge and then no marvell his enemies should say flee as a 〈◊〉 to your Mountain V. 1. Saul and his Parasites had knit their brows and then no wonder if they bent their bows they shot forth their bitter words a sign they made ready their Arrows upon the string and all this preparation was to wound that good man and those who were like him privily to shoot at the upright in heart V. 2. Yet as pious souls preferr the publick concernes before their private interests he values not what related to himself in respect of what referred to the Church of God If she fared ill he could not fare well And apprehending her foundations in danger of being overturned he breaks forth into the question before us if the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous do In which words you may please to observe two general parts 1. A Supposition 2. An Interrogation A Supposition if the foundations be destroyed An interrogation What can the righteous do In the Supposition there is the matter and the form or the Suppositum
t ng up altar against altar barns against Churches new models of worship to cross the presribed form put us in fear that the foundations of Government are in a tottering condition For had these things no relation to Religion yet as thwartings of the Civil power they must needs bode mischief to the King and Kingdom Yet though these Pillars be so shrewdly shaken your seasonable assistance may not only secure them from quite falling but also establish them firm and unmoveable Let but men be throughly discouraged when they offend in this nature let them but a little feel your severity who have thus long contemned your clemency and they will either be reduced into good order or however become less irregular It is possible my words may be accused of cruelty sure there is no reason for it We judge it prudence if a fire happen rather to uncover the roof to throw away the tiles and break down some of the rafiers than suffer the house to be burnt to the ground And certainly it is better that some particular men especially when refractory and contumacious be curbed by those penalties which laws have provided than an whole Kingdom should either become a nest of Heresies or a field of blood But my zeal may perhaps make me presumptuous in offering to prescribe to your Lordships or these Gentlemen It is time to have done and I end all with this prayer God Almighty direct and guide you and all concerned in the publick affairs before you to His own Glory the Kings Honour the Kingdoms happiness the settling us upon those firm foundations of truth and peace Isai 63.7 that we who are members of the English Jerusalem may see it a praise in the whole earth and after we have served our Generations may be admitted into the new Jerusalem Heb. 11.10 that City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God there to reign in everlasting glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be Honour Praise Dominion and Power henceforth and for evermore Amen CAESARS DUE Honour A SERMON Preached at St. Martins Church in Leicester May 29. 1669. before the Mayor and Aldermen By Tho. Stanhope A.M. Vicar of St. Margarets in Leicester CAESARS DUE Honour 1 Peter 2.17 Honour the King THese few words conclude the Epistle appointed for this Solemnity and the Church having chosen them for the occasion they cannot but be suitable for a discourse upon it The Day we celebrate in remembrance of those signal blessings it hath brought to us in a King 29. May 1630. as he was natus and renatus upon it born into the World and reborn to his Kingdom 29. May 1660. whereunto though he had a right before yet after a compelled exile now nine years ago he took possession of his Royal Palace And in the midst of our rejoycing for him it is but fit we should learn our duty to him which the Apostle hath shortly summed up in the Word Honour Honour the King At the 13. verse of this Chapter is propounded a due Christian carriage towards Magistrates probably enough there set down for some extraordinary reason It seems those early dayes of Christianity were tainted with the strange error that a dutiful Subjection to Authority could not consist with but was an abridgement of our Gospel liberty This is intimated verse 16. As free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness but as the servants of God A freedome indeed is granted but then that freedom must be rightly used not to encourage sedition or dis-obedience to make it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a cloak of maliciousness to cover faction ambition sinister designs or any thing of that nature but that men should duly and rightly use it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the servants of God Upon the mention of which Word the Apostle as it were recapitulates and drawes the whole service into a narrow compass verse 17. With relation to four Objects thereof 1. Mankind in general Honour all men 2. Christians in particular Love the brotherhood 3. God as the principal Fear God 4. Our Prince as immediately under him Honour the King It may not be amiss to draw some few observations from the placing these two last together which shall onely be done in a few words before I fix upon my main Subject And here let us note Obser 1 That the same infallible Spirit which hath declared a duty to be owing unto God hath likewise declared a duty to be owing to our King That very Scripture nay that very verse which calls upon us to fear God cals upon us also to honour the King It is a gross mistake if we fancy our selves any more at freedome from the one than we are from the other Obser 2 The same infallible Spirit which hath declared the duty owing unto God and the duty owing to the King hath linked these two duties together There is nothing between to part them but as soon as the one is delivered the other follows Fear God Honour the King Nay as if this were not sufficient Solomon connects them together with a copulative Particle Prov. 24.21 My Son fear thou the Lord and the King Now Quae Deus conjunxit c. What God hath joyned together let no man put asunder In vain do we think ever to be truly pious towards God till we be truly loyal to our King Obser 3 The same infallible Spirit which hath in a large comprehensive word declared the duty we ow unto God hath in a like comprehensive word declared the duty we owe unto the King That our returns to neither of them may be narrow and scant Fear hath sometimes that full signification to include all acts of piety This do and live for I fear God Gen. 42.18 Honour so large an acceptation as to comprehend all service and duty Honour thy Father and thy Mother Exod. 20.12 Now as the first of these is used here with respect to the Lord Fear God so the latter with respect to our Soveraign Honour the King In which Words there are two parts 1. The Act Honour 2. The Object the King both which with a consideration of the persons to whom this Epistle was written viz. the believing Jewes converted to Christianity make it plain that the duty hath relation to us as a Christian precept delivered by Christs Apostle to those who were then Christs followers and so we also stand engaged to Honour the King A truth which will appear as if written with a Sun beam when we have enquired into the nature of this Honour and the grounds whereupon it is called for In the dispatch whereof for methods sake because the word Honour is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and admits of several significations under each of them I shall subjoyn the reasons for it warranted by Scripture whence we have the best direction for our duty and confirmed by the testimony of the Primitive
of the Roman Emperors The powers that be are ordained of God Rom. 13.1 One thing more before I leave this Point If the Scripture and Fathers own this designation of Princes by God how horrid is the insolency of the Papists who would subject Kings to their Bishop and make their swords stoop to his Keyes And on the other side how abhominable is the wickedness of some pretended Protestants who would set up the power of the people above the King What followed thereupon we cannot but remember and to terrifie us from the like hereafter God grant it may never be forgotten 2. The second sort of Honour is Honor in Ore Honour in the Tongue We are to employ our Tongues for them speaking good of and bespeaking good for them which last is best done by prayer and supplication to God It is the Apostles charge that first of all supplications and prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men For Kings and for all that are in Authority 1 Tim. 2.1 2. And sure this charge was never more observed by any Church Each of our constant Litugy services having a prayer for the King in it Nor can it be denied but this was a duty payd by the ancient Christians Lib. 1. ad Autolicum pag. 76. Edit Morell I appeal to Theophilus mentioned before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will honour the King not by affording him any divine worship that they decryed in the Heathens but by praying for him And Tertullian speaks fully in the Name of all * Apolog. cap. 30. Precati sumus omnes semper pro omnibus Imperatoribus We all of us do always pray for all our Emperors delivering there the matter of their prayers a long life a safe Kingdom a quiet house valiant Armies faithfull councells honest Subjects a peaceable world And as if these had not been good wishes enough he adds Quaecunque hominis Caesaris vota sunt Whatsoever he can farther desire either as Man or Emperor And sure if this were a piece of service due from them it is no less due from us and from both upon a threefold account 2 ex parte Dei 3 ex parte nostri 3 ex parte sui 1. Ex parte Dei A reason there is for it on Gods part as it is a thing wherein he takes pleasure For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour 1 Tim. 2.3 The command before had testified his good-liking this motive further argues his approbation Hereby we own him as the fountain of all blessings When the most potent persons upon earth are not relied upon but God Almighty invocated for them He desired to guide protect and preserve them the greatest glory must redound to him his Soveraignty being acknowledged over them as theirs is over us And surely this delights him much more than the calumniating reproaching or raking into any faults whereof they may be guilty That man after Gods own heart holy David knew well what would please him and therefore in composing a Psalm for Solomon next to succeed in the Throne he begins it with that excellent petition to acquaint us with our duty Give the King thy Judgements O Lord and thy righteousness unto the Kings Son Psal 72.1 2. The reasonableness hereof appears Ex parte nostri with respect to our selves because it is a thing which leads to our own advantage This we have also from the Apostle That under them we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty The blessings which Princes receive tend to the peoples good They are custodes utriusque tabulae and the better each of the tables is kept the more is the Subjects benefit What can we desire but the establishment of holiness and righteousness that God may be served and morall duties may be observed and this happiness must be obtained by our prayers Yea I doubt not to assert that our own advantage is mainly neglected when we neglect to pray for our Governours and it is but just that God should withdraw his blessings from us when we forsake his prescribed way for the keeping them Histories will sufficiently acquaint us what good the very Heathen Emperors reaped by the prayers of their Christian Souldiers which tended many times to the furtherance of the Gospel by a greater indulgence to the professors of it Nay look at the Princes themselves and so you will see 3. There is reason Ex parte sui with respect to Them because they stand in need of our prayers Their Employment must needs be burdensome and a great many cares are put on with the Crown All the concerns of the Common-Wealth are upon them as the head manageth the concerns of the body There are variety of temptations to which their greatness renders them liable Their pleasures may encline them to voluptuousness and their power to tyranny the rather because unaccountable to their Subjects for what they do however this doting age hath taught the contrary And then certainly there is a necessity we should pray for them considering that God only hath the hearts of all men particularly of Kings in his own hand The Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water he turneth it whither so ever he will Prov. 21.1 that our supplications and intercessions may prevail with him to encline those hearts to good rather than evill So much for the second sort honor in ore honour in the mouth 3. The third is honor in opere an honour manifested in outward act And this will best testifie the truth of that esteem we bear in our hearts and the sincerity of those prayers which proceed from our lips Such an outward honour is due to Kings and may be of two sorts 1 an honouring them with our Goods 2 an honouring them with our Bodies 1. An honouring them with our Goods Thus Solomon useth the word Honour the Lord with thy substance Prov. 3.9 It is a point of duty to pay what Kings impose We know who reckoned this One of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The things which are Caesars Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesars saith our Saviour Matt. 22.21 And the occasion of those words was a dispute about tribute money And thus the Primitive Christians judged it Tatianus about 180 years after Christ speaks plainly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Orat. cont Gracos pag. 144. Edit Morell Doth the King command me to pay tribute I am ready to obey that command I know it is a thing men will hardly be perswaded unto especially when payments grow heavy and purses grow Light when they have layen long and continue still But then consider the engagement upon us from God and that will serve to answer all objections Our Saviour in that place doth not say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jus suum date render him that which is his own for a right to it he hath Nay
for fear of losing their estates some of their lives notwithstanding the several attempts for his restauration which had proved fruitless and the various projects which had been dis-appointed yet God wrought his own work in his own way at his own time He stirred up a Noble-Hearted Subject our renowned Generall whom God long bless for bringing such a blessing to us directed him in the management of his affairs made him successfull in his enterprizes by whose wisdom courage and faithfulness our King was brought home quietly and peaceably without the shedding one drop of blood 1 Kings 6.7 I was going to say his return was like the building of Solomons Temple without noise but that the Solemnities of this day proved it otherwise when the Canons in the Tower the Bells in the Churches and the acclamations of the people vied one with another which should loudliest proclaim his welcome to London Certainly God did herein out-do our very expectations It is a day we have reason to remember it brought us a mercy we have reason to prize To sum up all Let us be sure to honour that King whom God by such a miraculous preservation hath honoured Psal 118.24 And since this is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoice and be glad in it blessing and praising the great worker of wonders for this his wonderfull mercy vouchsafed unto us For which and all other benefits bestowed upon us To the Eternall and Glorious Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost be continually ascribed Glory Praise Dominion and Thanksgiving now henceforth and for evermore Amen Davids WORK AND REST. A SERMON Preached at St. Martins Church in Leicester September 21. 1669. Before the Election of the Mayor By Tho. Stanhope A. M. Vicar of St. Margarets in Leicester TO THE Right VVorshipful The Mayor and Aldermen of the Borough of Leicester Right Worshipful I Here present to your Eyes what formerly was delivered to your Ears God grant it may make a deep impression upon your Hearts It is a Sermon preached by Command and was at the preaching favourably entertained by the persons principally concerned in it To prevent the trouble of giving several Copies desired by some good Friends which I thought might be attended with sundry Inconveniencies I have chosen this way of publishing it in Print that it may be ready at hand to do God his Church and your selves a further service I must ever thankfully remember the kindness received by an unanimous vote in your Hall at my first settlement among you and the continuance of a fair Respect which as I still experience so I desire to declare it to the World My capacity will not reach to a better acknowledgement than the offering this Token of Gratitude into your hands God Almighty bless it to the good end for which it was designed that by following Davids example in serving your Generations His Holy Name may receive due Honour you may be Instrumental to do much good and your Corporation being Governed with Care and Conscience may flourish in Peace and Plenty while the Sun and Moon endure This is and shall be the fervent Prayer of Your Humble Servant in Christ Jesus Tho. Stanhope Leicester Novem. 9. 1669. DAVIDS Work and Rest Acts 13.36 For David after he had served his own Generation by the Will of God fell on sleep IT is no new thing in Scripture to meet with Articles of Faith confirmed by force of Argument Rational proofes make the deepest impression upon rational creatures Thus St. Paul spends a whole Chapter in proving the Resurrection of our bodies 1 Cor 15. And here great part of a Sermon in proving the resurrection of Christs body The medium he useth is a passage of Davids which that Prophetick Psalmist had long before sung in his name upon a foresight of his triumph over death Psal 16.10 Thou wilt not leave my soul in bell neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption Now that these words were a praediction concerning Christ the Apostle makes out Syllogistically one part of the Argument being implied the other part expressed That implied is the ground or foundation of the rest and may thus be formed Either this place must be understood of David or of Christ But it cannot be understood of David Therefore it must be understood of Christ Where the Minor being only lyable to exception is strengthened by that which we find expressed The two propositions are in two verses David after he had served his own generation by the Will of God fell on sleep and saw corruption in this But he whom God raised up meaning Christ saw no corruption in the next Whence the conclusion naturally follows Therefore the Psalmists words of not seeing corruption must be understood not of David but of Christ And thus the Text stands in its relative consideration as it respects the business our Apostle was then managing and the Article of faith he was then confirming But I pass from that to take it absolutely as it neither looks backward nor forward yet contains in it self those truths which may be seasonable for this occasion for this Auditory For David after he had served c. To entertain you with any tedious discourse of Davids person or Criticisones upon his Name would be ill husbandry both of your patience and my time His Character is so exactly given by the Spirit of truth and his life so largely written in the Scriptures of truth that he who runs may read and he who reads may understand them I shall confine my self to what is here mentioned After he had served 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Substantive whence the Verb comes properly signifies an Vnder-rewer ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sub remige qui remum in navi agit he that tugs at the oare in the Ship a Work of constant and extraordinary pains And it is commonly if not alwayes in the New Testament used of serving in Publick Employments a sign that men when called to the Management of great Offices are called to a great deal of trouble The Mace and the Scarlet doe not more naturally bring bonour and respect than care and toile along with them No marvel then that honos and onus sound so like or the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated honour should be derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to be burdensome Men will scarce believe that King spake his thoughts when he told the Woman applauding his happiness Knewest thou what cares are wrapt up in a Crown ne ex luto quidem thou wouldst not take it up out of the dirt but he that wore it felt how heavy it sat upon him and made both his head and shoulders to ake That by the way After he had served his own Generation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To understand this word aright you must know that Generation is especially taken two wayes either for the whole time one lives the duration of a