neglect of so necessary and fundamental a duty as honouring the King and yeilding obedience to his Laws That submission to lawful Autority and Obedience either active or passive is a most necessary duty no Christian can or will deny I say Obedience either active or passive active in things lawful passive in others Now if men bring themselves into danger or lie under any hardship for disobeying the King and not performing his lawful commands what joy of heart their passive obedience can be to them or what great content or comfort they can find in their sufferings I cannot conceiv but shall leavs it to all prudent and unprejudiced and impartial men to judge And here I shall only add this as to the matter of Non-conforming to the Kings Ecclesiastical Laws and so draw to a conclusion Let men diligently take heed and beware lest in stead of conscientious Non-conformists for some such I believ there are though it's pity there should be men of of such weak and tender consciences that for want of due instruction and right information they are really and truly dissatisfy'd I say let men take heed lest in stead of being such they prove as too many I fear there are pervers and stubborn and obstinate Schismatics or which is all one fanatic hypocritical Rebels And if so then as I said before to the prophane ranting Royalists That by their vicious and ungodly lives they bring a scandal and reproach upon Loyalty So I must say to these men That by their spurning at lawful Autority and their undutifulness to the Higher Powers they bring a scandal and reproach upon Christianity while they make Religion a cloak for Rebellion and pretend conscience for their disobedience I have been the longer upon this because indeed 't is Morbus Epidemicus the diseas of the times and I would fain if possible help to beat men out of this hold viz. of making the fear of God a plea for not honouring the King a pretence so directly contrary to the Doctrine of St. Peter here in the Text where he joyns these two duties together in a bond of inseparable union I say these two Duties which I have hitherto prov'd to be like Hippocrates's twins that live and dy together Fear God Honour the King so that no man can do the one and omit the other and as he that is a prophane wicked and ungodly man cannot be a true faithful and loyal subject so on the other side he that is a fals disloyal undutiful subject pretend what he will cannot be a holy good and godly Christian. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the thing I have been proving all this while viz. that No man can truly fear God but he that honours the King Now there are several ways of honouring or giving honour to any several sorts of honour I mean of honour strictly taken as here in the Text for otherwise honour is taken in a more large acception as oppos'd to contempt scorn or hatred and so in the beginning of the vers Honour all men that is have a due respect to all do not hate nor scorn despise nor contemn any But honour strictly and properly taken is only due to Superiors and so in this sens there are several sorts of honour these three especially The honour of Obedience the honour of Reverence and the honour of Maintenance and all these comprehended and included in the word honour both in the fifth commandment where we are bid to honour our Parents and also here in the Text which is a branch of that commandment where we are bid to honour the King Of the first of these I have been speaking all this while viz. of the honour of Obedience and for the two latter the honour of Reverence and the honour of Maintenance as I have now no time so no need I hope to say much of them For that both these sorts of honour are due to the King or Supreme Magistrate as well as that of Obedience is out of all question it being so consonant to the principles both of Religion and Reason and so agreeable to the rules both of Divinity and Policy So that most men yeild their assent to the truth of it as to the Theory though in the Practice sometimes they fail and fall short So then besides that of Obedience there are these two other sorts of honour more both confessedly due to Kings and Princes viz. the honour of Reverence and the honour of Maintenance the one for the safeguard and defenc of their Royal Persons the other for the support of their Regal Estate Crown and Dignity For first if their Persons be once slighted undervalu'd and disesteem'd their lives will soon be in danger and then again if their jura Regalia their Regalities or Revenues of the Crown be clipt and cut short the Reverence of their Persons will not long continue Therefore we find Honour in Scripture sometimes put for supply or maintenance or payment of rights and dues as of Tithe or Tribute and Offerings and the like Honour the Lord with thy substance and so the King too Honour widows that is maintain them by supplying their wants and necessities and to this purpose St. Paul in that 13th to the Rom. v. 7 Render therefore to all and so to Kings and Princes their dues tribute to whom tribute c. where we have tribute and custome and honour put together tribute and custome being a great part of the honour due to Kings Therefore our Saviour commends and commands it both by his precept and practice by his precept in his Reddite Caesari by his practice when he pay'd tribute himself yea and rather than not pay it he would work a miracle and fetch it out of a fishes mouth and he made St. Peter to do it which St. Peter's Successor the Fisherman of Rome I fear is not so forward to do to pay tribute I mean to Kings and Emperours but rather make them pay homage and tribute to him which if they refuse to do and so prove Heretics Rebels to the Apostolic See the Chair of Rome and the Triple Crown presently ipso facto they forfeit their own Crowns I and their Lives too away with 'um depose and kill ' um This is the Jesuits Doctrine but they learnt it not of Jesus nor Peter nor Paul nor Tertullian nor of any of the ancient Fathers What Christ and Peter and Paul have said we have already heard Let us hear now if you will what Tertullian saith for himself and the rest of the Primitive Christians of his time Colimus Imperatorem tanquam hominem à Deo secundum solo Deo minorem We honour and worship and reverence the Emperour next to God And St. Chrysostome to name no more upon that famous place to the Romans Omnis anima Let every soul be subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though he be an Apostle or Evangelist or Bishop or whatever he be if he come within the
do not take so much notice of them but I mention them the rather becaus of their names and they are Obadiah and Ebedmelech Obadiah was Steward of King Ahab's house and of him we read that he fear'd the Lord from his youth Ebedmelech was a great Officer in the hous of King Zedekiah and of him it is said that he put his trust in the Lord. But why do I mention these two only to this purpose by way of allusion to prove that none can be a good Subject and Servant to the King that is not the Servant of God and for this there may be an argument drawn from the Etymology of their names Obadiah signifies the servant of the Lord and Ebedmelech is as much as to say the servant of the King He that would be an Ebedmelech a Servant of the King must be an Obadiah a Servant of the Lord. Except you serv and fear honour and obey God you can never conscientiously nor truly serv nor fear honour nor obey the King And so I have finish'd St. Peter's first Lesson or Lecture which was a Lecture to the prophane ranting Royalist in the first Aphorism or Proposition No man can truly honour the King but he that fears God I come now to his second Lecture or Lesson which is to the fanatic hypocritical Rebel in the second Aphorism which is this 2. No man can truly fear God but he that honours the King Hitherto we have render'd to God the things that are Gods and fear to whom fear is due Now let us render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and honour to whom honour for this due is proper and peculiar especially Personae Principis says one upon the place and he no great Royalist neither though indeed in rendering to Caesar his due we shall render to God his due still and in honouring the King we shall honour God too For do we not honour God when we keep his Commandments and is not the fifth Commandment concerning honouring our Parents part of the Decalogue And is not the King Pater Patriae the Father of his Country and our Political Parent And is it not God that speaks to us here by the mouth of his Apostle St. Peter and bids us honour the King And 't is well we have it here in such express terms that our Antimonarchical rebellious Corahs may have no subterfuge nor evasion And here the Chapter of Loyalty the 13th to the Romans comes in agen from whence I shall fetch but this one argument A godly man is afraid to resist the ordinance of God The higher Powers and so the Regal is the ordinance of God and consequently he that truly fears God will honour the King and if he honour him he will not resist but obey him To obey Magistrates to honour the King and to be in subjection to our Parents and to the Higher Powers is not only an imperat but an elicit act of Religion Not that we think religious worship is due to Magistrates for we do not Idolize nor adore our Princes as the Persians did of old and as some do the Pope at this day but becaus the Higher Powers are certain Models and Emblems Images and Representatives of the most High and so the honour we give unto them does more immediately reflect upon God and more directly redound to his honour and glory And therefore some Divines have made the fifth Commandment a branch of the first Table which concerns our duty to God at least an appendix to it viz. becaus our Parents whether Natural Civil or Ecclesiastical are loco Dei in the place and stead of God and represent his Person However if it be not part of the first Table it is the next to it wherefore it is observed by Divines that in Humane Authors as well as in the Holy Scriptures as 1 Tim. 5. 4. honouring and obeying and requiting our Parents is call'd Religion and Piety Let them consider this that are undutiful disobedient and disrespectful to Parents there can be no true piety no godliness nor religion in 'um that 's certain and the same is to be said of those that are undutiful and disobedient to Princes And if Scripture be the rule of our Religion as sure it is then it must needs follow that as long as the Scripture commands us to be subject to Principalities and Powers and to obey Magistrates Tit. 3. 1. and to submit our selves to every Ordinance of man or to every humane creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in Place and Autority Omnibus filiis hominum as the Syriac renders it to all the Sons of men viz. that are set in Autority over us for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him 13 and 14 vers of this Chapter I say if this be Scripture and the Scripture the rule of our Religion then it must needs follow that those Men are the most godly and religious who most honour the King and are most dutiful and obedient to their Natural Civil and Ecclesiastical Parents True Religion is both the causa procreans conservans both the Mother and Nurs of our subjection to Magistrates and the fear of God the direct proper and immediate caus of honouring the King now Positâ causâ proximâ ponitur effectus contrà and so the argument will hold reciprocally by a mutual demonstration from the caus to the effect and from the effect to the caus Such a man fears God therefore he honours the King and again such a man honours the King therefore he fears God And thus I think as to the general the point is clear And if so if there be such an inseparable union and connexion between these two then is it not strange that any should neglect the one that pretends to the other that a man should think he fears God when he does not honour the King yea and that for fear of offending and displeasing God he should venture to displeas and dishonour the Supreme Magistrate by disobeying his lawful commands who is the Ordinance of God yea who is in the place of God and represents his person Is it not strange that when the Apostle bids us be subject to the Higher Powers and obey lawful Autority for conscience sake any should pretend conscience for their disobedience I do not love to give hard words instead of strong reasons nor to pin odious unnecessary consequences upon any mens Practices or Opinions for I desire to deal with others as I would be dealt with my self that is fairly and candidly in a way of love and in the spirit of meekness But is it not so indeed as I have said Are there not those among us that scruple and boggle at the lawful commands of the Supreme Magistrate yea and refuse to obey him even in those things which they themselvs confess to be lawful becaus indifferent and yet will not
mouth i' the dust and take the shame and guilt of his Sins to himself and say God be merciful to me a sinner and deliver me from blood-guiltiness O God and Lord lay not this sin to my charge Thus we shu'd do and O that we cu'd do it with that brokeness of heart and contrition o' spirit with that true godly sorrow and remorse o' Conscience that God may hear in Heaven and have mercy and forgive and pardon that so no one drop of that Royal blood may ever be upon the head of any one of us in this Congregation and much less upon the whole Kingdom and Nation O gracious God when thou makest inquisition for blood lay not the guilt of this innocent blood the shedding whereof nothing but the blood of thy Son can expiate lay it not to the charge of the people of this land nor let it ever be requir'd of us or our posterity Be merciful be merciful unto thy people whom thou hast redeemed and be not angry with us for ever but pardon us for thy mercie 's sake through the merits of thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen A SERMON Preached upon the Anniversary of the Birth and happy Return of King CHARLES the Second 1 S. Pet. 2. 17. Fear God Honour the King FEw words but full and pregnant and big with variety of matter Two short Sentences but long and large in sense and signification Two breif compendious Precepts but of a huge diffusive and comprehensive reach Two short Lessons but of so grand importance and so vast a latitude that it will take up a man's whole life to learn them the first of them especially Fear God which the Royal Preacher in the close of his Sermon makes the Totum hominis the whole duty of man And if so we need learn no more but put a stop at Fear God and go no further For if that be the whole duty of man then Honour the King will fall under it as included and comprehended in it and so he that hath learn't to fear God hath learn't also to honour the King And though the latter of these Duties be not so comprehensive as the former as to the direct and immediate import of it in regard of the object yet take it in its full extent and latitude and in all the due qualifications of it as to the act prescribed and enjoyn'd together with the grounds and reasons of it and then it implys and presupposes the other And so he that hath learn't to honour the King hath learn't also to fear God And this shall be my task at this time to shew the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mutual coherence and connexion of these two Precepts the reciprocal clasping and concatenation of these two Duties together Well then Fear God is a large Theme and would afford matter for many Sermons and so would Honour the King too if one should discourse of them severally and apart as simply and absolutely in themselves consider'd but I shall not do so but twist them both together and so handle them joyntly as they have a mutual 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and reference one to another and a mutual dependance each upon other Juncta juvant And so I shall speak to these two Aphorisms or Propositions 1. No man can truly honour the King but he that fears God 2. No man can truly fear God but he that honours the King So that here in this Text St. Peter reads two Lessons or Lectures one to the prophane ranting Royalist the other to the fanatic hypocritical Rebel 1. No man can truly honour the King but he that fears God Loyalty and subjection to the Higher Powers is a fruit and consequent of the fear of God where there is not this root in the heart there can be none of that fruit in the life 'T is nothing but Conscience and Religion and the fear of God that can aw the spirits of men into a sense of their duty and keep 'um within the bounds of loyalty and allegiance Let every soul be subject to the Higher Powers saith St. Paul Rom. 13. but how can he be subject indeed to the Higher Powers in obeying their Laws that is not first subject to the most High in keeping his Commandments Can I think that man religiously observes the fifth Commandment that makes no conscience of keeping the other nine and so pays God but the tithe of the obedience due unto him He that would truly honour the King and give due obedience to him and his Laws must do it for conscience sake saith the Apostle but without the fear of God where is conscience if it be any where it 's asleep to be sure for the fear of God will rouz it up and awaken it There is no power but of God saith the same Apostle in the same place the powers that be are ordain'd of God and so the Supreme Power Soveraignty or Supremacy is the Ordinance of God and upon that account it challenges our dutiful submission and subjection to it Now how can he that fears not God truly submit to the Ordinance of God and consequently how can he truly honour the King Again the King is God's Lieutenant as I may say upon earth his Vicegerent and Deputy how then can he truly honour the King that dishonours God whose Person the King represents The Judge in the Gospel neither fear'd God nor regarded man and he was not asham'd to say so himself Indeed if he fear'd not God no marvel he regarded not any man in the world so as to give him any due honour respect or reverence though never so much his Superiour Abraham to be sure was in the right when he made the want of the fear of God the root of all evil the Parent and Nurs of all Sin and Wickedness Adultery and Murther and the like Gen. 20. 17 Surely the fear of God is not in this place and they will slay me for my wives sake either to kill him or abuse his Wife he thought they would make no bones of either as long as the fear of God was not among them And 't is likely our Common Law borrows that phrase in her form of Inditement viz. of a Malefactor's not having the fear of God before his eyes either from that speech of Abraham or else from that of the Psalmist The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there is no fear of God before his eyes And from thence he knew it was viz. from the want of this fear that all his wickedness did proceed For 't is the fear of God that keeps all in aw and in order and where that is wanting nothing is safe nor secure neither Money in the Chest nor Wife in the Chamber nor Man in his House nor King in his Throne It is that great wheel in the clock that sets all the other o' going it makes a man move orderly and regularly in all his relations
have them impos'd nor commanded becaus indifferent And is not this said to proceed from tenderness of conscience and fear of doing somthing against the will of God reveal'd in his Word Thus men must be disobedient to lawful Autority and so resist the Ordinance of God even for conscience sake And though sure they do not much honour the King who disobey him by transgressing his Laws yet such men think they fear God as much yea more than any and that they are the most if not the only religious and conscientious men and all others but formalists and time-servers and meer moral men in comparison 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But now becaus there is such a nois of conscience I would earnestly entreat and beseech such men for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ diligently to search and examin their own hearts for the heart is deceitful above all things and see whether instead of that they call conscience and make it a plea for their disobedience there may not be something else lying at the bottom that looks like conscience when indeed 't is nothing less but rather humour or passion or fancy or faction or prejudice or interest or singularity or hypocrisie or spiritual pride If our heart condemn us saith St. John God is greater then our heart and knows all things I am very well aware of what follows in the next vers from whence some would infer that they may boldly and lawfully do whatever their conscience bids them If our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God But sure that must be understood of a heart and conscience truly enlightned and rightly inform'd otherwise we have no caus to be confident for our heart may deceiv us and conscience if misguided is a dangerous thing and will soon marr all and make foul work and set the whole world on a flame Did not Paul persecute the Church out of Zeal to Religion and did not they that kill'd the Disciples and Saints of Christ think they did God good service Thus conscience if misled and not well guided taught and instructed may do a world of mischief where it is But then again is it not easie to pretend it where it is not for have not we known the most horrid and devilish designs carry'd on under a shew and pretence of conscience and the Caus of God and Religion The truth is Conscience is made a sadle for every hors a bush or sign to hang at every door And as long as the heart is so deceitful as long as there is so much hypocrisie in the world we have little reason to trust every such show and pretence of conscience either in our selvs or others Especially when we have a more clear light to guide and direct us and a more sure rule to walk by viz. the Word of God Conscience is a dark close secret intricate thing it has many crooked windings and turnings but the Word of God at least in things necessary to Salvation such as is obedience to lawful Autority is plain and easie clear and evident and there are no such Maeanders or ambages in it Conscience may err and lead us into errour like an Ignis fatuus 't is fallible and uncertain it may deceiv and be deceiv'd but the Word of God is an unerring guide a certain and infallible rule Conscience then is no sure rule to trust to we have a more sure rule even the sure Word of God whereunto we shall do well to take heed as to a light that shines in a dark place as our Apostle St. Peter speaks In brief the Word of God is the rule of our lives and of our consciences both and truly conscience will play mad pranks if not regulated and guided by this rule and for men to pretend conscience against the express Word and Commandment of God what is it else but to turn Antiscripturists and so Atheists under pretence of Religion Does not Solomon counsel us to keep the Kings commandment and that in regard of the oath of God where we see he expresly makes Religion towards God the ground and foundation of our obedience to the King so that he that keeps the King's commandment keeps the commandment of God And is not this the clear and express commandment of God here in the Text Honour the King And shall any then plead conscience for not Honouring him Can any man in conscience truly fear God and not honour the King for can a man fear God and not keep his commandments And is not the fifth commandment one of the ten or can any one honour the King and yet slight his Autority or refuse to obey his Laws And are not the Ecclesiastical Laws by the way the King's Laws And have not they the impress of Regal Sanction and the stamp of Royal autority set upon them as well as the Civil What plea then or excuse can men have for not keeping and observing of them especially when they pretend to be so good Christians to fear God and keep his commandments If mens consciences be misled and mistaken which is the best can be imagin'd yet God and the King must not loos their right An erroneous conscience cannot cancel the bond of obedience nor excuse any from doing his duty Indeed it may so ensnare and entangle him that durante illâ conscientiâ he cannot proceed one way or other without Sin but still datur exitus for Nemo angustiatur ad peccandum saith the School still there 's a way left to get out and to extricate himself and that is deponere errorem conscientiae to rectifie his conscience to quit and forsake his errour which he may do by giving all moral diligence and using all good means for his better information And if he would do that let him not lean too much to his own understanding but rather distrust his own judgment than the judgments of so many wise grave learn'd and godly men his Superiors in Church and State the King and those that are in autority under him And then let him in the fear of God duly and impartially weigh and examin the grounds and reasons of his dissent and disobedience not thinking it sufficient that he has met with some little umbrages and shadows of offence in general taken at the King 's Ecclesiastical Laws the Orders and Ceremonies and Liturgy of the Church but let him come to particulars and then seriously consider and ask his own heart whether indeed he be able to prove by Scripture or reason any one thing enjoyn'd to be unlawful and repugnant to the Word of God for till that be done 't is in vain for any to plead or pretend tenderness of conscience for their contempt and disobedience And then let him ask himself but one question more viz. how far he thinks some few needless niceties doubts and scruples about things indifferent will bear him out and excuse him another day for his