name Thou shalt be to Aaron as God said the Lord to Moses whom he had made a soueraigne Prince ouer his people And againe I haue made thee a God to Pharaoh and Moses calleth the soueraigne Iudges by the name of Gods saying thou shalt not rayle vpon the Gods for so it is in the originall and the Psalmist to the same purpose speakes thus God stādeth in the assembly of Gods he iudgeth among Gods and againe he brings in the great God speaking thus of his little Gods I haue said ye are Gods yee are all children of the most high Sect. 9. In that Kings are called Gods That the Kingly dignitie is immediately from God wee learne sixe notable lessons hereafter following The first that the kingly power is immediately of and from God and not of man as both Geneuians and Romanes most erroniously doe hold for none can make of a man a God on earth but God in heauen neither is it in the power of man to make one Gods seruant or minister but we must leaue it vnto God himselfe to choose and ordaine his owne seruants And truely if the King were ordained of man as he is for the good of man and therefore is by Saint Peter called an ordinance of man the Apostle Paul would neuer haue named him Gods seruant and minister but mans 1. Pet. 2.13 Rom. 13.4.1 Chron 29.23 The King sitteth in the Lords throne saith the holy Chronicler now it belongeth not vnto man to set another man in Gods seate but must let this alone for God himselfe to doe The throne is Gods and not mans Psal 21.3.1 Sam. 9.15 16 17 10 1 24 13 13 14 16 1 2. 1. King 3.7 10.9 1 Chr 29 29 2 Chro 2.11 Nehe 13 26. Dan. 4.14.23 Prouerbs 8.15.16 Wisd 6.1 2.3 Rom. 13.1 4. and he that sitteth in it is Gods minister and not mans yea he is of God called God for man cannot make a man God and therefore Kings are immediately from God and not from man an argument that all the Geneuians and Romanes in the world shall neuer be able to answer And therefore to shut vp this first lesson for in our worke of kingly controuersies we disputeit more largely and accurately three Kings Dauid Salomor Hiram one Queene of Sheba one Prince Nehemiah one high Priest Samuel one chiefe Prophet Daniel one principall Apostle Paul yea Gods Angel and God himselfe doe all of them anouch that kings are chosen of God nominated sent crowned created and set in Gods throne by God himselfe and not by man Sect. 9. The second lesson that wee learne here is that the kingly dignitie is of all other dignities absolutely the greatest and the diuinest That the kingly dignity is the diuinest and greatest of all other Reuel 2. 3. Psal 82.6 Dan. 3.26 6.20 Ioh. 15.14 15. and not the priestly as both Romane Geneuians do erroniously suppose For first as none can be greater in heauen then the God of heauen or so great so none in earth can be greater then he who is called of God to be a God on earth nor none can beso great Secondly as the highest stile that can bee giuen to any is giuen to Kings so a lower stile is giuen to Prelates and Priests for they are in the Scripture no where called Gods but well are they named Angels so that as the Angels in heauen are inferiour to the God of heauen so are the Angels on earth to wit the chiefe Priests and Prelates inferiour vnto the Gods on earth which are Soueraigne Princes thirdly Princes are called the children of the most high where as Church-men are instiled onely the seruants and friends of the most high Psal 21.3 1. Chron. 29.23 Fourthly God putteth a crowne of golde vpon the Kings head and he setteth him in his owne throne to sit there for God as God so that as the Apostle speaking of the inferioritie of the Angels of heauen beeing compared with Christ the annointed of the Lord saith vnto which of the Angels said he at any time Heb. 1.13.14 sit at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstoole are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for their sakes which shall be heires of saluation In like manner may it be said in this matter touching the inferioritie of the Angels on earth that is prelates beeing compared with the Lords Christ and annointed one the Soueraigne Prince vnto which of the Angels on earth for Prelates are called Angels in the Reuelation seauen or eight times said the Lord euer sit in my throne Reuel 1.20 2.1.8 12 18 3 1 7 14. as hee saith vnto Kings yea I haue sought much in reading and could neuer finde in old Testament or new in Scripture or Father Greeke or Latine that euer the Lord said immediately or mediately vnto the great Archangel himselfe that sitteth in S. Angel sit thou in my throne for no man taketh or at least should take this honor vnto himselfe but he that is called of God as was Dauid or Salomon What are the angels on earth else then but as ministring spirits sent forth by the Gods on earth 2. Chro. 17 7 8 9. Exod 32.21.22 Numb 12 11 1. King 1.33 34. 2 Chton 29 11. Exod. 5.1 4 20 1 6.8 20. 10 20. 9 8 10 3 11 10 12 1. Psal 77 20. 2 Chron 24 12 13 14 31 13. the Christian Ichosophats to teach in Iuda through al the Cities of their kingdomes to minister the holy Sacraments to them that shal be heires of Saluation to gouerne the Church Fiftly the high priest Aaron calleth the Soueraigne Prince Moses his Lord and Salomon a king is called Zadoks the high Priest Lord Ezekiah a king calleth the priests his sons which doth argue the superioritie and maiestie of kings for the Lord is superior to his seruant and the Sonne inferiour to his father Sixtly the Spirit of God euery where placeth Kings before the chiefe Priests Moses and Aaron the King and Iehoiada Ezekiab the King and Azariah the chiefe of the house of God and preferreth the Princely dignitie before the priestly where they meete in one and the same person Moses in Genesis Gen. 14 18 Heb. 7 1 Exod 19.6 1. Pet. 2.9 Reuel 1.6 4.10 and Saint Paul to the Hebrewes doe obserue this order in Melchisedech whome they name a King and a Priest The same Moses or rather the Lord himselfe calleth his people a kingdome of Priests or a royall Priesthoode as speaketh Saint Peter and Saint Iohn in the Reauelation hath these words and made vs Kings and Priests vnto God and the same words are vsed of the foure and twenty Elders Seuenth ly Psal 2 6 20 9 24 7 8 9 10 29 10 95 3 98 6 Esther 13 9 15 14 3 12. Reuel 1.5 15 3 17 14 19 16
of God giuen to Kings by God himselfe That kings are lawgiuers vnto their people is that Kings are Lawgiuers vnto their people that is to say that they haue power from God to decree and make lawes for the good gouernment of their kingdome and not onely that they are appointed for the custody exposition and execution of lawes made or to bee made by the people as some phanaticall spirits sprong from the Lemānian lake haue supposed The people are law-takers not law-makers and law-keepers not law-giuers for the law-giuing power is a diuine power and therefore belongeth to God or to him whom hee hath called by the name of God to make lawes for God and in his name for the good of the people And this doth appeare by diuers sound and infallible arguments drawne from Gods word First in that Moses gaue lawes and ciuill ordinances vnto his people of the Hebrewes wrote Exod. 18.15 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26. deliuered and declared them and appointed inferiour Magistrates for the execution of them to wit the seuenty Elders whereby we see how that the execution of lawes appertaineth to the inferiour Magistrates not to the Soueraigne but that it is his part to make lawes to giue expound them like as it is the peoples part to take them and keepe them Secondly that Princes are law-giuers it doth appeare in that the Lord commaundeth the King to write vnto himselfe the law of God to keepe it with him and to reade therein all the dayes of his life Now to what end all this questionlesse that hee may learne there by to be like Moses euen a faithfull seruant of God in all his house Numb 12.7 Heb. 3.2.5 and ouer all his house and not onely that he might keepe Gods law the better in his owne person but also that he might deliuer the same to his people as Moses did Exod. 24.34 Deut. 17.18 19. Ioh. 10.34 35 to be obserued of them and that the lawes hee should make himselfe might bee conformable to Gods lawes for as God the King almighty is the Law-giuer of Kings so Kings whom God hath called Gods are the Law-giuers of their people Thirdly this doth appeare in that Salomon calleth Mans law the word of the mouth of the King and the Kings word like as the law of God euery where in the Scripture is called Gods word Eccl. 8.2 3 4. Psal 119.1 4 5 9 10 13 16 17. Exod. 24.28 and the ten commandements the ten words of Gods mouth I aduertise thee to take heed to the mouth of the King saith the Spirit of God by Salomon and to the word of the eath of God Where the word of the King is there is power and who shall say vnto him what doest thou Fourthly this doth appeare in that questionlesse the more diuine power doth belong vnto the Prince Psal 82.1 6. 1. Chron. 29.23 to whom God hath both giuen his owne diuine name and not to the people and hath set him in his owne throne Now to make a law is the most diuine thing that can be done of a man and therefore it appertaineth vnto the Prince that sitteth in Gods throne and not to the people that stand before the throne Fiftly the eternall wisedome saith By mee Kings raigne and Princes decree instice Prou. 8.15 16 By mee Princes rule and the Nobles and all the Iudges of the earth out of which place it is more then manifest that it belongeth to Kings and rulers to make decrees and lawes of iustice and to prescribe rules of vpright liuing vnto their Subiects Sixtly and lastly it is said of Kings in the Scripture and to their highest commendation that they haue made certaine good lawes and decrees for the glorie of God and the good of their people Dan. 3.29 6.25 26. thus Nebuchadnezzar King of Babel made a decree or law that euery people nation and language which should speake any blasphemie against the God of Shadrach Messach Abednego should be drawen in pieces and that their houses should bee made a iakes and Darius King of Medes and Persians made a law or decree that in all the dominion of his kingdome men should tremble and feare before the God of Daniel and by these sixe arguments it is more then euident that the Prince and hee principally hath an affirmatiue voyce and not onely a negatiue in the assembly of his estates The which thing we shall prooue likewise by politicall and philosophicall arguments in our Latine worke of Kingly controuersies Sect. 13. The fifth lesson that we learne That Kings are to be liberally and honourably mainfained Prou. 3.9 10. in that Kings are of God called Gods is this as we must honour God with our riches and the oblation of our hands according as Salomon exhorteth saying Honour the Lord with thy riches c so must we likewise honour them whom God hath called Gods to wit Soueraigne Princes whom when as wee honour with our riches in giuing them a portion thereof for their honourable prouision then we honour God himselfe with our riches as Salomon exhorteth all men to doe that would haue God to blesse them with abundance And truly if wee would be loath to let God want if hee were subiect to want in his owne person as man is then ought we likewise be loath to let the Prince want who representeth God and therefore is called God to teach vs that what we bestow vpon him wee offer vnto God and in whose person God oftentimes carrieth himselfe as one that wanteth and standeth in need of our helpe And if we would willingly cheerefully and without murmuring bestow vpon our most bountifull Father our goods in whole or in halfe then truly wee ought not to murmure or grudge to bestow vpon Princes whom God hath called by the name of the children of the most High a conuenient portion of the same Psal 82.6 at lest for their fathers sake So that the good Christian subiect when he seeth a King especially a Christian King and such a one as besides his diuine power is adorned with the diuine qualities and perfections of wisedome bounty iustice and mercy he ought to thinke with himselfe that he seeth God in mans likenesse and when such a King asketh subsidie or releefe at his subiects hands they ought to shew themselues as willing and ready thereunto as they should if God himselfe in mans likenesse were come downe amongst men to require a sacrifice or oblation at their hands And though it bee true that that Almighty God doth not stand in need of any thing we haue for he is alsufficient in himselfe yet wee must thinke that it is his pleasure to carrie himselfe oftentimes as one that doth need in the person of the Prince the Priest and the Poore And this hee doth to trie whether wee loue Almighty God and our neighbour better then our goods or no and to know by the effect
15.6 1. Cor. 1.10 11 3 3 4. Eph. 4.3 4 5 Phil. 3.16 that concerne Gods worship the saluation of mens soules and the good constitution of the Church because by the meanes and occasion of discord and dissention such as be without are scandalized and still kept out of the Church and those that are within are so pittifully distracted that either they are driuen out of the Church or if they stay still in it they prooue no better then dull or dead members of the Church much like the parts of a blasted body for lacke of true deuotion and spirituall life For whilest wee contend about veritie wee loose vnitie and striuing about the shaddowes of ceremonie and circumstance we slip from the body and substance opinion oppresseth pietie faction vndermineth faith controuersie quelleth charitie and reasoning rooteth vp religion Sect. 3. The procuring furthering and preseruing of Vnitie and Concord in the Church appertaineth principally vnto the Christian Prince Isay 49.23 Exod. 4.16 22.8 Psal 82.1.6 Ioh. 10.34 35 Math. 5.9 2. Tim. 2.24 25. whom God hath called to be a nursing-father vnto his Church and hath honoured most highly with the stile of the Son of the most high and euen of a God to put him in minde of his care and studie for the things of God and the good of his Church which principally consisteth in the Vnitie thereof and next it appertaineth vnto the Pastors who are to ioyne with the Prince in this glorious worke whom of all other it becommeth least to be men of strife and contention or instruments of discord and diuision seeing that the God of peace hath called them to bee Messengers and makers of peace and Vnion Sect. 4. Amongst the many particular Churches that are at this day diuided from themselues one from another whether in doctrine or discipline in substance or circumstance there is a difference in perfection and I thinke no man doubteth of it but that one Church may be of a more perfit and complete constitution then another Church yea we are so farre from doubting any thing of this point that euery professour holdeth the Church that he is off to be the more perfit then that which hee disclaimeth Sect. 5. It beeing most certaine that the particular diuided Churches are not alike perfit it standeth the lesse perfit in hand to conforme it selfe vnto that which shall by the light of Gods word and good reason appeare to bee more perfit both because our Sauiour Christ commandeth all Christians to aspire vnto perfection saying Mat. 5.48 Phil. 3.15.16 Coloss 1.28 Heb. 6.1 Bee ye therefore perfit as your Father which is in heauen is perfit and the Apostle exhorteth all men to bee led forward to perfection and because that this is the only way to knit vp the Churches in Concord and Vnitie and to draw them to an vniformitie Sect. 6. Amongst the particular reformed Churches that of England is more perfit and complete in many respects then any Church reformed after the fashion of Geneua contrary to the petitioners assertion and namely then that of Scotland whose forme and constitution was meerely Geneuian before that our sacred Soueraigne diuinely enspired began the second reformation thereof tending to the conformation of it with England or rather with the Primitiue whereunto it is much more like then the other Sect. 7. The perfection of the english Church is apparent whether we compare her with the Church of God and the blessed Spirits in heauen or with the Church of God beleeuing men on earth before Christs time in his time or after his time or whether we respect the warrant and authoritie of Gods word or mans of diuinitie or humanity of Scripture or nature of religion or reason or whether wee respect her essentiall perfections and parts for piety or charity faith or repentance deuotion or reuerence illumination or sanctification doctrine or discipline substance or circumstance seruice or ceremonie order or decency the honour and dignity of Prince or of Pastors with the edification and consolation of the whole people Sect. 8. Considering that the pregnantest proofe that can be brought of a particular Churches perfection The Church of England more diuine and God-like then the Geneuian and painting out as it were to the life the analogie and affinitie likenesse or resemblance that it hath with that Church which is knowne to bee absolutely the most diuine compleate and perfit I shall therefore prooue in this present discourse by many places of Scripture especially of that most diuine part of it called the Reuelation of Saint Iohn the diuine that the Church of England is much more diuine and farre liker the Church of God in heauen then any Geneuian Church is and therefore much more perfit contrary to to the Petitionerslate assertion For seeing that as oft as in praying the Lords prayer we say Mat. 6.9.10 thy will bee done in earth as it is in heauen wee doe desire of God with all our hearts that his Church on earth militant may bee euery day more and more conformable and like vnto his Church in heauen triumphant which wee beleeue and confesse to be the most perfit it must needs follow that the more conforme a Church on earth bee vnto the Church in heauen the more it findeth and feeleth the efficacie and force of our Lords prayer and the neerer that it doth resemble the Church in heauen the perfiter must it be for that thing is the more perfit which is the more like vnto the most perfit And that the Church of England is much liker the Church that is aboue then the Geneuian is it may appeare by comparing the constitutions of the two Churches together And first I say that the Church of England is liker vnto Gods Church in heauen then any other Church Geneuian or Romane as beeing more diuine and God-like in respect of the supreme Gouernour For like as the Soueraigne gouernour of the Church in heauen consisting of those blessed Spirits which Saint Iohn saw almost beyond number in the presence of the throne of God seruing him day and night in his Temple Ruele 4 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. 5.8 9 10 11 14. 7.9 10 11 12 13 14 15 19.1 21.1 2 3. Exod. 15.18 1. Sam. 8.7 Psal 2.6 30 9 22.28 24.7 8 9 10. 29.10 Gen. 2.20 Exod. 3.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. 4.16 7.1 22.28 Psal 82.1.6 95.3 50.1 is such a one as is both God and King so the Soueraigne Gouernour of the Church of England is such a one as is both a King and a God on earth for in the holy Scripture wee know that Kings are called Gods as God himselfe is called a King And euen God himself hath called Kings by this name not any creature for Adam gaue al other things their names but could not giue this for none but God can giue this