Protestant Countrey a Nation which hath been blest with the greatest Advantages for the increase of Divine Knowledge and the improvement of good Practice and which has been laid under the strongest Obligations by Divine Providence from one Generation to another how many are there notwithstanding all this who not only discover a manifest Neglect of God and of Religion but presume openly to bid defiance to the Almighty to dare the Power of Heaven against themselves by their horrid Blasphemies their impious Oaths and Imprecations who set at nought every thing which is Serious and Sacred who having first declar'd their contempt of Reveal'd Religion by professing Infidelity go on to testifie their disregard to that which is Natural also by a Practice directly contrary to all the Rules of Virtue and Morality Whosoever is toucht with an inward and serious sense of Almighty God cannot but be deeply affected with the Thoughts of these things To reform this Scandal of the Age is undoubtedly the Business and will be the Glory and the Interest of those whom God hath entrusted with the Power of the Sword For whilst they controul these Enemies of Almighty God they subdue the very worst and most dangerous Enemies of themselves and the Kingdom 2. Let us also fear the King which is the rather to be urg'd both as the proper Argument of the Day and because there are apparently two sorts of Men amongst us who contradict this good Advice Some there have been of late who from fond and mistaken Notions of Loyalty have prov'd very mischievously Disloyal to the present Government of whom I shall only say thus much That 't is a plain instance how far Prejudice and Passion may mislead Men even to the rendering them insensible of their Duty and their Interest at once to the making them guilty of great Disingenuity and Ingratitude both to God and the Instruments of his Providence uneasie on account of Blessings and dissatisfied with the only visible Means which was left for our Deliverance But I hope a little more time will wear out the remainders of these Prejudices at least out of the Minds of those who are endued with Honesty and good Meaning There are a second Sort who I fear still retain the dangerous Principles upon which the Fact of this Day was perpetrated who one would think might have long since been brought to a better Mind not only by observing the impracticableness of all their foolish Schemes of Government but especially by considering the Miseries that attended this Nation for so many Years together whilst they were attempting to set up what they still appear so unaccountably fond of Let us testifie our utter dislike to these and all other disloyal Principles and Practices by being true to that excellent Form of Government which is peculiar to our Nation by yielding a chearful Obedience and Submission to our Superiors by laying aside all our Prejudices and Factions and thereby rendring the Management of the Government easie to those who have the Charge of it in a word by reviving a Generous and Publick Spirit among us which is so apparently and scandalously wanting at this time that we may take up the Apostles Complaint Phil. 2.21 All men seek their own things not the things of God of their King and their Countrey Let us not go on to provoke God who hath given us one Opportunity more of being an happy People lest he say to us as he did once to the Israelites after their proving incorrigible under many Trials and Deliverances Judges 10.10 c. Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites c. yet ye have forsaken me Wherefore I will deliver you no more Go and cry unto the Gods which ye have chosen let them deliver you in the time of your Tribulation Let us rather hearken to the Voice of Wisdom speaking to us as to Children My Son fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with them that are given to change Now to that great God by whom Kings reign and Princes decree Justice to that Supream Lord who Governs the World with Wisdom and often prevents those Disorders which the Sins and Follies of Men expose them to to him who makes Men to be of one Mind in an House and in a Kingdom to God even our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ with the Eternal Spirit be all Praise and Glory now and for ever Amen FINIS Books Printed for Matt. Wottom at the Three Daggers in Fleet-street A Demonstration of the Messias in which the Truth of the Christian Religion is Defended especially against the Jews containing all that was Preached at the Lecture of the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By the Right Reverend Father in God Richard Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells His Sermons Preached on several Occasions 8o. A Guide to the Devout Christian in Three Parts containing Prayers for particular Persons for Families and a Discourse of the Sacrament The Christian's-Pattern in Four Books written originally in Latin by Thomas à Kempis To which are added Prayers and Meditations for Sick Persons By George Stanhope D.D. Chaplain in Ordinary to HIs Majesty in Octavo with Cuts Sold for 5 s. The same Book printed in a Smaller letter Price 2 s. The Occasional Paper No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. The Heinousness of Injustice A Sermon Preached before Mr. Justice Turton at the Assizes held at Lincoln 1698. By Laurence Echard Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Lincoln A Sormon preached at St. Paul's Church the 2d of January last being the First for this Year of the Lecture appointed by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By Samuel Bradford Rector of St. Mary le Bow
A SERMON Preached before the KING In St. James's Chappel January 30 th 1698 9. By SAMVEL BRADFORD Rector of St. Mary le Bow Published by His Majesty's Special Command LONDON Printed by J. L. for Matt. Wotton at the Three Daggers near the Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet 1699. PROV xxiv 21. My Son fear thou the Lord and the King And meddle not with them that are given to change THESE Words of Solomon contain Three excellent Rules for the Direction of our Practice which if duely observ'd and comply'd with would conduce very much to the happiness of Mankind whether consider'd every Man in his single Capacity or as Members of Society In discoursing of them I propose the following Method I. To consider each of these Directions apart shewing what Solomon means by fearing the Lord by fearing the King and by not meddling with them that are given to change taking in also as I go along the Reasons upon which these Directions are grounded II. To make such Application of my Discourse as may be suitable to the present Occasion I. To begin with the Explication of the Directions given in the Text. And 1. To consider what Solomon means by fearing the Lord and what Obligations we are under to comply with this Direction The fear of the Lord is generally taken in the Sacred Writings for the whole of Religion Thus the royal Psalmist Psal 111.10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom a good Understanding have all they that do his Commandments where the fear of the Lord in the former part of the Verse is explain'd by doing his Commandments Job 28.28 Eccl. 12.13 in the latter part of it And the like we find in divers other places And the Reason is obvious For as all Religion hath reference to God as its Object so the fear of God is the first Principle of Religion by which Fear is to be understood not a meer Dread of Almighty and Irresistible Power but an aweful regard also to all the other Divine Attributes and Perfections Thus the fear of God implies a great sense of his infinite Knowledge and Wisdom an apprehension of his Omnipresence that he beholds us wheresoever we are and observes what we are doing looking into our Hearts and knowing our Thoughts afar off It includes a respect to the perfect Holiness and Purity of the Divine Nature his love of Goodness and his hatred of all that 's Evil as also a belief of his impartial Justice and Righteousness as he is the Lord and Governor of the Universe It contains in it an humble Reverence towards the Divine Goodness considering God as the Author of all that 's Good as the bountiful Maker and Preserver of every Creature and the tender and compassionate Father of his intellectual Off-spring In a word The fear of God is a regard towards the Divine Being of the same kind though far exceeding it in degree with that of a dutiful Child towards a wise and good Parent And this may well be put for the whole of Religion because it will necessarily produce in us all religious Dispositions and dispose us to every kind of religious Practice The Man who thus fears the Lord will carefully abstain from whatsoever he knows or suspects to be displeasing to him and will readily comply with all the intimations of his Will he will earnestly desire and diligently seek to know the Will of God in order to the directing his Practice accordingly he will devoutly resign himself to his Disposal submit to his Government and have respect to all his Commands And certainly there is all the reason in the World that we should thus fear the Lord. The very mention of the Name of God carries in it Reason enough It is as Moses Phrases it Deut. 28.58 to fear this glorious and fearful Name the Lord thy God For as the Prophet Jeremiah elegantly expresseth it Jer. 10.6 There is none like unto thee O Lord thou art great and thy Name is great in Might Who would not fear thee O King of Nations For to thee doth it appertain The Lord is the true God he is the living God and an everlasting King at his wrath the Earth shall tremble and the Nations shall not be able to abide his indignation He hath made the Earth by his Power he hath establish'd the World by his Wisdom and hath stretched out the Heavens by his Discretion When he uttereth his Voice there is a multitude of Waters in the Heavens and he causeth the Vapors to ascend from the ends of the Earth he maketh lightnings with rain and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures He is the former of all things the Lord of Hosts is his Name Every Attribute of the Divine Nature includes in it a Motive to this Disposition of Soul his Power his Holiness and Justice do naturally bespeak our Fear his Wisdom challenges our Reverence and his Goodness enforceth our dutiful Respect His mighty Works of Creation and Providence excite our Admiration and Regard and his Authority over us justly demands our Obedience He made us and not we our selves Psal 100.3 we are his People and the Sheep of his Pasture 'T is fit therefore that we should worship and bow down and kneel before this Lord our Maker Psal 95.6 He is the Father of our Spirits he inspir'd us with all those Faculties whereby we are enabled to know and to serve him He bestow'd upon us the excellent Gifts of Understanding and Reason and made us voluntary and free Agents we ought therefore to glorifie him both with our Bodies and our Spirits 1 Cor. 6.20 which are his It would be the highest Injustice and Ingratitude at once it would be monstrous both Wickedness and Disingenuity to alienate our selves from him in whom we live Acts 17.28 and move and have our Being to refuse to serve him whose we are and upon whom we intirely depend for all we either enjoy or hope for Besides that the fear of God is our Happiness as well as our Duty 1 John 5.3 His commands are not grievous his Laws are all of them holy Rom. 7.12 and just and good not the results of meer arbitrary Will and Pleasure but perfectly agreeable to the frame of our Nature and the design of our Beings they are such as have a Natural Tendency to make us truly happy and what if we were wise we should of our selves chuse to be govern'd by For what doth the Lord require of us Micah 6.8 but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God that is in other words to comply with the design of our Nature and to act agreeably to the estate and circumstances he hath placed us in to behave our selves decently and orderly in this World and to qualifie our selves for a better If we add one Consideration more we shall need to superadd nothing after it to excite in us the fear of
's being God's Ordinance that it is for the good of Men. For God hath appointed nothing as a general Law to all Mankind but what is really conducive to their good It is as I before observ'd impossible that Society should be maintain'd without Government There must be some common Wisdom to direct and give Laws and in this disorderly World in which we live some Publick Authority and Force to see those Laws executed We see how difficult it is to keep Mankind in any tolerable Order notwithstanding the many good Laws which are made and executed to that end What a State then do we imagine the World would be in if every Man were let loose to act according to his Appetites and Passions which must necessarily be unless there were Rewards and Punishments appointed by Law-makers and distributed by a standing and settled Authority So that whosoever goes about to resist or weaken the Government he lives under does what in him lies to dissolve the Society and thereby to reduce things to a state of Anarchy and Confusion 3. I might add That Obedience and Submission to Governors are also the Interest of every particular Man as well as of the Society in general and that he who weakens the Publick Authority and thereby injures the Society will sooner or later feel the mischievous consequences of it himself as he is a Part of the Whole Besides that for a Man to oppose Authority is to expose himself to the just Displeasure of those who in all probability will be too hard for him Wilt thou not be afraid of the Power Rom. 13.3 says the Apostle Do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same For he is the Minister of God to thee for good But if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain for he is the Minister of God in that case also a Revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil Before I proceed to the last Direction in the Text I beg leave to make a short Remark or two from the manner of Solomon's expressing himself upon this Subject 1. It is observable That he hath join'd fearing the Lord and the King Religion towards God and Loyalty towards our Governors are both of them excellent things and 't is great pity they should ever be parted But there are too many that pretend to the one whilst they are very defective as to the other Some there are on the one hand that are great Pretenders to Religion or the fear of God who yet too openly betray their disregard to their Earthly Superiors by their forwardness to be always suspecting and insinuating ill things of those in Authority by their taking a great freedom to censure every thing they don't see a reason for by their readiness to be factious seditious and mutinous upon every slight and frivilous pretence There are some on the other hand that profess a very high regard for their Governors but have at the same time no manner of Reverence for Almighty God and his Precepts They seem to be of the Opinion That God will accept of their being good Subjects to the Government they live under instead of all other Duties which he hath enjoin'd them and that their steady Loyalty shall make expiation for their Impiety their Intemperance and their Lewdness But let no man deceive himself Mat. 22.21 we are to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things which are God's We are to fear the Lord and the King And what God hath thus join'd together let no man presume to put asunder I wish I could not still name a third sort who in this Age have made themselves too numerous and too conspicuous to be overlook'd I mean such as fear neither the Lord nor the King a Generation of bold Sinners these who having first cast off all regard for the God of Heaven can after that very freely and without the least scruple express their contempt of all his Vicegerents on Earth I cannot describe them better than in the words of the Apostle Men that deny the Lord who bought them 2 Pet. 2.1 10. that walk after the flesh in the lusts of uncleanness and despise Government presumptuous are they self-willed they are not afraid to speak evil of Dignities concerning whom the same Inspired Writer pronounces That their judgment lingereth not Ver. 3. and their damnation doth not slumber 2. 'T is farther observable That the fear of the Lord is by Solomon plac'd the first of the two by which is intimated That no Man can truly fear the King as he ought to do unless he fear God in the first place The fear of God or an hearty sense of Religion is after all the only Principle that can make us throughly good and faithful Subjects to Princes That Man only who acts from Principles of Conscience can be safely trusted and rely'd upon all other Principles being defective and uncertain 3. I now proceed to the last Direction in my Text Meddle not with them that are given to change By which is to be understood Men of a fickle and unconstant Temper such as have no steady Principles to act upon but are ever dissatisfy'd with what is present and fond of something new and when they once have what they seem'd eagerly to wish are yet as far from being easie as before the fault not lying as they foolishly imagine in the state of things without them but in their own variable and uncertain Minds And this may refer either to Religion or the Civil Government For the latter Clause in the Text looks back upon both the former Meddle not with them that are given to change either with respect to the fear of the Lord or the fear of the King such as lightly and without cause affect changes either in Religious or Civil Matters Lightly I say and without cause for it is not to be imagin'd that Solomon condemns changing for the better where there are solid Grounds and weighty Reasons for doing it 'T is possible for a Man to be educated in a false Religion nay for such a Religion to be establish'd by the Laws of a Country and then upon the offers of good Reason to change is so far from being a fault that not to do it must be the effect of Obstinacy or strong Prejudice A Government may be so ill managed or otherwise reduc'd to such streights that it may be impossible to secure the Society without admitting some variations from the ordinary Rules and Methods of Proceeding and then the reason of things as much warrants a variation from those ordinary Rules and Methods as at other times it obliges to a strict adherence to them But then a change is criminal when 't is without sufficient Reason and when the attempting it threatens apparent and imminent Danger to the Society and those Men act cross to the Direction of the Text who affect or