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A59571
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A sermon preached before the Lords spiritual and temporal in Parliament assembled in the abbey-church at Westminster, on the thirtieth of January, 1699/700 / by the Most Reverend Father in God, John, Lord Arch-bishop of York.
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Sharp, John, 1645-1714.
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1700
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Wing S2999; ESTC R40613
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9,996
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25
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plain general indispensable Duties of Obedience to Laws and of Peaceableness and Subjection to the Higher Powers which Christ and his Apostles have every where taught in the Bible If indeed a Preacher should in the Pulpit presume to give his Judgment about the Management of Publick Affairs or to lay down Doctrines as from Christ about the Forms and Models of Kingdoms or Commonwealths or to adjust the Limits of the Prerogative of the Prince or of the Liberties of the Subject in our present Government I say if a Divine should meddle with such Matters as these in his Sermons I do not know how he can be excused from the just Censure of meddling with things that nothing concern him This is indeed a Practising in State Matters and is usurping an Office that belongs to another Profession and to Men of another Character And I should account it every whit as undecent in a Clergy-man to take upon him to deal in these Points as it would be for him to determine Titles of Land in the Pulpit which are in Dispute in Westminster-Hall But what is this to the Preaching Obedience and Subjection to the Establish'd Government Let meddling with the Politicks be as odious as you please in a Clergy-man yet sure it must not only be allow'd to him but be thought his Duty to Exhort all Subjects to be faithful to their Prince to live peaceably under his Government and to obey all the Laws that are made by Just Authority And even where they cannot obey them yet to submit and to raise no Disturbance to the Publick upon that account And this is the great thing which we say Clergy-men have to do in this Matter We meddle not with the Politicks we meddle not with Prerogative or Property we meddle not with the Disputes and Controversies of Law that may arise about these Matters But we Preach a company of plain Lessons of Peaceableness and Fidelity and Submission to our Rulers such as the Law of Nature teaches such as both Christ and his Apostles did preach in all Places where-ever they came and such as will at this day hold in all the Governments of the World whether they be Kingdoms or Commonwealths And if at any time we make a particular Application of these General Rules to our own Established Government it is only in such Instances as are plainly of the Essence of our National Constitution In such Instances as are plainly contain'd in the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and those other Tests which for the Security of the Government the Law hath taken care that Subjects shâ—ll swear to and consequently must be thought obliged both to understand and practise them And how can it be an Invasion of another Man's Office to Preach and Insist upon such things as these No certainly what it is the Duty of every Subject both to understand and practise in order to his Salvation that without doubt it is the Duty of their Pastors to put them in mind of But Thirdly It is said further That Preachers cannot engage in these Arguments but they will of necessity side with some Party or Faction among us now they should have nothing to do with Parties or Factions To this I Answer That to be on the Side of the Established Government and to endeavour to maintain That is not to be a Favourer of Parties and Factions But They are the Factions They are the Setters up or Abettors of Parties who endeavour to destroy or unsettle or disparage or in the least to hurt and weaken the Government and the Laws as they are established let the Principles upon which they go or the Pretences they make be what they will So that a Minister by Preaching Obedience and Subjection doth not in the least make himself of any Party but on the contrary he sets himself against all Parties And so he ought to do For his Business is to be on the Side of the Government as it is by Law Established and as vigorously as in him lies in such ways as are proper for his Function to oppose all those that would either secretly undermine it or openly assault it In a word all those that would make any Change or Innovation in it by whatever Names they are discriminated by any other means or methods than what the Law of the Land and the Nature of the Constitution doth allow And thus much of the First thing I took notice of in the Text viz the Person to whom the Charge is here given that he should put the people in mind I now come in the Second place to the Thing he was to put them in mind of and that is to be subject to Principalities and Powers and to obey Magistrates And here Two things are to be enquired into First Who are those Principalities and Powers and Magistrates to whom we are to be subject and whom we are to obey And Secondly Wherein consists that Subjection and Obedience that we are to give to them As for the First of these Who are the Principalities and Powers and Magistrates Why certainly by these words are meant the Supreme Civil Governours of every Nation and under them their subordinate Officers Let the Form of Government in any Country be what it will in whomsoever the Sovereign Authority is lodged whether in one or in many They are the Principalities and Powers to whom we are to be subject and Those that are Commission'd and Deputed to exercise Authority under them are the Magistrates whom we are to obey St. Peter in the 2d Chapter of his 1st Epistle doth thus express them alluding no doubt to the Government of the Roman State under which he lived which was then Monarchical Submit your selves saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to every Humane Constitution for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto the Governours as unto them that are sent by him for so is the will of God Upon which words of his the Homily of our Church appointed to be read on this Day doth thus gloss St. Peter doth not say Submit your selves unto me as Supreme Head of the Church Neither saith he Submit your selves from time to time to my Successors in Rome But he saith Submit your selves unto your King your Supreme Head and to those that he appointeth in Authority under him This is God's Ordinance this is God's Holy Will that the whole Body in every Realm and all the Members and Parts of the same shall be subject to their Head their King As for the Subjection and Obedience that is to be paid to these Principalities and Powers which is the other thing I am to enquire into it consists of a great many Particulars It implies in it for instance That we should give all Honour Respect and Reverence to their Persons looking upon them which really they are as God's Vicegerents upon Earth That we should not rashly censure their Actions or the Administration of their Government That we should at
no hand despise them or speak evil of them remembring the Character that St. Iude gives of those that despise Dominions and speak evil of Dignities That as we should make Prayers and Supplications and Intercessions and giving of Thanks for all Men so more especially for Them and Those that are put in Authority under them as St. Paul teaches us That we should pay them the Tributes and Customs that are due to them as the same Apostle expresses it that is the Expences we are legally Taxed at towards the Support of their Government That we should according to our Power maintain their Iura Majestatis the Rights and Prerogatives belonging by the Constitution to their Office and Dignity That we should assist and defend them against their Enemies That we should behave our selves peaceably and modestly in our particular Vocations endeavouring to make their Government as easie and as happy as we can but at no hand to invade any Publick Office that belongs not to us In a word That we should yield Obedience to all their Laws And in case it ever happen that we cannot with a safe Conscience obey there we are patiently to suffer the Penalties of our Disobedience But by no means either to affront their Persons or to disturb their Government by raising or partaking in any Tumult or Insurrection or Rebellion All this that I have now named is contained in that Duty of Subjection and Obedience which we are here bid to pay to Principalities and Powers as might easily be shewn as to every Particular But I will not tire you by running through all these Heads and therefore shall only desire leave to speak a little to the two last things I have now mention'd both because they are the most general and do in a manner comprehend the rest and because they seem principally intended in the Text I am now discoursing of Put them in mind saith St. Paul to be subject and put them in mind to obey In the one Phrase seems to be intimated the Duty of Active Obedience to the Laws and Orders of our Governours In the other Phrase our Submission where we cannot obey And First of all As for the business of Active Obedience for it is proper to begin with that first all that is needful to be said for the clearing of it may be comprized in these Four following Propositions 1st That the standing Laws of every Country are the Rule of the Subjects Obedience and not merely the Will of the Prince Where indeed the Legislative and the Executive Power are both in one hand as it is in those we call Absolute Monarchies there the Will of the Prince stands for Law But where People are so happy as to live under a Legal Establishment as ours is there the Publick Laws must govern and steer their Actions and not the Prince's private Pleasure So that tho' the King can do no wrong as our Maxim is yet the Subject is answerable for every thing he doth against Law even when he doth it by the King's Command 2dly Whatever Laws are made by Just Authority whether in Civil Matters or in Matters relating to Religion if they be not contrary to God's Laws there the Subject is bound in Conscience to obey them even tho' he apprehends they are inconvenient I own indeed that the Matter of some Laws may be of so small importance that a Man shall not need much to charge his Conscience with the Observance of them It being enough that he submit to the Penalty in case of Transgression And perhaps the Government never meant to extend their Obligation farther But for all that it is in the Power of the Legislative when there is reason to bind our Consciences to Obedience as well as to award Punishments to our Disobedience And the Reason of this is evident because we are bound by the Laws of God who hath the Supreme Dominion over our Consciences to obey our Lawful Governours in Lawful things Nay I say farther which is my 3d. Proposition That even where we doubt of the Lawfulness of their Commands we are bound to obey so long as we only doubt of their Lawfulness but are not persuaded that they are unlawful For certainly the Authority of our Governours ought to over-rule any Man's private Doubts There is all the Reason in the world that it should do so And there is no good Reason to be urged to the contrary Pray what is it we mean when we say that a Man doubts concerning a thing whether it be lawful or no Is it not this that his Judgment is kept suspended between equal Probabilities on both sides of a Question He is enclined by some Reasons to believe that the thing is lawful and he is enclined by other Reasons to believe that the thing is unlawful And these Reasons do appear so equally probable to him on both sides that he doth not know how to determine himself He doth not know which way he should frame a Judgment about the point in question This is the Notion of a Doubt Now in such a Case as this when Authority interposeth and declareth it self on one side and pronounceth not only that the thing is lawful to be done but also that it will have it done and accordingly lays its Commands upon the Man to do it I say if there be not so much weight in Authority as to turn the Scale in such a Case as this and to oblige a Man to act in obedience to it it is the lightest thing in the World and signifies very little as to the influencing the Affairs of Mankind But 4thly and lastly If the Matter be out of doubt If a Man be really convinced that the thing which Authority commands him is not lawful in it self but is contradictory to the Laws of God In that case he must not do the thing commanded on the contrary he is bound to forbear the Practice of it If any Humane Law let it be made by the best Authority upon Earth should command us to believe any Point in Matters of Faith which we are persuaded to be contrary to the Revelation of Christ and his Apostles or should command us to profess and declare our Belief of any Matter whatsoever tho' never so indifferent when yet we did not really believe it or lastly should oblige us to the doing of any Action which we did in our own Conscience judge to be a Transgression of a Divine Command I say in none of these Cases are we to yield Obedience to the Law by what Authority soever it was Enacted And the Reason is plain We must always chuse to obey God rather than Men. Where God's Law hath commanded us there no Humane Law can absolve us from the Obligation Where God's Law hath forbidden us there no Humane Law can lay Obligations upon us And it is the same thing as to our Practice that we believe God's Law hath ty'd us up as if it had really done so So that