Against Resistance of Lawful Powers A SERMON PREACHED AT WHITE-HALL Novemb. V th 1661. By SETH WARD D. D. Chaplain to His Majesty Published by His MAJESTIE' 's Command LONDON Printed by Tho Roycroft for Iohn Martin Iames Allestry and Tho Dicas at the Bell in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCLXI TO THE Most High and Mighty PRINCE CHARLES the II. By the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. May it please Your Majesty IF when the present Service was with great Favour laid upon me by that most Reverend Person to whom I not onely ow Canonical Obedience but a free disposal of my Concernments I did not without fear address my self to the Undertaking and if now I make my humble approach into Your Presence with Diffidence and Trembling and without those Tokens of Ioy which would be agreeable to the Honour I have received in being by Your Majesty encouraged to make this Offering Your Majesty being as an Angel of God will graciously be pleased to discern that no Aversness from the service of Your Majesty and the Church Nor apprehension of Difficulty in what I was to undertake Nor fear of the Adversaries of the Truth have created these Passions in me but that they are wholly derived from other Causes For next to the greatend of all my hopes I shall not so earnestly snatch at any thing as the opportunities of serving God in that station he hath ordered for me in the Church of Christ in which service I apprehend the acts of Loyalty and Duty to Your Sacred Majesty and of teaching men so to be most eminently involved As for the easiness of this performance I am perswaded in my Conscience that to him who hath embraced Christianity in the true and genuine Spirit of itâ— and to those who without vile Affections and Carnal Interests shall apply themselves to know the Mind of God delivered in the Scriptures no one thing is more clear and evident or pressed more urgently by the Holy Spirit then is the Doctrine which I have delivered If there be such things as damnable Heresies the denial of Christ himself the Lord that bought us blessed for ever is not more truly an Heresie or a damnable Heresie then that Doctrine which doth encourage Subjects to despise Dominion and speak evil of Dignities We are not to maâ—vail if we have seen that after this grand Heresie had broken its way thorough the Consciences of men the sholes of others passed clear without control â— and that those Doctrines and Practises which in the purest Times were abhorred as most heretical and profane were made the marks of the greatest Godâ—iness and instances of the highest attainments in Religion But on the other side it is considerable that in the late days of darkness and of gloominess God did not leave this Truth without witness but amidst all the Blasphemies wherewith Your Glorious Father now with God was in the day of His Calamity blasphemed even Rabshakeh was driven to acknowledge that the Doctrine of Resistance was a Mystery concealed from the Prophets the Apostles and Primitive Christians and reserved to be revealed in our Times upon whom the ends of the World are come And that our teaching Souldiers who taught the Nation with Briers and Thorns as Gideon did the men of Succoth not able to resist the Spirit speaking in the Apostles were wont to resort to this foolish Refuge that the Doctrine of Obedience was a present Truth an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to continue abusing the Saying of St. Peter as they did other Scriptures to their own Destruction As for the Adversaries of the Truths which I have delivered either on the one hand or the other how great soever they may appear in their own Eyes or in the Eyes of their Admirers I humbly conceive it may be no Transgression of the Lines of Modesty if I shall freely profess that they are not terrible in mine no man hath more reason then my self to be laid low on the consideration of days and years withdrawn from that Study whereunto I had been consecrated yet after what hath been spoken me thinks in this Cause I should not fear My fear hath been that in a Cause of so great consequence so clear so nobly handled by the greatest Worthies of the Church of England I should not finde any thing to be tolerably spoken before the greatest and most revered Judgment under Heaven And I now tremble to think that such Failings as in the current of Pronuntiation might disappear being now brought to view the Present which I tender may instead of an Offering be an Offence My fear hath been and still is lest the Truth of that Gospel wherein I stand should any way suffer prejudice by the Weaknesses and Disadvantages wherewith it hath been delivered but we have a gracious God and Your Majesty is gracious I am not ignorant how much the true Cause of God in the World which is truly stated to lie against the Carnal and Spiritual wickedness of men is entrusted in the hands of Princes I know likewise and am assured that if men be taught or brought to believe that the utmost hazard of the greatest Transgressions is onely the loss of a few days or years of life such as they finde it it will be impossible for humane Laws to give check to the unruly Lusts of men or for Society to consist Knowing this and knowing likewise the Scandals laid upon Religion I have proposed in all humble sincerity to lay before Your Majesty the true state of these matters to separate the pretious from the vile the sincere spirit of Religion from the adulterate pretenses of it and if it should please the Authour of Religion and Government so far to bless my poor endeavours by unaffected and unstrained Arguments to do right to the Doctrine of our Church and render our Religion lovely in Your Eyes to represent to Your Majesty how much You have been favoured of God who hath so far wedded Your Concernments and interwoven his Interests with Yours and of how great Concernment it is to Your Majesty to endeavour the settlement of the true Religion and to exert that Power wherewith You are entrusted to the eradication of Atheism and Prophaneness and to the pulling down of the strong Holds of Satan That this Resolution is deeply fixed in Your Bosom God hath put into the Heart of Your Majesty to declare may the same God be pleased to perform this great and true Work of Reformation by Your Hand may Wickedness be rooted out and all things that are generous and praise worthy flourish in Your time may Your Majesty live many happy and glorious days upon Earth and be afterwards crowned with Glory and Immortality So prayeth Your Majestie 's most humbly devoted Chaplain SETH WARD ROM XIII 2. And they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation AMongst all the Stratagemes of the Devil tending to the undermining
Tribe Korah an eminent man amongst the Levites was offended that the High-Priest's Office went beside him and was settled upon Aaron and his Posterity These were their secret griefs for a redress whereof they make a party in the Parliament they gain to them two hundred and fifty men famous in the Parliament men of renown and in order to their ambitious Designs they remonstrate against Moses Verse 13. and their Declaration was this Pretense which we are upon that all the Congregation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were Holy and that Moses and Aaron had lifted up themselves above them that is that their power was a contrivance of themselves not an Ordinance of God that notwithstanding what God had done to setle the Civil and Ecclesiastical power it remained still in the people or their Representatives assembled together Now the Scripture tells us that since the world began God was never more highly provoked then upon this occasion when he heard this he was wrath and greatly abhorred them he invented a new thing in the world for their sakes for the Earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and covered the Congregation of Abiram I have now done with these Pretenses and my endeavour hath been to vindicate Religion from the charges of unbelieving Politicians and indeed to shew that it is not a Spirit of carnal Compliance but the true and genuine Spirit of Christianity which runs thorough the Doctrine and Government of the Church of England After what hath been spoken I hope I may presume to say with the Apostle Do we now make void the Laws through Faith yea we establish the Laws We have seen the Christian Theory doth the Philosophical Theory provide better for the safety of Princes and the establishment of Government It tells us in effect that Might is Right that every thing is just or unjust good or evil according to the pleasure of the prevailing Force whom we are to obey till a stronger then he cometh or we be able to go thorough with resistance That in reference to this life Obedience is a matter of Wit and Prudence and after life there remain for us no Concernments How stramineous is this Theory compared with the Christian Theory which speaks in this wise Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers c That this is the genuine Christian Theory hath in some measure been demonstrated so that indeed it may be wondered from whence these Prejudices have arisen But alass that my head were Waters They have one grand Objection to which having spoken I shall conclude If this be the Doctrine of Christianity how comes it to pass that those who pretend the bighest to Religion and profess themselves the ONELY Christians the Bigot and Iesuited Romanist the frighted and transported Reformist have been authours of the most horrible Treasons and Rebellions On the one hand what mean the Catholick Leagues On the other the Solemn League and Covenant forced upon Subjects renitente Principe On one hand what means shall I say the lowing of the Oxen or rather the roaring of the Bulls the thundring of Excommunications the absolving Subjects from their Allegiance the actual Murthers of Princes the Attempts for blowing up King Lords and Commons at one clap What is the meaning of the noise of the Bels of the claps of Squibs and Fire-works which we hear On the other hand what was the meaning of that black and terrible Dispensation which will cause the ears of all Posterity to tingle It is but a little while since the anointed of the Lord the holiest the wisest the best of Kings was taken in the suares of men pretending to Reformation and sacrificed to the fury of men possessed by an evil Spirit from the Lord. He was offered as a Lamb that is dumb or rather like the Lamb of God to the rage of wilde fanatical Enthusiasts It is but a very little while since the Lamentation of Ieremy was in the mouth of all the faithfull in the Land Our King and our Princes were amongst the Gentiles provoked to serve other Gods the Law was no more the Prophets also received no vision from the Lord. And all these things were brought to pass by men pretending wonders in Religion And they would know the reason of all these Dispensations But who art thou O man who pressest into the secret of God's Pavilion How unsearchable are his Iudgments and his ways past finding out such knowledge is too wonderfull we cannot attain unto it It may be these things have been done that the Sayings of our Saviour might be fulfilled It cannot be but offences will come but we be to them by whom they come and It were better that a milstone c. It may be the Gunpowder-Treason was permitted to be designed that the disappointment might be had in everlasting remembrance and celebrated as it is this day Son of man write the name of the day even of this same day the King of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day It may be God suffered the late Rebellion to prevail that he might not leave himself without witness but shew forth his wonders in our days in the miraculous restitution of our gracious Sovereign and the Church If he had not been driven out how could he have been restored not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of our God It may be this was done that we might say no more The Lord liveth which delivered us from the Treason of pretended Catholicks but The Lord liveth which hath delivered us from the Tyranny and bloody rage of the wild Fanatical Enthusiasts Surely all these things have been permitted that the Stone which the Builders refused might be made tried and precious and that his Patience his Piety his Constancy in Religion his Christian Magnanimity being manifest to all the World by the impatient desire of all Nations he might become the head of the Corner Surely these things were suffered that the Faith and Patience and Loyalty of the Church of England might be made bright and glorious by the Flames of Persecution and that in the day when God shall have given our most Gracious Sovereign the hearts or necks of all his Enemies it may not repent him of the Kindness he hath shewn to Religion and Government in lifting out of the dust the despised Head of that onely Church for ought I know which makes Obedience without base restrictions and limitations an Article of its Religion Lastly these things it may be have been permitted that by the Triumph of this day and by the vengeance lately executed in the sight of this Sun the Atheistical world might be convinced that the Powers that be are ordained of God and that though the wicked do evil an hundred times and God prolong their days yet Vengeance is his and he will repay it and They that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation FINIS * J. G. Anti-Caval * 2 Pet. i. 12. * Psal. ii Expl Object Sol. * Heb. x. 29 Obj. Sol. * Matth. xxvi 53. * Apolog. §. 37. * Mat. xii 25. * 1 Cor. xiv 33. * Rom. i. 14. * Polit. lib. 7. cap. 8. * Ephes. ii 12. a Dâ—ut xxxiii 1. b Ioâ—h xxiv 29 c 1 Sam. xiii 14. d 2 Chron. ix 22. e 1 Kings xv 14. f 2 Chron. xvii 3. g 2 Chron. xxix 2. h 2 Chron. xxxiii 13. i 2 Chron. xxxv 26. k Deut. xxxiii 5. l Verse 1â— m Verse 13. n Verse 14. o 2 Chron. xxix 25. p 2 Chron. xxxv 15. q 2 Chron. xxix 34. r Lev. i. 6 7. s Novel Constit. 131. t Mat. xix S. u 1 Kings ii 27. x Ibid. 35. y Ioh iv 12. z Rom. xiii 1. a 2 Cor. xii 2 3. b Heb. i. 3. c Matt. xxii 21. d Matth. vii 15. e 2 Tim iii. 1. f Ibid. Verse 4. 5. g 2 Pet. ii 1. h Ibid. Verse 10. i Iude 19. k Verse 9. l Verse 11 12. c. m Verse 14. n Verse 19 o Psal. ii 10 11. p 1 Kings xxi 25. q 1 Sam. xiii 14. r Chap. xv 13. s Chap. xvi 13. t Ibid. Verse 18. u Chap. xviii 5. x 2 Sam. i 21. y Exod iv 16. z Acts vii 35. a Deut. xxxiii 4. b Num xvi c Psal. cvi 16. d Num. xvi 32. Application e Rom. iii. 31. f Lam. ii 9 g Matth. xviii 7. h Ibid. Verse 6. i Ezek. xxiv 2.
conceivable The Foundation of Government and Obedience is deeply and firmly rooted in the Foundation of our Religion And if the Scripture cannot be broken if it be true that Heaven and Earth shall pass away before one jot of it shall pass away it is as true that the Ordinances of the Sun and Moon shall fail before this Ordinance shall be dissolved For if by the Principles of our Religion we are obliged to believe concerning the Books of the Old Testament that they have been delivered by holy men of God who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. i. 21. then the Holy Ghost hath said By me Kings reign c. Prov. viii 15. If Christ be the Son of God the Son of God hath said Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's Mat. xxii 21. If the Holy Spirit did overshadow Peter and the rest of the Apostles then Peter overshadowed and filled with the Spirit commands us in the Name of God to submit our selves to every Ordinance of man 1 Pet. ii 13. If Saint Paul were called to be an Apostle by the miraculous appearance of our Lord Christ after his Ascension and was by him immediately instructed in the pure and genuine spirit of Christianity then Saint Paul's Theory concerning Government is an authentick Christian Theory whereby the Doctrines and practises of Christians are to be judgedâ— and that Theory is delivered in the seven first Verses of this Chapter Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers c. And they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation I call it a Christian Theory of Government because it is a brief and comprehensive Scheme whereby all Questions concerning Obedience and Government may according to Christian Principles be resolved The whole Discourse of the Apostle consisteth of two general parts First A strict Injunction Secondly Effectual Motives First The Injunction in the first words Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers c. Secondly The Motives in the words following which are taken from I. The Original and Institution of Government it is ordained of God hence follows II. The Sinfulness of Resistance They resist the Ordinance of God And III. The Danger of it They shall receive Damnation Which is again enforced by IV. The End of Government in respect of Evil men The End of Government in respect of Good men Out of all which follows V. The Necessity of Subjection Wherefore ye must needs be subject And VI. The Nature of that Necessity it is not of Prudence but of Conscience After all which the Apostle like a legitimate Demonstratour resumes his Proposition and concludes it with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verse 7. Render therefore to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due custom to whom custom fear to whom fear honour to whom honour The words which I have chosen contain in them the Danger of Resistance to the Civil Powers They relate both to the Antecedent and Subsequent parts of the Apostle's Discourse and are as efficacious towards the pressing of the Injunction of Obedience as it is possible for words to express or men to conceive The strongest and most operative Arguments upon men at least wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are Arguments of Terrour The most terrible thing within the compass of humane apprehension is Damnation which imports besides the judgements of this life the eternal privation of the enjoyment of God utter Darkness and everlasting Burnings Those that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation Those that resist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Resistance is a Relative Act and it implies some Person or Thing to be resisted What then is the Correlate of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is delivered in the first Verse Those that resist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Authorities set over them Civil Authorities having jus Gladii the Authorities Supreme or Subordinate justly obtaining over them It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here used which signifie corporal strength and power but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Scripture distinguisheth from both the other From 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke iv 36. and ix 1. 1. Cor. xv 24. Ephes. i. 21. from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iude 25. It answers the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Septuagint translates by all the names of Legal Authority 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is taken for the Persons of Governours as well as for their Power so Ephes. iii. 10. That to Principalities and Powers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might be known c. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 against Powers and the Rulers of this world â—phes vii 2. So that we may not separate their Personal and their Politick capacity It remains that we enquire the meaning of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what it is to resist in the Language of the Gospel Now 1. That to oppoâ—e by force is to resist it is so plain that I need not speak to it We meet both the words in that sence Iames iv 6 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God resisteth the proud and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Resâ—st the Devil 2. But the word signifies Opposition by subtility as well as by force The Opposition of Elymas the Sorcerer to Sâ—int Paul is expressed by this word Act. xii 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the opposition of Iannes and Iambres to Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. iv 15. 3. And lastly it signifies Opposition by Words as well as by Deeds So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to gainsay and to resist are the same Luke xxi 15. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to contradict Acts vi 10. The words then do clearly and plainly comprehend all manner of resistance or opposition This hitherto concerns the Proposition taken materially if we reflect upon the form of it there will be two things to be considered First That the Proposition is indefinite and equipollent to an Vniversal They that resist that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every Soul as in the first Verse that resists without any exception of persons Secondly That the act of Resistance is set down likewise absolutely without any restraint in respect of any Pretenses or Causes whatsoever So that the sence of the words resolved and expounded by the Scriptures is this Every Soul which upon any Pretense whatsoever in any maner whatsoever shall resist the lawfull Authority that is over him shall receive to himself damnation that is he puts himself thereby into a state of Damnation This I conceive to be the meaning of the Holy Ghost in the words of my Text. I must acknowledge that two things have been questioned in this Proposition by the men of this unhappy viperous and adulterous generation I. The first is Whether 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be interpreted so severely as to signifie eternal damnation II. Whether that which is said concerning all Persons and Pretenses can be