Selected quad for the lemma: state_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A28303
|
A caveat for magistrates in a sermon, preached at Pauls before the Right Honorable Thomas Atkin, Esquire, Lord Major of the city of London, November the third, 1644, being the first day of his coming thither after his entrance upon his majoralty / by Elidad Blackwell ...
|
Blackwell, Elidad.
|
1645
(1645)
|
Wing B3090; ESTC R200137
|
30,169
|
52
|
to be playing up down the streets on the Lords Day Aaron may speak but it is Moses Rod that does the wonders Wee that are Ministers may cry out against these things but you have power in your hands Let not sin dare any longer to affront Word and Sword It s a pretious oportunitie God has put into your hands improve it You may do more good and bring in a greater revenue of glorie to God now in a few houres then it may be you shall ever be able to do again in many yeeres Close your eyes against all discouragements Laugh in the face of difficulties Passe by with generous magnanimitie and brave contempt the derisions of men viler then the earth You are high in place and office Be higher in affection and resolution To the worke in good earnest and goe thorough stitch with it Everie eye that looks upon you will blesse you The prayers of all Gods people will be for you And though we will not presume to say to you as Nestorius said to the Emperour Mihi ô Imperator terram tu haereticis purgatam tribue ego tibi coelum retribuam Give us London purged of Drunkards Swearers Sabboath-breakers c. and wee 'll give you Heaven Yet Jesus Christ shall say Well done good and faithfull servant And not onely wee that now live but succeeding ages shall call you blessed Your name shal be like a pretious ointment to the children yea to the childrens children that are yet unborn Your Honours most humble and obliged servant ELIDAD BLACKWELL A CAVEAT FOR MAGISTRATES 2 COR. 19.6 7. And he said to the Judges take heed what you doe for ye judge not for man but for the Lord who is with you in the judgement Therefore now let the feare of the Lord be upon you take heed and doe it for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God nor respect of persons nor taking of gifts THese words they are Jehosophats caveat to his Judges In the former verse you have their Commission He appointed Judges in the Land throughout all the fenced Cities of Judah City by City To judge to rule to govern Magistracie though it be for every ones good yet it is not every ones work but theirs that are appointed to it He appointed Judges There 's their Commission And then here 's their charge Wherein two things are required of them First Action ver. 7. Take heed and doe it Judges must be doers Secondly Caution ver. 6. take heed what you doe Judges must take heed what they doe And then you have the grounds of that caution they are two The first is taken from the person they represent in judgement The Lord For ye judge not for man but for the Lord Not for man It is not to be understood negatively but comparatively As that God will have mercie and not sacrifice Sacrifice too but mercie rather then Sacrifice So for men too but for God rather then for men So Tremelius Non tam hominis quam Dei vices in judicando geritis As if he should have said In this great work ye sustain not so much my person as Gods person nor are ye so much my Vicegerents as Gods Vicegerents my Deputies as Gods Deputies therefore take heed what you doe The second is taken from the person present with them in Judgement and that 's the Lord too But for the Lord who is with you in the judgement As if he should say you doe not onely represent God in the judgement but God is present with you in the judgement He sits as Lord chiefe Justice upon the same bench with you therefore take heed what you doe Thirdly you have the main help prescribed and that 's the fear of God Now therefore let the fear of the Lord be upon you The true fear of God in the heart of a Judge first it wil Restrain him from every evil Other Governours did thus and thus were injurious were oppressing c. but so was not I. because I feared God said Nehemiah Secondly constrain him to every good put him upon every duty Though never so difficult Gen. 22.12 Never so dangerous 1 King 1.18.3.12 Lastly you have the main hinderances removed And they are three 1 Iniquity wickednesse profanesse A mighty impediment to justice 2 Accepting of persons 3 Taking of gifis For There is no iniquity with the Lord our God nor respect of persons nor taking gifts We will begin with the caution Take heed what you doe As if he should say be not rash headlong percipitant but discreet wary circumspect in all your doings and very wary marvellous circumspect here 's a double take heed Take heed and doe it and Take heed what you doe Caution upon Caution Of all men in the world Judges Magistrates Ministers Doct. 1 of Justice they ought to be men of marvellous warinesse and circumspection All men ought to be so The divers assaults of Satan to deceive us The sundry inticements of the flesh to beguile us The many allurements of the world to ensnare us All declare as much All have soules to save All have another world to provide for All have rules to walke by All are subject to erre from those rules All must appear before the judgement seat of Christ and give accompt of all they doe Therefore all had need to take heed what they doe But above all Magistrates had need to doe so for why First They have a larger and greater care and charge committed to them by the Lord then others have And that 1 In regard of places Other's their care and charge is shut up and contained within narrower and straiter bounds and limits then their's is Ministers to their Flocks Parents and Masters Governours of families to their families Their 's to Kingdoms Counties Cities 2 In regard of persons Let every soule be subject c. Rom. 13.1 That lawlesse immunity of the Clergie as they call it from the authority and jurisdiction of the civill Magistrate ' its the cursed device of Antichrist 3 In regard of things Others their care and charge hath respect some to the spirituall estate of men onely some to the temporall worldly outward estate of men onely their 's to both Again others their care and charge hath respect some to the state of the Church onely Some to the outward civill politike estate of the common-wealth onely Their 's to both The office of the Magistrate and the duty of the Magistrate it hath respect not onely to Religion but to the civill State not onely to the civill State but to Religion He is Custos utriusque tabulae must be carefull that all duties both of first and second Table be performed All open breaches of every Commandement in both punished Besides these are in the highest degree of preheminence next to God above all others They carry Gods image in their persons Gods scepter in their hands Are called Gods Et quo
be accountable to God too Remember that You must one day come to your Redde rationem Give an account You must appear before that exact and unavoidable and unappealable Tribunall of the Judge of all the world and he 'll heare all over again and judge the Cause and judge the Iudge Iudge you and judge all And would you give any sentence now that should then be reversed Would you give any sentence now you would then be ashamed to own Consider that you must give account to God Not only to Gods Deputie that little God in your bosomes Conscience which will sentence you severely if you doe amisse but to the great God the judge of all the World and Iesus Christ the Iudge of quick and dead God will bring to judgement every work with every secret thing whether it be good or evill Take heed therefore what you doe You will never be able to give up your account with joy else Again The nature greatnesse and waightinesse of the work you have to doe The easinesse of miscarrying in it The exceeding great danger if you do miscarrie All these call upon you to take heed what you doe 1 The nature greatnesse and waightinesse of the worke you have to doe 1 It is Gods work and therefore requires your utmost circumspection I have provided with all my might says David Why The house is not for man but for the Lord 1 Chron. 29.1 2 It is a great worke A worke of the greatest and mightiest concernment and importance that ever did or ever can come under your hands 3 It 's a perplex intricate difficult worke So many knots many Cases so intricate ô what a Labyrinth you will be in sometimes Your thoughts how they 'll be perplext twisted as it were intwin'd one within another how you will be troubled to discover your way to finde your rule to know what to do 4 It is an excellent work 5 An important work too Your eternall salvation lyes upon it Your and our temporall salvation also Lawes Liberties Lives Gospell Religion Church State Kingdome all lyes upon it According as you manage your work even so may it fare with England for ought I know and the children that are yet unborn will have cause either to stand up and blesse you or to stand up and curse you 2 The easinesse of miscarrying in the work Take heed what you doe A thousand to one but you will miscarry else For why First you are but men Gods indeed but yet but earthen gods Men weak men frail men flesh and bloud You have the same carnall principles in your hearts that are in the hearts of others You have a principle of pride in you a principle of self-love in you a principle of base slavish fear in you a principle of ambition a principle of covetousnesse c. 2 You have the same Devill and the same World to draw forth those principles too Such temptations from Satan such solicitations from men such evasions in offenders to avoid justice friends intreatie enemies obloquie such a world of snares so many respects to worke upon your affections so many occasions to turne you out of the way so many impediments to justice This relation and that relation kindred acquaintance feare favour hope of reward frownes smiles If they be rich ones and great ones that offend ô they must be spared they will sit upon my skirts else another time they 'll be even with me And if poor ones yet if great ones become suitors for them ô I must gratifie such a great man c. Oh how hard it is for a Iudge to deale justly uprightly impartially Take heed therefore what you do You will certainly miscarrie else 3 And if you doe Oh how dangerous it is that 's the third thing The exceeding great danger if you doe miscarrie Danger to your selves danger to others First to your selves To erre in judgement especially wittingly and willingly Oh it is a fearfull sin Called a manifold transgression and a mighty sin Amos 5.12 And you are said herein even to exceed the deeds of the wicked Jer. 5.28 How many dreadfull woes stand registred in the book of God against this sin See Esay 5.20 c. No sin more sharply threatned no sin more severely punished in persons in Nations It 's a sin that makes you guiltie of other mens sins A man may be guiltie of other mens sins not onely positively when he consents to them councels them incourages them countenances them and the like but privatively also when he indulges them connives at them c. In this case all the wickednesse others doe it 's You that doe it you be the murtherers and you be the Saboth-breakers and you be the swearers and you be the drunkard c. It 's not they that doe it it 's you that doe it it 's the Court of justice that doth it It 's a sin of bloud The sin of bloud oh it 's a fearfull sin if you erre in judgement if you condemne whom God would absolve or absolve whom God would condemne you pull upon your selves the guilt of bloud you take the bloud that lies upon others and lay it upon your own heads Because thou hast let goe a man whom I appointed to destruction therfore thy life shall goe for his life and thy people for his people sayes the Lord to Ahab 1 King 20.42 2 Danger to others too to the State to the Kingdom Take heed what you doe you 'l indanger the whole Kingdome else involve the whole Kingdom in bloud be State murtherers Kingdome-destroyers And whereas if you had carried your selves religiously piously sincerely in your worke you might have quenched the fire of Gods wrath Psal. 146.31 you will kindle it more And whereas had you executed judgement you might have removed the judgements that are upon the Land you will pull down yet heavier and sorer judgements It 's a dreadfull place that Amos 5. Yee who turne judgement to wormewood and leave off righteousnesse in the earth ver. 7 I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins You afflict the just you take a bribe you turne aside the poore in the gate from their right c. ver. 12. well and what follows Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts Wailing shall be in all streets and in all high places they shall cry Alas Alas and they shall call the husbandmen to mourning and such as are skilfull in lamentation to wailing ver. 16. And the day of the Lord shall be darknesse and not light even very darknesse and no brightnesse in it ver. 20. So Jeremiah 4. They judge not the cause of the fatherlesse and the right of the needy doe they not judge ver. 28. well and what follows Shall I not visit for these things sayes the Lord shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ver. 29. The want of due execution of judgement puls down Gods heaviest judgements upon a Land Take heed