Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n
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A47260
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A sermon preached in the cathedral-church of Worcester at the Lent assize, April 7th, 1688 by Daniel Kenrick, Master of Arts and vicar of Kemsey in Worcestershire.
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Kenrick, Daniel, fl. 1685.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing K307; ESTC R29934
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21,872
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36
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Face nor his Soul were of his own fashioning Thus force is most improper in relation to Conscience not only because it ought not but because it cannot effect what is design'd by it Force applyed for the Errors of the Mind is like pulling a String for the untying of a Knot your stress only serves to make it the faster By undue pressure you shut the Box closer which you design to open and too much heat contracts the thing it should dilate And therefore since Violence has been ineffectual the King is pleas'd to propose a softer method for the Peace of his Subjects Since Conscience can't conform to the Laws already made His Majesty proposes Laws that may conform to the Conscience And since a Kings Proposals are Virtually his Commands every good Subject will not only be oblig'd by his reason but by his allegiance to contribute what in him lyes towards the repealing of those Laws which are so uneasie to the King and the Burthen of the Kingdom Secondly 'T will appear reasonable to comply with His Majesty in the Repeal of the Test and Penal Laws from the Genius of the Christian Religion and that consider'd in its first planting or its propagation Our Saviour chose rather to make his approach to Man-kind in the Form of a Servant than of a Triumphant Monarch and the reason may be assign'd Because if the Christian religion had assaulted Men with violent Power it had perswaded them that it contain'd some secret weakness and the World would have conjectured that That Piety was a meer imposture which required so much Tyranny for it's Establishment By force indeed Christ might have Conquer'd but not with that only have converted the World and his rigour might have regulated the Body but never put any influence upon the Soul. He therefore chose to plant his religion rather by Doctrine than by the Sword by his own meek Mouth rather than by loud Clamours of War and to give life to those who were dead in Trespasses and Sins by living and dying innocently himself And by this gentle Method as the Church was planted so by the same only it thriv'd it grew when it was moistened with the Blood of its Members but fell when it self shed the Blood of Dissenters it increas'd when its Votaries fell a Sacrifice to the Heathen Penal Statutes but decay'd apace when by vertue of her own Penal Laws she turn'd the Sacrificer and the Ecclesiastick Ark that sail'd secure when storms were rais'd for ruin by Pagan Persecutors was always wrack'd and that without pity when it self had rais'd the Hurricane for Persecution For when all around cry Peace Peace a Lasting Peace none scarcely will compassionate the defeat if in spite of all a Man makes himself ready for Battel especially when by love peace only as the Victory may so it ought to be obtained And indeed whosoever endeaveurs to get it by other means are still suspected to be in the wrong and all conclude that the best deciding Argument for what they profess is only the sharp Sword which they draw And moreover suppose the suffering Parties to be what you will yet the Sanguinary Method must be unreasonable For if they should be in the right they suffer as Martyrs and you are guilty of their Blood if in the wrong your Violence makes them esteem their wrong just and so they dye to go to Hell who might have lived by a gentle way of Demonstration have seen their Errors and rise at last to Heaven If then we consider the Genius of Christianity we must not take up the Tests and Penall Laws but the meekness of the Cross to be the true followers of our Lord and Master For whosoever pretends otherwise to follow the Lamb follows him only as a roaring Lyon and endeavours to tear and devour that Flock which he dyed to protect But suppose say some that Men Blaspheme have their Hands in Blood Vitiate the Virgin Ravish the Wife and commit all Villany and that out of Principles of Religion should not Penal Laws be made and Executed against such I Answer Yes by all means let all such be severely punish'd He that sheds Mans Blood out of a Principle of Religion by Man let his Blood be shed Let the Sword cut off those who sin against the Unwritten Laws of God and let the Darkness of Death be a Recompence for those who dare to Transgress against Natures apparent Light. But in the mean time let no Man forfeit his Head for the Frail Error of his Brain let no Mans Breath be stopp'd by Law because he does not rightly open a Text in the Gospel and since no man shall be Damn'd for his meer opinion in the next World let him not be made miserable for it in this But for the Sake of Christ's Religion must not Error be Penally punish'd the false Religion chastis'd and Antichrist unseated I Answer By the same Rule every Church must fall foul upon her Sister and because she would think her self a Rachel not only conclude but endeavour to make her Neighbour the Blear-ey'd Leah For every particular one is apt to Stigmatize the rest by the Name of Antichrist to declare it in the wrong and avow it self only in the right it thinks like some imperious School-master it ought to have the sole power of the Rod and triumphantly above all others to be exempted from the Terror of the Lash And so consequently the pulling down Antichrist must dethrone Kings depopulate Nations and ruin the Christian World. If we pretend to be inspired with the true Genius of Christianity let us not pretend to fear Fire and Fagot our selves and at the same time heap Coals of Fire upon the Heads of our Brethren let us not seem ro dread the Rubrick of a Massacre to our own Persons and at the same time take all imaginable care for the Slaughter of others nor let us lest Smithfield should be in a Blaze by Popery set the whole Nation in a Flame by Protestancy For this is whilst we condemn the Crimson Dye in others to wear the Bloody Colours our selves and whilst we blame the Dissenter for not being as white as Snow 't is at the same instant to put on the guilty Blush of the Scarlet No let the cool sedateness of primitive Christianity control the growing heats of Sedition instead of Halters let us meditate only the gentle Bonds of Peace instead of Imprisoning our Neighbours let us put religious restraints upon our imperious desires instead of Levying Fines for Religions sake on Earth let us by Acts of Love secure a Treasure in Heaven And let Charity be what it really ought to be the true and a chief Test of the Christian Religion Such was the Spirit of pure Christianity when all Pride Envy and Interest were Sacrific'd to the Christian Peace Then when St. Chrysostom would rather part with an Arch-Bishoprick then ruin the Tranquilâ—ity of the Church when one Father relinquish'd the See
A SERMON Preached in the Cathedral-Church OF WORCESTER AT The Lent Assize April 7 th 1688. BY DANIEL KENRICK Master of Arts and Vicar OF KEMSEY IN WORCESTERSHIRE Allowed to be Published this 19 th Day of June 1688. LONDON Printed by David Mallet next door to the Star between Fleet-bridge and Bridewel-bridge 1688. To the Right Worshipful Sir Walter Kirkham Blount of Soddington Barronet SIR IF the Honour conferr'd upon me in selecting me particularly from my Brethren for the Preaching of this Sermon were not a sufficient Reason for the present Dedication yet the likeness of the Subject to your Virtues would make the Discourse tend naturally towards you For it 's chief import is concerning those best Qualifications which are your great Ornaments viz. Religion and Loyalty And tho it may possibly want Cultivation yet I 'm sure 't is not destitute of Charity and Honesty which alone will be prevalent enough to make it grateful to Sir Walter Blount whose kind and upright Conversation has oblig'd all to whom it has extended It has created an extraordinary Love to your Person where there has been a Disesteem for your Religion and forc'd ev'n the prejudic'd Mobile to confess that 't is possible to be at once a Roman Catholick and an Honest Man. I must confess such has been the Rude Insolence ev'n of my Brethren and those of my own Communion towards me upon my Preaching of this Sermon that I may be judg'd by some to want rather a Regiment than a private Person for my Patron and to lie under a high Obligation of my giving God Thanks that there is the force of an active Power to obviate the Outrages of Passive Obedience But Truth which is it's own Defence is able when it only shines like the Light which Converted St. Paul to strike it's Enemies to the Earth and as I never did so with Gods help I am sure I never shall want Courage to Act honestly And therefore I will contemn their Frowns and their Threatnings and more especially because Sir I am under the Influence of such a Patron who like your Royal Master never dis-regarded your Friends nor deserted your Servants and whose Countenance alone like that of Caesar to his Soldiers is able to inspire an undaunted Resolution into him who is Sir Your very Faithful and Humble Servant Daniel Kenrick ROM 13.1 Let every Soul be Subject to the Higher Powers IF This Text and its import were not sufficiently known and almost every day Discours'd upon I might minutely insist upon its Coherence and Explication discourse more largely upon the Origine and necessity of Government distinguish it into its kinds and set down some Rules by which inferior Governours both Ecclesiastical and Civil ought to go But as this would not be altogether so pertinent to such an Audience so would it rob me of that time which I hope more usefully to imploy in this place And therefore without any such farther Disquisition I shall briefly and generally Discourse I. Of the Necessity of our Subjection to the Higher Powers And then more particularly II. Of the strick Obedience we owe to the higher Powers or the Kings of this Realm III. Of the Reasonableness of our Obedience to the King in the present juncture of Affairs I. There is a Necessity of Subjection to the higher Powers because such a Subjection to Man is the Effect of our Obedience we owe to God. For God-Almighty has so far secured our subjection to lawful higher Powers that we are not only peremptorily forbidden to do 'em Violence or to speak Evil of 'em but we have Injunctions moreover from Heaven not so much as to have a disrespectful thought of 'em and not to Curse them even in our private Resentments And indeed since the Higher Powers are constituted by God's Designation and subjected immediately to the Great Creatour it will not appear reasonable for any Man by Rebellion to endeavour the subjection of God's immediate Minister and to pull down beneath our selves what Heaven has set up next to its Divine Majesty And tho perhaps a Supreme Power can shew no just Grounds for some of it's actions yet the heigth of the Seat in which 't is enthron'd by God Almighty priviledges it from being call'd to an account for such actions by any of its Subjects And therefore David after all his injuries to Vriah saith Against thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy Sight And this he says because God-Almighty who was only above him had a Rightful Power alone of exacting a Punishment of him And this was a Duty men ow'd to God not only before the Advent of our Saviour but since his coming 't is an obligation upon them For our Saviour his Apostles and the Primitive Christians taught it at once and practic'd it Their Doctrine was absolute obedience to the Higher Powers and their Menaces for rebellion and resistance were no less than Threats of Damnation And moreover that all future Christians should not think the Doctrine of Subjection Trivial or Temporary the Apostles submitted even to those higher Powers who were foretold to be Persecutors of them and their Religion The Primitive Christians obey'd the Sentence of Death even when they might have made a prevalent resistance and Seal'd the horrid unlawfulness of shedding the Blood of Kings by patiently permitting the Spilling of their own And therefore 't is impossible that a Rebel to his Prince should ever be a good Disciple to his Saviour and that because he wants one of the great Vertues of Christianity which is meekness of Spirit in subjection to the higher Powers And therefore by the way we may remark That when Rebellion is stirred up upon the account of Religion Religion cannot be the true and just Ground but only the pretended cause of such a Rebellion and it thus frequently comes to pass when the Ambitious States-man is defeated of his extravagant aimes either by his own ill menage of his affaires or by the Wisdom of the Prince he presently grows enrag'd and discontented and being unable to satisfie his revenge or retrieve his Interest but by Rebellion or too proud to do it by a just Submission he presently contrives how to make a Powerful disturbance in the Kingdom and finds no way more likely to succeed than a pretence of Religion And thus like the Man who finding himself not able to Sleep resolv'd his Nighbours should take as little rest as himself which he effected by running about the Streets at Mid-night and crying Fire Thus I say the discontented and restless States-man rouzes the unintelligent Rabble with a Clamour of Religion and half Frantick himself by some precedent disappointment provokes the People to madness too Religion is still the specious Cry when alas all his Religion is either Pride Interest Revenge for lost Honour or a wild humour for innovation For 't is utterly impossible that any Man can have a serious awe of his Maker or a Love and