Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
world_n law_n sin_n transgression_n 4,002 5 11.2412 5 true
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A45785 A sermon preached before the King at White-Hall November 23, 1684 by Gilbert Ironside ... Ironside, Gilbert, 1588-1671. 1685 (1685) Wing I1049; ESTC R5618 18,482 39

There are 2 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

never pleaded for upon Earth God be thanked all Immorality stands condemned by a Law what ever the practice of men be or whatever the Cowardice or Corruption of Judges may be in executing the Laws or whatever the necessity of Magistrates sometimes may be to suspend the Execution of them in Church or State I know no iniquity established by a Law unless it be some sort of Theft and that the very worst I mean Sacriledge and I am very far from being sure of that God be thanked for our Laws The Gospel hath not all ways nay seldome since the Pure and primitive times of it proved sufficient to overcome the baseness of human nature And no man ever disputed the Magistrates power in making such Laws against Immorality There is a great Necessity of making of them for two reasons The first is the Exigence of Mankind the second is upon the account of the Glory of God neither of which without the making of these Laws can be provided for As for the first we need not apply our selves to fetch Arguments from Divinity to prove what has been the constant voice and experience of the whole world And truly the Glory of God can as little subsist without making these Laws I mean the Glory of God in this world for as for his Eternal and Internal as I may so say Glory and Perfection as likewise that which is manifested amongst the Blessed Spirits all our deeds of darkness can never cast any shadow upon it though in this world God's honour is much disgrac'd by our transgressions And one reason why it must be so is God hath made the Laws of Nature to be his own in a particular manner Indeed they were his own at first by writing them upon our nature and in our hearts but he made them his own by a particular Sanction He did so to the Jewish nation when the Government was purely Theotracy and God was pleas'd to come down upon the Mount to manage all things himself and to speak the ten Commandments to the people And the Author of our Institution was so far from taking that Law away that he tells us in his first Sermon from his mouth that he came to fulfill it i. e. to fill it up Now if God as if he was Pater patrioe as well as Pater coeli Father of Nations as well as father of Heaven requires obedience to those Laws which were given us for the security and peace of the world t is a small return to his Honour to see these Laws His and ours His as well as ours His by way of Sanction because ours by way of benefit put in execution Nay further the sad and sinful condition of mankind and the obligation of Evangelical duties that lie upon us in dealing with men guilty of trespasses makes it necessary God cannot be honoured without the execution of wrath upon the violation of the Laws of Nature upon this account God will be honoured in this world or he will confound it I say he cannot be honour'd in this world without this Execution of Wrath. Why so 'T is plain from the Evil constitution of Affairs on the one hand and the nature of Christianity on the other The Law of Nature enjoyns us Rules of Justice the Laws of Christ enjoyn us in case of wrong Patience Meekness and Forgiveness as our particular Province We are forbidden doing any Injury and we are forbidden all kind of Revenge when others injure us in our Names Goods or Persons This was the Doctrine of our Saviour and this was the Practice of our Saviour When he suffer'd says St. Peter he committed his cause to him that judgeth righteously and St. Paul gives a reason for it in the behalf of God Vengeance is mine Rom. 12.19 Were it not for this Reservation Aristotle and Tully had been both in the right who make it an act of Justice to revenge an Injury an act of Justice t is but such an one as God hath reserv'd to himself Vengeance is mine and it were insufferable in us to wrest his sword out of his hand When Joseph's Brethren were afraid their Father being dead he would be avenged on them for Injuries they had done him Fear not says he for am I in the place of God Gen. 50. q. d. Vengeance belongeth unto Him Now the Question therefore is How doth God avenge our Injuries of which the world is and will be full Injuries are forbid by the Law of nature and Injuries will be committed by the corruption of nature and Injuries must be suffer'd and forgiven too by the Constitution of the Gospel and Injuries must be revenged too by the Justice and Government of the world but must be revenged only by God Vengeance is mine But how does God revenge and repay our Injuries I answer two manner of ways First immediately by himself and that sometimes in this world always in the next Secondly mediately by the power deputed unto men and the Magistrates are called Gods in that respect First by Himself immediately So David comforted himself against Saul 1 Sam. 26. David said to Abishai Destroy him not for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord 's Anointed and be innocent David said further As the Lord liveth the Lord shall smite him or he shall come to dye or he shall descend into battel and perish and then again adds The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord 's Anointed Of this extraordinary vengeance of God the Heathens themselves had very strong apprehensions and comforted themselves with expectation of it So the Heathen Mariners in Jonah when the lot fell upon him and discover'd him The same judgment we find the Barbarians pass upon St Paul in the Acts of the Apostles when they saw a Viper fasten upon his hands they concluded No doubt this man was a murderer whom though he escap'd the Sea yet vengeance suffers him not to live So Achilles in Homer when he confess'd he ought not to avenge himself of his Superior comforts himself with this Apprehension That the Providence of God sometime or other would do him right 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These are the apprehensions the Jews and Heathens had of the Justice of God and his divine and immediate vengeance what we are to have we may learn from our Saviour speaking of the unrighteous Judge that for importunities sake did the widdow right concludes of God the righteous Judge Shall not he avenge his own Elect that cry unto him day and night I tell you says he he will avenge them speedily tho he bear long with them This is God's first way of avenging but this is in extraordinary and rare cases and often and for the most part put off till the great day of Doom the terrible day of the Lord. And therefore Secondly there is a more ordinary and daily way of avenging Injuries and that is by the hand of the Magistrate So we read Rom. 13.
sincerely and cheerfully and upon much better Principles then any people under Heaven among whom they liv'd other men did it for fear of wrath Christians for Conscience sake You must needs be subject for Conscinenc sake Rom. 13.5 We are in danger of being call'd on question for this days Riot said the Town-clerck of Ephesus we sin against God would the Christians have said Indeed if things were pursu'd home to their Principles and thence to their dismal Consequences men may learn their Obligations to humane Laws as well as to the Laws of nature even by the light of nature The Thief the Murderer and the Evil-doer are condemn'd by the Laws of nature the Busy-body by the Laws of the State which hath power by the Law of nature to make Laws sufficient to preserve it self and is the first Dictate of the Law of Nature concerning men combin'd in Societies and tho in themselves some sins against the other immediate Laws of Nature and these against the State are not comparable yet as to the Peace Tranquility and Comfort of the world the sins which arise from this Pragmatical Principle are much the worse and generally the causes of the others also And who doubts but the Debauchery of the last Age was the effect of the War and that War caus'd by this very Principle 'T is therefore a true and a wise saying Sedition is worse then Murder and 't is pity the saying is found so often in the Alcoran and so seldome to be met with in the Practice of Christians I say If things were rightly pursu'd to their Origine and Consequences this Sin is manifestly discover'd by the Light of Nature but no Condemnation of it comparable to what we find in the Christian Religion That 's a Religion which in its very Constitution aimes at the peace and tranquillity of mankind a Religion which is exercis'd in Humility and Self-denyal in Thanks-giving for other mens Parts Gifts Powers Preferments and Authorities and above all in a perfect Submission to the holy will of God in his wise governing of the world The Conclusion therefore must be that of Eccl. 11.10 My Son meddle not with many matters and the Councel is there back'd with Three notable Reasons For if thou meddle thou shalt not be innocent there is sin the case and if thou follow after thou shalt not obtain Disappointis threatned neither shalt thou escape by flying There be Three things in the New Testament which are threatned with signal judgments in this life The First is doing evil that good may come of it Vide Grotium in locum whose damnation says the Apostle is just Rom. 3.8 The Second is Profaning the Sacrament of the Lords Supper They that eat unworthily eat damnation to themselves 1 Cor. 11. The Third is Profaning of the supreme Powers They that resist shall receive to themselves damnation i. e. These Three sins make men liable not only to the divine wrath hereafter for so all sins without Repentance expose to Damnation but usually they are also attended with signal judgments in this life They that resist shall receive to themselves damnation and they that meddle with many matters shall not escape no not by flying a Curse shall follow and overtake thee And so let it upon all the Troublers of the Earth that our Kings may be at Rest and we may lead a quiet life in all Godliness and Honesty FINIS QVicunque vos ex occasione legis imperialis non dilections sed inimicandi odio persequitur displicet nobis quamvis res vestras falso appellatis quas nec justi possidetis secundum leges Regum terrenorum amittere jussiestis quisquis tamen ex occasione hujus legis quam Regesterrae Christo Servientes ad emendandam vestram impietatem promulgaverunt res proprias vestr as cupidè appetit displicet nobis Aug. Ep. 48.