But that must not abate of our Obedience where it is due we must not rob our Rulers to give our Fellow-Subjects Suppose we for Example that a Family be so divided as that some of the Children rise up against the Parents and whilst they make them Contemptible and raise loud Clamours against them seek as is usual to propagate their Discontents and to ingratiate themselves with the rest of the Family by pleading the common Liberties of all What shall they do now that are not engag'd in this undutiful Quarrel The rest of the Brothers that are willing to be subject to Paternal power must they excuse or favour this Mutiny or remain indifferent out of Moderation and Brotherly Kindness No doubtless In other Cases they might be neuter or offer to arbitrate the Dispute But here God and Nature have engag'd them on their Parents side they are to maintain their power and by all lawful means to reduce their undutiful Brothers to the same Obedience They are freely to blame their proceedings and to shew them the iniquity of the mischief of them What usage must we expect from our fellow-Fellow-Servants should they shake off the yoke and become Masters when we see them contend against their Governors and refuse to yield where their Duty requires it If they have so much of Pride or stubborn ill Nature as not to bend their Will and submit their Humour to that Authority God hath plac'd over them they must be lookt upon as common Enemies and the Disturbers of the Peace Undutiful Children must be plainly told so even by their Brothers be they never so kind where such Contentions do arise And this is a more likely means to make up the breach of a Family than to hold in some things with one and in some things with the other and so perpetuate the Quarrel out of tenderness not to disoblige either side Union can only be had by the Concentring of many different Wills into subjection to one whom God hath set above the rest Then if the Children fall out among themselves the Father decides the matter But if any of them fall out with him who shall judg betwixt them Nothing remains but Confusion where the means and bonds of Order are rejected And so clearly he is the peaceable Man and the true Peace-maker not that holds in some things for Obedience and in some thing for the Disobedient But he that Conforms himself to the Laws and asserts their Authority subdues his own Spirit to the Determinations of his Governors and doth what he can bring others to the same Submission that there may be one common Rule for all which is that which we call Order and Unity But then Thirdly What shall they do that cannot comply with some Laws not because their Will or their Interest is against them but because their Persuasions are not satisfied and they have Objections and Scruples unremoved Must they act against their Conscience and Obey where they firmly believe they ought not to do it No by no means They must suffer meekly what the Sanction inflicts This is my last Proposition and a thing absolutely requisite in order to publick Peace That where the Laws enjoyn what is Sinful there a good Man without breaking or endangering the common Tranquillity must Submit himself to the Punishment Blessed be God this is far from our Case The very stating such Suppositions implies something of Ingratitude against God and the just and easie Government of our Gracious Sovereign But I speak it only to prevent the Objection of such of our Fellow-Subjects as complain and are uneasie and would insinuate that this is our Case I say then If it be clear and evident to a Man that the Declarations of Humane Authority are against some plain and express Commandment of God there he must chuse God's Will rather than Man's And yet submit to that Power God hath Ordained over him The same Conscience the same Duty to God requires his patient Subjection and that he should never resist as that he should transgress an impious humane Injunction As Daniel did Dan. 6.10 Acts 4.18 and the Apostles and all they that have endured Persecution for Righteousness That is he must Suffer for Well-doing and thus still remain dutiful to God and to his Prince This is not in the case of Doubts much less of Ignorance where Men sometimes entertain Aversions and Dislikes and know not for why Nor yet in the case of Wisdom or Expediency where a Man might censure the publick Constitutions as inconvenient and fancy he could appoint better Though many upon these accounts are forward enough to be Factious and Clamorous yet few will be willing to Suffer peaceably It must be where we cannot obey Humane Laws without disobedience to God Then for Conscience towards God to endure Grief suffering wrongfully this is a good proof that a Man is truly persuaded he cannot Conform without Sin This is highly acceptable to God and he will reward it And however this Patience and Resignation of him that Suffers preserves the peace of the Community and no doubt doth also preserve the peace of his own Mind The Conditions of Peace and War are the highest Prerogatives of Kings and Supreme Magistrates They may appoint the common Terms of Union and Agreement for a whole Nation and by what Rules Men shall Govern themselves But a private Person judgeth for none but for himself only So that when he Dissents from the Laws Establish'd he may not by Noise and Complaints make Parties against them nor excite Discontents nor Resistance against those Higher Powers that have Impos'd them That would be to make his private Judgment superior to that of publick Authority That would put it in the power of every one that pretends Conscience for not Obeying to null Laws and to be very troublesome A Man must take great care that his Conscience be well inform'd and always guided by God's Will And then in following of it when it leads him against publick Decrees he must do it with so much Humility and so much Meekness that it may plainly appear it is upon God's account he disobeys and Suffers patiently he must Conform and Comply as far as ever he can without sinning against God and he must be passive where he may not proceed further For still he is but a Subject who must be over-rul'd by the Will of his Superiors still the Government remains in full Force and he is bound to preserve Peace and therefore passively to Submit himself to the Laws which are the known and fixt Measures and Conditions of it Saint Paul here and elsewhere recommending peace with all Men intended not to bind Christians to observe all the Laws of the Roman Empire of which some were against Christianity and others for Idolatry He rather oblig'd them to meek and patient Subjection to undergo the Infllictions of those evil Laws without disturbance to the Commonwealth That they should not be provoked to
The TERMS of PEACE and RECONCILIATION Betwixt all Divided Parties A SERMON PREACH'D at the ASSIZES HELD FOR THE COUNTY of BVCKINGHAM AT THE TOWN of WICOMB JVLY the 1. 1684. By LVKE BEAVLIEV Divinity-Reader of His Majesties Chappel-Royal at Windsor and Chaplain to the Right Honourable Sir George Jeffreys Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench. LONDON Printed for Charles Brome at the Gun at the West-end of St. Pauls Church-Yard 1684. A PREFACE TO THE READER 'T Was the desire of Sir Denys Hampson High Sheriff of the County of Buckingham that I should Preach and Print the ensuing Sermon wherein I very plainly acquainted the Honourable Audience that heard it with my thoughts of a Sacred Text and a Christian Duty Likely that worthy Gentleman judg'd it might be somewhat useful to promote in others that affectionate Loyalty wherein he is so Eminent and so Exemplary And I design it should being fully convinc'd that an humble Obedience and a hearty Love to the King is under our duty to God the best and strongest Link to joyn us together in that Peace I here recommend Recommend it indeed I may Curats of Souls can do no more the honour of the Success is due to the Divine Grace and to the Care and Vigilance of Civil Magistrates They are the true and the most persuasive Preachers of the Publick Peace for their Words have a strong efficacy by that Power and Interest which they have in the World And now as the Case lies People want more to be Govern'd than to be Instructed for what concerns their faithfulness and submission to their Rulers More hath been said for Loyalty within these last Hundred Years by the Clergy of this Church than can be found in all former Ages united together The Jesuites and the Sectaries made it necessary by all sorts of Arguments and Reasons to assert and press that Duty which Natural and Christian Religion had fully taught our Fore-fathers Now the matter is Exhausted and where Demonstration and Exhortations can't prevail Authority must work They that will not be persuaded to be peaceable and good Subjects must be Chastis'd and restrained by Laws and Magistrates If they that are trusted with the administration of Publick Justice have courage and honesty enough to be Impartial we see thanks be to God that they can better work on turbulent Spirits then the best of Books or Sermons which are neither heard nor heeded by them that love and abett Contentions True Religion alone makes them Obedient and Peaceable that are the true Sons of the Church Others must be dealt with by Fear and Government Such Magistrates as have so stout and strong a Zeal for their Prince and Country as to encourage Loyalty and to proceed as far as the Law goeth against ungovernable and seditious Spirits will make more Proselytes than all our Discourses and Persuasions can do So that I say under the Divine Providence the success of all endeavours for Peace is due to them that are in places of Authority and earnestly use their power for reducing all Men to Peace and Obedience Not that I would make Clergymen give over exhorting the People to live in Peace and Christian Subjection 't is their indispensable Duty and part of their Office as Saint Paul appointed Tit. 3.1 Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers to obey Magistrates to be ready to every good Work to speak evil of no Man to be no brawlers but gentle shewing all meekness unto all men Neither do I count their labour in this to be vain and to no purpose Though scoffers and prophane and foolish men deride Religion yet it will ever have a very great influence upon the Affairs of this World There is by our very Nature a Sense of it imprest upon the minds of men and they are often led even to desperate attempts by the meer shew or the pretence of it So we found it by woful experience in the late Rebellion And since the last Critical times made it too manifest that Clamours about Religion could soon enflame the Multitude By them our Schismatical Guides had dispos'd their party ready once more to fight out the Lords Battels and the major part of the People might have been hurried on to very unchristian and mischievous Enterprizes had our Clergy either incited them or but let them alone without restraining them with the sense of the fear of God and other proper Arguments 'T is true the same Clergy were more earnest in preaching against Popery after the sudden affrightment which the news of a Popish Plot brought upon the Nation But that was no derogation to their Peaceableness and their most faithful Allegiance and it became them so to do persuaded as they are that dangerous Innovations and Errors have been brought by the Church of Rome in the Christian Doctrine and Worship Knowing withal that the Bishop of that Church claims a Jurisdiction over all Kings and all Christians and hath condemn'd them as Rebels that will not submit to his Yoke This makes it their duty at some times to instruct their Charge in the principal points of the Controversie and to alledg their reasons why the Communion of our Church is much to be prefer'd to that of Rome And the discovery of a Popish design for our Ruine attested as it was by the highest Authority of this Realm made it seasonable and very requisit no be more earnest at that time against Roman Errors and Encroachments We know that all the Dissenters who make us Popishly affected would blast our Credit with the People And then the duties of Loyal and quiet subjection and of asserting the just Descent of the Crown in that order which God and Nature and our Fundamental Laws have prescribed these would never have been heeded nor received from us had we not then declar'd our real aversion to Papal Superstitions and Vsurpations The same desires of Peace and of Obedience to the King and the Laws under which we live engage us equally against Papists and Dissenters 'T is not their private Opinions however absurd in themselves that are to be chiefly feared but the tendency of their Principles and endeavours to alter the frame of our Government and to bring our Sovereign under Presbyterian Synods or Pontifical Chairs Our constant Loyalty and peaceable disposition oblige us to oppose either of them most earnestly who most presseth upon the State and is most formidable and dangerous for the present Our truly Primitive and Christian Religion doth all possible ways oblige and engage us to be true affectionate and subject to those great Officers whom God hath appointed to be his Vicegerents to preserve the peace of the World we have in our publick Prayers frequent Mementoes and Endearments of this Duty in our most solemn and devout Addresses to the Throne of Grace And a true Member of this Church can never be an ill Subject Therefore as duty and interest oblige Ministers of Religion to
any Rebellion or Undutifulness against their Governors by their grievous Sufferings but still for Conscience sake to bear what Laws and Providence had impos'd upon them and still to be faithful and peaceable Subjects There are no other Terms of peace with Magistrates but either to obey the Laws or to undergo the penalty of their Transgression So that where their duty to God kept them from Active Obedience there the Apostle would have them so to dissent from their Rulers as not to trouble the Order and the Tranquillity of the place where they Liv'd That is as he tells them plainly in the following Chapter Rom. 13. absolutely to be Subject and never to Resist under the pain of Damnation That they might be acquitted from any Stubbornness or Pride or Rebellious Principles by their free Obedience in all that was lawful and their humble patience under all sinful Injunctions By this 't was to be manifest that they were disposed to render every Man his due to give Cesar the things that were Cesar's to be Friends to all Men and to live peaceably with them as long as it engaged them in no Rebellion against God Answerable to this was ever the Behaviour of Primitive Christians under those tedious and cruel Persecutions they endur'd for Three Hundred Years And had the Temper and Principles of such as pretend to be the best of Christians in these latter Times been the same we should have had more peace And those Excellent Laws under which we Live and which oblige us to Fear and Worship God and to Honour the King and to be Just and Charitable to all Men these would have been better obey'd I wonder for my part how they can so delude the People as to get the names of Godly and good Patriots who under such an equitable and gracious Government as is here Establish'd yet are Discontented and Restless and Clamorous and always dissatisfied with publick Constitutions And very busie sometimes very fierce against those Laws which keep us in peace and make us very happy if we knew our own Happiness When besides our present Interest our whole Religion the very Spirit of Christianity is so directly contrary to all Murmuring and Faction and Unpeaceableness 't is very strange they should take such good Names that do things so ill and so very mischievous But no more can be done from this place than to shew People their Duty That the Laws are the Measure of our publick Peace and the Foundation of it That they are most peaceable who make those Laws in things lawful the Rules of their Actions and who by their Power and their Interest in the World maintain their just Authority And that if a good Man should live under such wicked Laws as should be contrary to his Christian Duty there he must be patient and suffer for his Allegiance to God expecting a reward from him that hath bound him to be Subject still preserving the Reverence and Submission due to his Governors and shewing himself desirous of peace and ready to embrace it upon any terms that are not an offence against God In these a Man must shew his peaceable Disposition if he be really a professor of the Gospel of Peace As also in receding from his Right in lesser matters in making allowance for Humane Infirmities in being Gentle and Charitable as well as Just to every Man These are apt to win Men and to prevent or compose Contentions Or however publick Peace which may be called Peace with all Men is secured by yielding to Authority and being subject to those Laws which are the common Bonds and standing Conditions of peace As certainly Christians as that we must one day give an account for what we do here upon Earth it will be one of the great Enquiries when we shall all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ and there receive according to our Works whether or no we preserved that Order and Subordination which God appointed amongst Men whether we mov'd in our own Spheres and minded the proper Duties of our several places And sad will be their Doom that were here Contentious and caus'd Murmurings and Confusions in the World There all such workers of Iniquity who by their power or Hypocrisie escaped here the hands of Justice shall meet with a severe Vengeance and have their portion for ever with those proud and rebellious Spirits who would not be content with that station wherein God had plac'd them None but Meek and Just Loyal and Peaceable Men shall be numbred among the Saints of God and enjoy for ever that Rest he hath prepared for his People We are all going to the Grave where we must be quiet After all the Bustle and Hurry and Clamurs and Contentions of this World we must dwell in Silence and one by one go to receive that Irreversible Sentence upon which depends an eternity of Bliss or Misery Let us then becalm our Passions and compose our Spirits and by Lowliness and Humility and Obedience to God and Subjection to those that Reign by him secure a lasting peace to our Immortal Souls Fear and Terrors seize upon evil Minds There is is no peace to the Wicked They that disturb the World and are mischievous to Mankind are themselves like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest they live in a perpetual Storm Where Envying and Strife is there is Confusion and every evil Work But blessed be the Peace-makers for they are the Children of God Peace and Felicity shall be their portion for ever There is no need I should Tire you further with laying before you the many Obligations which Nature and Reason and Religion have laid upon us thus to endeavour after Peace And how much our prosperity in this World and our happiness in the next are concern'd in this our Duty We cannot look into our Consciences nor into our Bibles but we find declarations of this We all know it to be true I pray God we may find it seriously and practise accordingly That he that came to teach us to deny our selves to mortifie our Pride and our stubborn Humours and so make a Reconciliation betwixt God and us and Unite us together that he may now so guide our Feet into the ways of Peace that we may here enjoy that blessed Legacy he left his Servants as an earnest of that Eternal peace which makes the Bliss of Saints above and the earnest desire and endeavour of good Men here below Amen Peace upon Earth Glory to God on High FINIS