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A38031
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Sermons on special occasions and subjects ... by John Edwards ...
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Edwards, John, 1637-1716.
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1698
(1698)
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Wing E211; ESTC R39657
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221,769
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511
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the Magistrates Eminency and high Degree I have said Ye are Gods and all of you are the Children of the most High 2dly Here is adjoined a Correction or a severe Commination for the Abuse of their Place and Dignity But ye shall die like Men and fall like one of the Princes Or if you will thus Here is the Dignity of the Magistrates Office I have said Ye are Gods And here is the Infirmity of their Persons Ye shall die like Men. In the former of these you may observe 1. The Migistrates eminent Quality Ye are Gods 2. Their Authority and Divine Institution I have said Ye are Gods I begin with the First viz. The Magistrates Eminency they are Gods Rulers and Governors Publick Ministers and Dispensers of Law and Justice among the People are deservedly called Gods Great and Excellent Things have the Name of God added to them in the Stile of Holy Scripture of which there are abundant Instances And here the Name of God is not only Adjoined but Attributed to these Great and Excellent Persons Not only Kings and Supreme Rulers but Subordinate Magistrates are Gods for in the very front of this Psalm wherein my Text is it is said That God standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty he Iudgeth among the Gods i.e. the Iudges and Magistrates who sat in the Consistory the Iewish Sanhedrim The Gods then here are not the Sovereign Powers so that the Title is competible both to these and to Inferior Magistrates And accordingly my Discourse at present will have reference both to the King as Supreme and unto Governours as unto them who are sent and appointed by Him Some Passages will more properly belong to Crowned Heads but yet in a due proportion may be applied unto you and by you who have the Honour to be the King 's Immediate Vicegerents And because you bear that High and Noble Character let it not be thought strange if I seem sometimes to treat you in the Stile of Majesty I shall not endeavour to gain your Attention by Flattery but seeing the Relation you bear to the Highest Power and the worthy Office you hold under it entitle you to the Name of Gods I think it will be Impossible and consequently a vain attempt to fix a more Honourable Title upon you and therefore I shall make it my Business to descant upon That You cannot but observe that in the Sacred Writ this Epithet is frequently fastned on Magistrates and Governors Moses was to be to Aaron instead of a God Exod. 4. 16. that is a Iudge or Prince say the Chaldee Paraphrase and Arabick Version Though I rather think there is another meaning of those words viz. That he was to be an Interpreter from God to Aaron as he is said to be a God to Pharoah Exod. 7. 1. and therefore I will not insist upon that Place The 22d of Exod. ver 28. is clear and without Dispute Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor curse the Rulers of thy People One is Exegetical of the other A Ruler and a God are Synonymous Terms and signify the same Person In Iotham's Parable it is said That Wine cheareth God and Man Iudg. 9. 13. which words though the worthy Mr. Calvin would have understood of Appeasing God by Sacrifice wherein Wine was commonly used and some Interpret them in another way yet this seems to me to be the plainest and most obvious Sense of the Words viz. That the moderate and lawful Use of Wine is serviceable to the refreshing and chearing of the Hearts of both High and Low Kings and their Subjects Magistrates and others that are of an Inferior Quality briefly expressed here by God and Man You may gather from Psalm cxxxviii that it was no unusual thing to denote the Office of Kings and Rulers by the Title of Gods for in ver 1. the Psalmist thus speaks Before the Gods will I sing Praise unto Thee and after he had stired Them up to join in the same Chorus with himself he adds ver 4. All the Kings of the Earth shall praise Thee The Gods and the Kings of the Earth are the same If you pass to the New Testament you will read in 2 Thes. 2. 4. That the Man of Sin exalteth himself above all that is called God i.e. it is very probable Magistrates and Civil Powers he pretends he hath a power of disposing of Kingdoms and Empires and of Reigning over the Kings of the Earth And this way of Speaking is usual with Prophane Nations as well as Iews and Christians I could shew you if I had leisure that the Gentile World signified their Apprehensions concerning Magistrates and Rulers very conformably to the Stile and Language of the Holy Scripture they represented Governors as Gods Both their Orators and Poets mention them as Divine Persons and above the reach of Humanity Yea it is observable that when the Egyptians Pourtrayed their Gods and Kings the Heads of both were encompassed with Wreaths of Serpents which according to their Hieroglyphicks were Symbols of Divinity as well as Sovereignty It remains now that I shew you in what Sense the Civil Powers are called Gods and why even the Sacred Writ honours them with That Title It is Blasphemy to assert that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 really Gods by nature i.e. Omnipotent and Independent Beings for so there is no other God but One who is therefore called The God of Gods to distinguish Him from All Nominal Gods and particularly Magistrates who are called so for these Three Reasons chiefly viz. because First They are Gods by Deputation they are God's Vicegerents and Delegates they are His immediate Ministers and Deputies they are in the Place of the King of Kings they Personate and Represent Him here on Earth and therefore may justly bear His Name This is according to what King Iehosaphat gave in Charge to his Judges in 2 Chron. xix 6. Ye judge not for Man but for the Lord i.e. Ye do not so much Appear and Act in the Place of Man as in God's Stead you do not Personate the King so much as the Great God of Heaven Secondly They are Gods by a kind of Participation They Share in some sort with the Almighty Divisum Imperium cum Iove Caesar habet God hath devolved His Power on them and hath made them as it were Derivative Deities by that Impress of Authority and Greatness which he hath stampt upon them and by appointing them His Viceroys and Vicars here on Earth Thirdly Magistrates are Gods by way of Analogy and Resemblance Every Man as he is Man is the Image and Glory of God if the Determination of the Great Apostle be valid Much more is the Ruler the Image and Glorious Representation of the Deity and that First More Generally because of his Superiority and Eminence above Others A Great King and Monarch may be said on This Account to make some Approaches to the Supreme Being of the World His Acting in so Large