King of Syria bends his power especially against the King of Israel So that were it not that cor Regis in manu Domini the heart of the King was in the hands of the Lord I should wonder with S. Chrysostome if any of the Rulers could bee saved For the devill opens his envenomed Quiver and shootes all his fiery darts at such persons as well knowing that Regis ad exemplum the example of a King brings vice into fashion and gangrenes the whole body For sayes Siracides Eccles 10.2 As the Judge of the people is himselfe so are his officers and what manner of man the Ruler of the City is such are they that dwell therein For the people like Iacobs sheepe conceive by the eye and like the inferiour Orbes follow the motion of the primum mobile contrary to their owne naturall inclinations If Ieroboam sin he makes Israel sin too and if he set up Calves at Dan and Bethel all Israel will be such Calves as to goe up and worship them But suppose Kings stood not in need of our prayers yet sure I am we our selves stand in need to pray for them for as Iacobs life was bound up in the life of Benjamin so is the good of the subject in the prosperity of the Prince Hence the Iewes were commanded to pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar and the peace of Babylon because in the peace thereof they should have peace And S. Paul exhorting us to pray for Kings and such as be in Authority drawes his motive ab utili for by this meanes we shall live a quiet and a peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty Kings and Queenes are nursing Fathers and nursing Mothers and if the nurse be ill the childe that suckes the breast cannot thrive and prosper Nay the Lords anointed is Spiramentum nariam Lam. 4.20 the breath of our nostrils stop and extinguish that and death ensues immediately So that in praying for Kings wee pray for our selves our prayers returne into our owne bosomes for the blessings powred upon them like the oyntment powred on the head of Aaron stayes not there but runs downe to the beard yea to the very skirts of the cloathing Or as the raine falls first upon the hils but stayes not there but descends into the vallies from whose vapours at first it was engendred When the sons of Iacob went into Egypt to fetch corne for their Father did they not fetch it for themselves their Families When the members of the body feed the belly doe they not feed themselves and provide for their owne nourishment When we pray for the King what doe we else but pray for our selves and provide for the welfare of our owne Families and posterities for under his shadow we live and like the ivie cannot grow without his supportance Acts 12.20 So that as they of Tyre and Sidon saw a necessity of making a peace with King Herod because their Countrey was nourished by the Kings Countrey So a necessity of praying for the King lyes upon every one of us not only because Dominus opus habet but because we our selves have need of it for our welfare is nourished by the Kings welfare our honour by the Kings honour our peace by the Kings peace our safety by the Kings safety and therefore God save the King which is the Forme of their prayer and the last circumstance in the Text. And all the people shouted and said God save the King 2. Pineda observes that it was the custome of all Nations at the inauguration of their Kings Lib. 2. de reb Salom. cap. 6. to use solemne Apprecations boni ominis ergô As sometimes foeliciter sometimes De nostris annis tibi Iupiter augeat annos Sometimes Augusto foelicior Trajano probior Sometimes Dii te servent and the like all which sayes he were doubtlesse derived from this sacred and ancient form in the Text Vivat Rex let the King live for so it is in the Hebrew and the Septuagint renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and our old English Bible reades it God lend the King life and no forme of Apprecation more full or fit then this For the blessing of life is the life of all blessings it being the foundation of whatsoever we have or hope for Hence pellem pro pelle skin for skin and all that ever a man hath will he give for his life and a living dog is better then a dead Lion And as none more full so none more fit for Vita omnium brevis Regum plerumque brevissima the lives of all men are short but the lives of Kings for the most part shortest It was a King that complained My soule is continually in my hands Psal 119.109 and in another place Feare is on every side for they take counsell together against me and devise how they may take away my life Darius did wisely to allow money for the building of the Temple Ezra 6.9 10. and bullockes and rams for the burnt offerings that so the Iewes might offer sacrifices of sweet savour unto the God of heaven and pray for the life of the King and of his sons If we reflect and look back upon former ages wee shall finde Shimeis and Shebai Absaloms and Achitophels Tereshes and Bigthans all sons of Belial flying in the face of sacred Majesty and seeking to lay violent hands upon the Lords Anointed And howsoever these spirits were once well laid and walked not in the Primitive Church yet in these latter times they have beene conjured up by the seditious Doctrine of the Iesuites and are become familiar spirits in all parts of Christendome Haec est salutaris meditatio sayes Mariana this is a wholesome meditation for Kings next their heart to thinke se eâ conditione vivere that they live in that case and condition ut non solum jure sed cum laude gloria perimi possint that they may not only be slaine lawfully but to the praise and glory of them that doe it And I would to God this was the doctrine of the Iesuites only for we know the men and we know their communication but this leaven hath spread further and even sowred them that take upon them to bee reformers of the reformed Churches And whereas Mariana sayes it may be done cum laude Buchanan goes further and would have it done cum praemio too For if I sayes he had power to make a law I would award recompence to be given for killing of Tyrants as men use to reward them for their paines who kill wolves or beares and destroy their yong ones Surely beloved this Doctrine deserves to be the Inprimis in the blacke Catalogue of the Doctrine of the devils it is the doctrine of Beelzebub the Prince of devils it is the bane of mens soules the blemish of Christian religion and the breach of all common tranquillity And is it not high time to pray for the lives of Kings when ambition
told you is Decus Israelis the beauty of Israel the supreame Magistrate the effects and influences of whose government as peace justice and religion extend over the whole Kingdome and reach from Dan even to Beersheba from Aarons head to the skirts of his cloathing so that high and low rich and poore one with another and all together owe their bene esse unto him And for this cause it may be amongst many others Kings were of old Crowned neare some Fountaine because they are Fountaines and common blessings the streames of whose government do glad the City of God and refresh his inheritance For Rogis vigilia omnium domos illius labor omnium etia illius industria omnium delicias illius occupatio omnium vacationem tuetur When the King watches we may all sleep when he labours we may all rest his Terme is our Vacation and when he workes every man may keep holy day And now when I looke upon this congregation of Israel I cannot but breake out into the words of the Psalmist Ecce quà m bonum quà m jucundum behold how good and pleasant a thing it was to see so many men of one minde and one mouth for all shouted and all said the same thing Gaudium omnium gaudium singulorum gaudium singulorum gaudium omnium The joy of all was the joy of every one and the joy of every one the joy of all Thus it is in heaven and thus it was here and I would to God it was thus in all places But oh the strife of tongues Oh the great thoughts and divisions of heart that are amongst us Contempt of Authority is become the character of a Christian the cognizance of a sincere professor libelling and speaking evill of dignities the language and dialect of God people preaching Obedience to the Magistrate civill and Ecclesiasticall is interpreted downe right flattery and gaping after preferment Prejudice faction hath so shuffled and confounded all things that a man can come into no parish nor congregation but he shall finde some Mutes some but halfe Vowels some not doing their duty at all others doing it so faintly that a man may perceive their hearts are not right in this matter Well fare this Congregation of Israel Mens omnibus una vox omnibus una they were all of one minde and one mouth they all thought the same thing and spake the same thing every one in the Quire was a loud Cymball for all shouted and a well tuned Cymball too for all prayed which brings me to the second part of the Text the Vote and Apprecation of the people And all the people c. First I exhort sayes the Apostle that supplications and prayers and intercessions and giving of thankes be made for all men and first for Kings and such as be in Authority And what manner of Kings were there in those dayes Idolaters Infidels Tyrants Persecutors those of whom David long before had prophesied Psal 2.2 The Kings of the earth have set themselves and the Rulers take counsell against the Lord and his annointed Nero the Romane Emperour and supreame Magistrate was a Lion so S. Paul cals him he was Dedicator damnationis nostrae the first that drew out the sword of persecution so Tertull. He was so profligately and desperately wicked and tyrannicall that many thought hee should rise againe Lib. 20. de civ Dei cap. 19. and be that Antichrist and man of sin which was to be revealed so S. August and yet as bad as he was S. Paul enjoynes prayers for him and so does S. Peter for the Emperour Claudius one not much better For Suetonius reports of him that he was so mercilesse and given to bloodshed that he would have tortures and punishments executed in his owne presence and delighted to looke upon the faces of Fencers as they lay gasping and yeelding up their last breath besides he was a man inordinately given to the wanton love of women yet for all this the Christians of those times must honour him And this these blessed Apostles did not to curry favour with the Emperours or to flatter themselves into preferment but to copie out their Masters lesson and to shew that they were his Disciples who said Pray for them that persecute you And that this was the constant practice of the Primitive Church Iustin Martyr in his Apol. 2. Origen in his 8. booke cont Celsum Arnob. in his 3. booke cont Gentes Tertull. in his Apol. 30. besides the ancient Liturgies are my witnesses Of all Christian duties Prayer is the best the Apostle hath given it the chiefe seate and set it at the upper end of the Table And of all kinde of prayers Intercession is the best for necessity sayes Chrysost enforces us to pray for our selves but charity invites us to pray for others And charity is that which gives a tincture and rellish to all our prayers for without it the tongues of men and Angels are but as sounding brasse and a tinkling Cymball And surely the best kinde of Intercession is that which is made for the best namely for Kings and such as be in Authority Hence is it that our Mother the Church of England is so copious in it For in her Liturgie she prayes for the King foure or five severall times and yet I dare say commits no Tautologie or idle repetition For his severall capacities as a man as a Christian as a Magistrate as the Supreme Magistrate upon whom lyeth the care of the Church and Common-wealth require it of us Those then that doe curtaile divine Service as Hanun did the garments of Davids Ambassadours and use the prayers of the Church as a noise of Musique at a Play to entertaine the company till the Actors be ready are not only disobedient to the Church in not observing her order but injurious also to the King in depriving him of the benefit of those prayers which the Church hath appointed for him And this is no small injury for Preces subditorum vires Regum the prayers of the people are the power of the King Kings are the heads of the people but the prayers of the people are those locks of haire wherein their strength principally consisteth Sure I am that none stand so much in need of prayers as Kings and such as be in Authority For such is the weight and multitude of their imployments that many times they cannot pray for themselves Well might S. Ambrose wonder at Davids septies in die seaven times a day doe I praise thee and make this inference upon it Si David septies regni licèt necessitatibus occupatus c. If David notwithstanding the affaires of a Kingdome could doe it seaven times private men may doe it seaventy times seaven But besides this Kings and such as are in Authority are most assaulted with temptations That which Christ said of his Disciples is true of Kings Satanas appetiit vos Satan desires to have you and like the
sets up an Idoll and consecrates a Priest Gibeah a City ravishes a woman to death Dan a Tribe fals to robbing of houses cutting of Throates Families Cities and Tribes all out of course and no soundnesse at all in the body politique The cause of all which disorder was the want of some body Not of a Priest to teach them but of a King to governe them A Priest there was in Israel but a King there was not and hence it was that every one did that which was right in his owne eyes and no body did that which was right in Gods eyes God be thanked a bad King is a Thing which the oldest man here cannot remember yet let me tell you that Tyranny is rather to be chosen then Anarchie and praestat sub malo principe esse quam nullo better a bad King then no King at all sayes Tacitus Better it is to feare one then many better one Lion then all the Beares and Bores and wilde beasts of the Forrest If the Trees cannot prevaile with the Vine or Olive to be their King yet a King they will have though it be but the Bramble I gave them sayes God a King in my anger and tooke him away in my wrath A bad King is the testimony of Gods anger but no King at all an argument of his wrath and indignation and wrath is the dregs and lees of the cup anger but the top of it So then the greatnesse of the evill which redounds to a Nation by the want of a King sufficiently commends the greatnesse of the blessing and great blessings must be entertained with sutable affections It was truly said of Balaam a false Prophet that the shout of a King was amongst them for all other expressions are too low and flat for it But these latter times have produced a generation of Vipers called Anabaptists who instead of rejoycing in their King raile at him and their devise is only how they may cast him downe whom God hath exalted for they affirme as impudently as ignorantly that Christian liberty makes the office of a Magistrate utterly unlawfull and Euangelicall perfection makes it altogether uselesse and superfluous and if it be unlawfull it is not a blessing but a curse if uselesse not a benefit but a burthen There is I confesse a glorious priviledge purchased for us by the death of Christ which wee call Christian liberty but it consists only in a freedome from the ceremonies the curse and rigour of the Law the power of Satan and dominion of sin not in a freedome from the Doctrine and Obedience of the Morall Law or the yoke of lawfull authority Civill or Ecclesiasticall For they that so understand it and apply it sayes S. Peter use their liberty for a cloake of maliciousnesse And S. Paul tels us that though we be called to liberty Gol. 5.13 yet we must not use our liberty for an occasion to the flesh As for Evangelicall perfection in their sense it is but an Idea a dreame a meere chimaera For good and bad wheate and chaffe are mingled together in the floore and sic fuit ab initio thus it was from the beginning and thus it will be unto the end till Christ come with his fan in his hand and thorowly purge his floore They that are good are but imperfectly good and so long as the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the law of the members fights against the law of the minde offences must needs come and Christians may do things punishable by the civill Magistrate Moses the Magistrate of Gods owne people had need have a rod in his hand and he shall meete with those in the congregation that deserve to be beat with it Else S. Paul had said in vaine writing to Christians si male egeris if thou doest that which is evill be afraid And S. Peters exhortation had been to no purpose 1. Pet. 4.17 Let none of you suffer as a murtherer or as a thiefe or as an evill doer or as a busie-body in other mens matters Sergius Paulus when he was converted to the Faith did not abjure his authority as a thing Antichristian Cornelius was made a Christian yet ceased not to be a Centurion The Eunuch was baptized yet did not relinquish his office and authority under the Queen of the Aethiopians Christ and Caesar may dwell together we may give unto God the things that are Gods and yet give unto Caesar the things that are Caesars we may feare God and yet honour the King and as they sinned that said we will have no King but Caesar so doe they also that say we will have no King but Christ no law but that of the Spirit And therefore S. Peter hath marked those out to be chiefly reserved to the day of Judgement to be punished 1 Pet. 2.10 who despise so great a blessing as Government For Non minor est usus Magistratus quà m panis aquae solis aeris Magistracy is no lesse needfull and necessary amongst men then bread and water the sun and the ayre sayes M. Calvin Inst l. 4. c. 20. All which are blessings so great and generall that men cannot live without them but by Miracle which brings me to the third circumstance the generality and universality of their joy All shouted 3. Fit it was that an universall benefit should be entertained with an universall joy A King is commune bonum a common good and good the more common it is the better it is and the better it is the more joy it occasions The Magistrate sayes S. Paul is the Minister of God to thee for good to thee whosoever thou art To thee Nobleman to thee Churchman to thee Gentleman to thee Tradesman to thee Husbandman to thee Merchant to thee Mariner Seneca tels Nero Anima Reipublicae tu es Lib. 1. de Clem. illa corpus tuum thou art the soule of the Common-wealth and the Commonwealth is thy Body Now the soule is tota in toto tota in qualibet parte whole in the whole body and whole in every part of it Even so the King inanimates and informes the whole collective body of the people and every particular man of it of what degree quality or profession soever so that to say wee have no part in David is the voice of a rebell for yong men and maids old men and children have all a part in him and profit by him Againe as a King is the soule so also he is the Sun of the Common-wealth according to that of the Psalmist Psal 89.36 His Throne shall be as the Sun The Sun is Sponsus naturae the beauty and Bridegroom of Nature appointed by God to rule the Day and it runs from one end of the Heavens unto the other so that nothing is hid from the heate and light of it but every creature from the Cedar to the Shrub receives benigne and propitious influences from it so a King as before I