Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A56593
|
Ad testimonium a sermon on the King's day, February the 6th, 1685/6 at St Katharine Coleman's, London / by S.P.
|
Patrick, Simon, 1626-1707.
|
1686
(1686)
|
Wing P737; ESTC R26859
|
11,936
|
31
|
search into the Word for the Emperors for what else can it signifie Who were Supream then but Emperors And St. Peter expressly names the Supream 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 2.13 and again 't was Fear God Honour the Emperor for 't is the singular number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vers 17. so this cannot be understood of Governors as Christians much less of the Reformed Religion when at that time there was no such denomination but St. Paul and St. Peter meant That they should presently pray for the Emperor in being and the Emperors in succession as such For Nero as well as Constantine for Dioclesian as well as Charlemaign for Mahomet the IV. had he been Emperor of the World as well as for JAMES the II. in Great Britain and Ireland Now since the Roman Empire is broken this Exhortation belongs to us because every King in his Kingdom is Emperor and JAMES the II. whom God preserve wears the Imperial Crown of this Realm Nothing can bar Prayer no more than Allegiance it is part of our Allegiance and a most indispensible Tribute He that defrauds the King of his Prayers had better defraud him of his Coin saving that such a Man's Prayers would not do him so much good This is God's Due and this is Caesar's Due our Prayers to God and for the King So that with one Mite we may pay both Tributes What remains then but that we should bethink our selves how to pay it which leads me to the second Undertaking i. e. To give you some Directions how Prayers are to be made for him There are Two Qualifications necessary to all Prayers heartiness and sincerity the third is constancy expressed here in my Text by the word continually so we are to pray for our King heartily sincerely and continually First heartily We are not to come to Church on such days as this for fashion-sake to avoid singularity or a bad reputation every good Man must bring a Zealous Heart along with him a Heart full of Affectionate Duty and Loyalty with Love and Hope in his Breast and Joy in his Eyes He must petition God for the King as he would petition the King for himself with all the Elegancies of Intreaty as if he would petition for a Kingdom And then sure he would mix a few Vows with his Prayers something or other to distinguish 'em from common Petitions at least ways we should pray with such an emphasis as if we thought our selves quite undone if God did not hear our Prayers and so we may well think for if God will not hear our Prayers for the King 't is a sign he will not hear 'em at all Let us have a care that those Prayers be not luke-warm for when God spits them out he commonly spits 'em into the Cup of Indignation that 's the Cup of Anarchy when the Prince and the Priest go off together and then comes the Kingdom of Antichrist Treatise of resisting the lawful Magistrate For the Pious and Learned Dr. Hammond proves every stubborn Subject to be a Limb of Antichrist who exalts himself above all that is called God But Secondly We are to pray for the King sincerely i. e. without any mental reserves or mixed equivocations We must pray for the King in that sence that the Church prays for him in that sence that the Primitive Church of Christ is wont to pray for their Emperors Apologet. ad Scap. c. 2. n. 11. Tertullian gives us a tast of those Prayers by which we may guess at the rest First their Manner We pray saith he for our Kings with our Hands stretched forth because they are Innocent they were never lifted up against 'em 2. With bare-Heads because we are not ashamed our Consciences do not fly in our Faces and reproach us with Hypocrisie 3. Without any humane order or prescription because we pray willingly and from the bottom of our Hearts Now follows the form Vitam illis prolixam a long Life a secure Throne a safe Abode a potent Army a faithful Senate a Conscientious People and a peaceable Empire This was a sincere and honest Prayer such a sort of Prayer as we come here to make without Parsimony and without Fraud Let me then give you Three short and general Directions in praying for the King First To Pray for him as you would have others pray for you Secondly To Pray for him as if you pray'd for your selves and Thirdly Let the Subject-matter of your Prayers be as sincere and liberal as when he prays for you we may know how that hath been by the effects Be sure they are such Prayers as David and Solomon put up the effects have been the same Peace is within our Walls and Prosperity within our Palaces Besides methinks we are all grown better of late a New Genius ascends the Horizon No doubt but from some new Cause from our new King's prayers For thou O God Psal 61. hast heard his Vows thou hast given him the heritage of those that fear thy Name Then let us all joyn in the Chorus Thou wilt prolong the King's Life and his Years as many Generations He shall abide before God for ever O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him So will we sing praise unto thy Name for ever and daily perform our Vows Thirdly We are to pray for him continually Prayer also shall be made for him continually So that we come here to Day but to learn what we are to do all the Year after This is but a solemn Remonstrance of what we resolve to do all the Days of our Life and reason good if we continue to expect the blessed Effects of such Prayers Not that some Men's Omission of Prayer no nor their Curses can do the King and his Loyal Subjects any harm For God can rain down Blessings upon the Fleece and let the Barren Ground remain dry and so God can rain down Curses upon the Ground and yet Gideon's Fleece shall escape every lock and hair of it If some will not continually pray for the King yet God will continually bless him for their sakes that do at least if the King prays for the People God will return his Prayers upon his own Head Thus much for Prayer The second part is Praise This is a more particular Duty incumbent only for particular Reasons Prayers for their Kings is the Duty of all Nations but Praise only belongs to Solomon and such Kings as Solomon was and yet there is this Duty incumbent upon all Mankind which is To praise the Government when they cannot praise the Person The Character of a King in the person of one Prince is as Laudable Divine and Sacred as in the person of another They are all of them In Luk. 1.21 as Calvin tells us the Sons of God they are so ex Officio and Praise is as just a Debt to their Office as Honor to their Persons Indeed there can be no Honor without
Ad Testimonium A SERMON ON THE KING's Day February the 6th 1685 6. At St Katharine Coleman's LONDON By S. P LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Henry Bonwike at the Red Lyon in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVI A SERMON ON THE KING's Day PSALM lxxij the latter part of the 15. vers Prayer also shall be made for him continually and daily shall he be praised THESE Words have in them a double Energie both of Prayer and Prophecy they had likewise a double Completion both in Solomon and Christ In the Prayers of all Holy Men there is something of Prophecy they utter nothing but the Will of God so God hears and ratifies their requests The Words likewise of dying Men are esteemed more Prophetic than ordinary and these are supposed to be the last Words i. e. as ye have it in the 20. vers the last Prayers of this Religious King made it seems at that time when Solomon by David's appointment that is by God's appointment for David herein observed the Will of God was Proclaimed King The particulars of Solomon's Inauguration are at large in the First Chapter of the First Book of Kings We find there that in the latter part of King David's Reign Adonijah the Son of Haggith exalted himself and put in for the Succession not that he believed himself that he had a Title to the Crown as he afterward confessed Chap. ij vers 15. but Joab and Abiathar and some such troublesome Men had put it in his Head and that not for young Adonijah's sake as Solomon wisely observes in the 22 vers but for their own Ambitious Ends. One would have thought that that Declaration of King David to his Privy Council 1 Chron. xxviij had been sufficient to blast all pretences of Usurpation But these Disturbances not only gave him new occasion of declaring God's will in Solomon's Succession but of giving express Command for his Inauguration before his own death he resigned rather than bequeathed his Kingdom to him and recreated his dying hours with the publick Joy and Acclamations of the People David was well pleased with the Complement that his Nobles made to him saying 1 King i. 47. God make the Name of Solomon better than thy Name and make his Throne greater than thy Throne These Courtiers are said to bless King David and in such a sence he took it for he bowed himself upon the Bed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he worshipped at those auspicious words he nodded he bowed he worshipped and then he fell to Prayer and Prophecy I hope King David was no Flatterer or Court-Parasite when he filled his Mouth with Prayer and Praise and expressed so much pleasure and satisfaction at his Son's Accession to the Crown In those days it was no crime to be Zealously Loyal to Worship toward the East and Adore the rising Sun He was not then esteemed an Enemy to David or to the present Government of Israel that strew'd Aves and Welcomes in the new King's way and forgot to think of any thing but the expectation of new Blessings David by his own example had discountenanced all intempestive Grief at the death of his first Child by Solomon's Mother and that without the Comforts of another to succeed in his Affection and now at his own death he will not suffer 'em to be unmannerly in their Sorrow but teaches the people to forget him and look up towards his Son and so they did as heartily as the King could wish for they blew the Trumpet Vers 39 40. and all the people said God save King Solomon And all the people came up after him and play'd upon Flutes and rejoyced with great Joy so that the Earth rent with the sound of them It was as if the whole Earth had open'd its mouth and sang for Joy too and all this so long before King David was cold in his Grave that he himself was one to make up the Chorus They blew the Trumpet and he Pray'd they Rejoyced and he Prophesied he prays to God for the Prosperity of his Successor and desires that all his people might pray for it too and that not only for his Successor's but for the People's sake and so he begins He shall judge thy People with Righteousness Vers 2. and thy Poor with Judgment And indeed this Psalm is not only a Prayer to God but an Admonition to the People it is their Cause which he Pleads and therefore they must come in with their endeavours God hath perform'd his part in giving 'em a just and righteous King to succeed David and now 't is their parts to pray to God continually for him to pray that God would continue him amongst 'em that so their Happiness might continue for many Years so likewise they are to Offer up Praises they are to Praise the King daily that is in effect to Praise God for the King This is the Peoples Duty at all times and this is our present Duty it is the most particular business of this Day we come here to pray for the King we come to praise him and to praise God for him it is the subject of the Text and the subject of the Day Prayer and praise The only two principal parts into which my Text can be divided Prayer also shall be made for him continually and daily shall he be praised First Of Prayer which is a duty incumbent upon all Subjects for all Princes pro omnibus Imperatoribus without any distinction My method shall be this First To give you some Reasons why this Duty should be performed And Secondly I shall offer at some Directions in the performing it I. The Obligations which Men lye under of Praying for their Soveraign Prince are Natural and Political as well as Divine The Laws of Nature teach us to look upon Kingly Government Non adulatione vanâ adducti 1 De Clem. 14. as a Paternal Function Every Prince paramount is Father of his Country so we call them saith Seneca not by way of Flattery So we find him making long Prayers for Nero Ad Polyb. 31 32. even when he was disgraced and exiled by him Nothing being more Natural than for Children to Pray for the Prosperity of their Parents from our Natural Parents we derive our Natural Life so from our Political Parents our Political Life 1 De Clem. 4. The King is not only Caput Animus Reipublicae sed etiam Spiritus vitalis the vital Spirit the very Life of the Kingdom so that to pray for the King Quod bonum faustumque sit tibi domuique tuae Caesaer Auguste sic enim nos perpetuam felicitatem reipublicae laeta huic praecari existimamus c. Suet. Aug. c. 58. is most correspondent to the First great Law of Nature Self-preservation for hereby we pray for our own and the Kingdoms safety so the Wise Senate of Rome reckon'd when they pray'd for their Emperour Augustus Nor do we read of any Nation or People