furtherance and edification of the whole This Is that Power which Kings of old for their part exercised in the Government of the Synagogue as you may see at large in the Chronicles in the reforming of Religion 2 Chr. 29. 15. Ver. 3. 5. Verse 21 24 25 30. Ch. 30. 2 5 Ci. 31. 2 4. in purging the Temple in re-inforcing the Passeover in commanding and ordering the Priests and Levites in reducing and re-engaging the People unto the Law and to the Covenant causing all that were found in Israel and Benjamin to stand to it 2 Chron. 34. 32. And again making all that were present in Israel to serve even to serve the Lord their God The like Power we find without scruple practised by the first Christian Monarchs and Sovereigns within the Limits of the Gospel-Church of their Dominions After that the Empire was cast into the Lap of the Church and Christianity advanced to sit at the Helm and Stern of Government 't is sufficiently known how far even the first Christian Emperours interposed their Authority in Church-matters In hearing Complaints in receiving Appeals in taking cognizance of Causes etiam post duplex Judicium Episcopale in redressing of Ecclesiastical disorders in electing of Bishops in convening of Councels in examining and ratifying of Canons in passing and setting forth Laws and Edicts for the establishing of Truth Order and unity and for the healing or extinguishing of Schism and Heresy As may be seen at large by any that will read both in the Eastern and Western Records in the Acts of Constantine and Theodosius in the Code and Novels of Justinian and in the Capitulars of Charles the Great So true was that of Socrates in his Preface to the fifth Book of his Ancient-Church-History 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ever since that Kings and Emperours became Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the affairs or matters of the Church have hung the whole weight of them hung and depended upon them i. e. upon their authority concurrence and interposal for of that he speaks in the next words And thus have I shewn the first thing that is implied in the Phrase of Nursing-fathers the Power and Interest of the Prince in and over the Church as Guardian as Governour There is but one thing more to be considered in the Text and I shall then draw towards a Conclusion and that is The nature and quality of this Power or if I may so speak and I crave humble leave to speak it The Bounds and Limits of it Princes they have indeed Power and Authority in Church-matters but 't is as Fathers still not as Masters They are not stiled Domini but Nutritii not Lords of our Faith but Nurses Protectors Defenders of the Faith The whole Right of Secular Powers in matters Ecclesiastical is not Destructive but Cumulative Mr. Thorndikes Right of the Church c. 4. 'T is not to change or abolish but to establish what they find the Church by the Act of God possessed of and vested in from the beginning We may not therefore so far extend the Phylacteries of the Princes Power as to think or say That he may devise new Recté illud dicitur non esse principum aut civilium Magistratuum Leges novas de cultu Dei conscientiis ferre aut propria Sacerdotum munia obire Casaub exercitationes Epist dedicat Articles of Faith or appoint new Sacraments new Instruments of Grace or introduce or enjoyn new parts of Worship No these are Christi Regalia the Royalties of Christ In things of this nature we call no Man Master upon Earth for one is our Master even Christ Mat. 23. 10. There are as the Apostle speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The things of Christ Phil. 2. 21. And there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The things that are Gods evidently distinguish'd by our Saviour from the things that are Caesars Mat. 22. 21. As being things of Divine Immediate and absolute appointment And though the Christian Magistrate has Imperium circa Sacra a Power of ordering even about these things as to Time and Place and matter of form and whatsoever else relates to the due and decent and regular performance of these things yet he has no power super haec over the substance of the things themselves either to add to them or diminish from them In a word we must know there are in the Church of God Immota quaedam Divina certain sacred and unchangeable Points as namely The common Faith and Christianity the Rule and Sum of Christian Faith the Parts and Duties of Christian Worship the Offices of Christianity wherewith God will be served in the Communion of his Church the Means and Instruments of Grace the Word and Sacraments together with the Power of Orders and the Keys of Doctrine and Discipline These and the like they are Res Dei the Things of God that is of his immediate absolute perpetual appointment and constitution They are Dona Christi the Donatives of Christ and of his Spirit They are Dos jura Ecclesiae the Dowry and Birth-right of the Church as it is a Society of Gods immmediate founding subsisting not by Mans Law but by Gods Charter not to be null'd or alter'd by Man In these things as St. a L. 5. Orat. contra Auxentium Ambrose said of old Bonus Imperator est intra Ecclesiam non supra And again b Ambr. Ep. 33. Item L. 5. c. 33. Noli te gravare Imperator ut putes te in ea quae Divina sunt imperiale aliquod jus habere Think not O Emperour thou hast any Power Imperial over things Divine i. e. over things which God and Christ have setled in the Church by their own immediate Act. The Christian Church it is and was from its beginning a Religious Corporation founded by the Act of God for the Communion of its Members in the Faith Worship and Service of God By vertue of which Foundation from God it has its proper and internal Rights and Powers distinct from the Civil though limitable in the exercise of them by the Civil These Rights were vested in the Church long before any State became Christian and are so to remain after as standing upon a distinct Ground Gift and Original And therefore the Prince or State in becoming Christian gains no Power no Sovereignty over these things so as to innovate or alter them but rather an obligation to uphold and maintain them according to the prime intent of their institution This being the declared Will of God That Christian Monarchs or Sovereigns by entring into the Church act as Nursing-fathers Mr. Thorndikes Right of the Church c. 4. P. 167 168. and that by vertue of their Christianity they hold themselves obliged to the maintenance of all the several parts of Christianity i. e. of whatsoever is of Divine Right in the profession and exercise of Christianity And thus have I at length pass'd through the several
Heathenism vanish out of Towns and Cities and betook it self ad pagos paganos from whence the Name of Pagans says Vossius Christianity being seated in the Prince it ran down amain as the Oyntment from the Head of Aaron to the Skirts and Borders of his Garment That 's the first way wherein or whereby Kings do become Nursing Fathers to the Church by the meer influence of their Example The next and second which is the main follows and that is by the use and exercise of their Power and Authority That is when they do employ the utmost of their Princely Power for the defence and protection of the Church for the support and maintenance of the Church for the conservation of the rights and properties of the Church for the due and well management of the Affairs of the Church When Laws are made and Acts passed by Authority in the behalf of the Church when publick and effectual care is taken for the great concerns of the Church for the soundness of its Faith for the purity beauty and comeliness of its Worship for the order and regularity of its Government for the efficacy of its Discipline for the preservation of its Peace Unity and Tranquillity in and through the Communion of the whole This this is the Benefit of Nursing-fathers this is the Milk that comes out of the Breast of Kings the establishing of Religion by the Sovereign Power in all the publick concerns of it When Christianity is by their means engrafted into the State and is made the Religion of the State when the profession of it is not only own'd but ratified with the Seal of Authority fenced and strengthned with the provision of Laws guarded with Penalties encouraged and advanced with Priviledges This is that Singulare quiddam a regibus requisitum says Calvin upon the Text That special and singular Service expected yea and bespoken from the Hands of Kings for Christ Psal 2. 10 11. Be wise O ye Kings be instructed ye Rulers of the Earth Serve the Lord with fear What Lord why the Lord Christ as Acts 4. 25. appears by the 2d and 7th Ver. And how are they to serve him not only in their Hearts and Lives but in their Power and Place with their Crowns and Scepters serve him as Kings Excellently St. Augustine Epist ad Bonifacium to this purpose Aliter servit qua homo aliter qua Rex Kings serve the Lord Christ as they are Men one way as they are Kings another As Men they serve him vivendo fideliter by living up to the Faith and Precepts of Christ but In quantum reges as Kings they serve him Leges sanciendo Leges ferendo pro Christo by making Laws for Christ Cum ea faciunt ad serviendum Epist 48. ad Vincentium Epist ad Bonifacium illi quae non possunt facere nisi reges when they do those things for Christ by the advantage of their Power which none but Kings can do And again Cum Aug. contra Cresconium l. 3. cap. 51. in regno suo bona jubeant mala prohibeant when in their respective Dominions they command what 's good and forbid what 's evil not only in relation ad Societatem Humanam to Humane and Civil Peace and Society but also says he in things pertaining ad Religionem Divinam to matters of Religion and Divine concerns All which may serve as a fit Comment upon the Text plainly shewing us what is that Regia Ecclesiae nutricatio as Grotius speaks L. de Imperio summarum potestatum That Blessing of Nursing-fathers That 't is no other than the maintenance and cherishing of Religion by the nurture of wholesom Laws by the publick interposal of Kings and Princes in its behalf as of Pious Guardians and as of tender Governours encharged and betrusted with the care and oversight of the Church And this indeed is the proper import of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Nursing-father in the Text and in the Hebrew It comes from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that signifies Truth Trust or Faithfulness So that the prime and proper meaning of the word as Schinler notes is to signifie Tutorem Curatorem Fiduciarium Rad. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui in fidem suam recipit alterius puerum That is one that is a Guardian a Trustee one that has the care maintenance and disposal of a Person committed to his trust This I say is its first and primigenial signification and then by consequence 't is rendred sometimes a Nurse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ruth 4. 6. sometimes a bringer-up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even as here in the Text and in Esther 2. 7. where Mordecai is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the nourisher or bringer up of Esther or as Schinler renders it out of some Copy of the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Praeses Rector her Guardian and Governour for so does 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie Curam Praefecturam So that all things considered the stile and attribute of Kings here in the Text could not possibly be better rendred than as in our Translation by the phrase of Nursing-fathers Fathers for their Power Trust and Authority and then both Fathers and Nurses for their care and tenderness So that the word it does at once instruct us in two things concerning Christian Princes First In the Interest of their Power in reference to the Church Secondly In the nature and quality of their Power 1st Here is the Interest of their Power in or towards the Church The Church as a Minor committed to their a Eorum potestati suam Ecclesiam credidit Isidor Hisp in sent c. 51. Cujus fidâ—i creditur ipsa Fides Sacerdotes meos tuae manui commisi Greg. Epist ad Mauritium L. 3. c. 10. charge and themselves made of God the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mordecaies to this Esther the Guardians and Governours of it And that under a double capacity first as Sovereigns and so they have the power of stopping or suppressing all violence rage and fury intended against the outward Being Peace and Well-fare of the Church And then secondly as Christian Sovereigns And so they have the right of doing all Acts pertaining to Christian Sovereignty in Church-matters that is a supream inspection in and over all Causes and Persons that do relate to the Church a Power of setling and establishing the true Faith and Communion of the Church yea and of ordering the Affairs of the Church of reforming corruptions of redressing abuses of regulating and retrenching excesses and innovations In a word A Power of super-vising all Offices and qualities in the Church to see and provide that such as act in the behalf of the Church do their Duties and keep their Bounds that nothing be done to the prejudice not only of the common Peace but of the common Faith Order and Christianity but all unto the
Particulars of the Text. The Persons here specified Kings and Queens the things here spoken of these Persons i. e. their conversion to the Church their devotion in the Church their assistance to and enlargement of the Church by the Interest of their Power as Nursing-fathers I shall now only draw some few Inferences and make some practical Reflections and so conclude First then Are Kings promised as a Blessing to the Church Hence we infer The continuance and allowance of their Function of their Place and Office under Christianity Some as it a See Mr. Parkers Polity second Piece P. 114. seems have been so foolish or perverse as to say That Kingly Government was a figure and shadow a part of the Jewish Pedagogy and Bondage and so abolish'd by the coming of the Messia The Text here and the Scripture elsewhere is evidence to the contrary For how could they be Nursing-fathers to the Church if they did not remain as Kings The exercise of their Authority in the behalf of the Church plainly infers the continuance of their Function in the Church The Temple of Ezechiel which by the large dimensions of it Ch. 42. must needs pertain to the Gospel makes mention of the Princes and the Princes Portion Ch. 45. 7. 48. 21. And so in the City of the new Jerusalem 't is said The Kings of the Earth should bring their Glory and their Honour to it Revel 21. 24. They should not leave it behind them but bring it with them Christianity does not extinguish Monarchy they may be Christians and yet Kings 'T is no part of the Baptismal Vow that they should forego or renounce their Scepters Non eripit terrestria qui regna dat Coelestia as Sedulius of old They may be Christs Servants and yet reign over Subjects For Christs Scepter is not like the Rod of Moses to devour and swallow up the Rods and Rights of Princes as his did the Magicians He came not to null the Titles or disturb the Claims of Earthly Sovereigns but rather a Mat. 22. 21. to secure and establish them in their continuance statu quo 1 Cor. 7. 20. Let every man abide in the same Calling wherein he was called is a fundamental Rule and Principle of the Gospel in all civil Cases and Callings Christianity supposeth the lawful state of the World and of Civil Government and alters no Mans condition in it but maintains every Man in that Estate Calling and Condition of Life wherein it finds him In vain therefore was Herod troubled at the news of Christs Birth as if he came to disseiz him of his Temporalities Mat. 2. 3. In vain was Pilate jealous of the Kingship of Christ as Enemy to Caesar Christ frees him of that fear and tells him plainly My Kingdom is not of this World Joh. 18. 26. upon which words St. Austin makes a loud Proclamari in Tractatus in Joann 119. the Name of Christ Audite Judaei Gentes Audite Regna Terrena Hear O ye Jews and Gentiles hear O ye Earthly Princes non impedio Dominationem vestram in hoc mundo I come not to hinder or prejudice your Rule or Dominion in this World Nolite timere c. Be not frighted with vain and groundless fears for my Kingdom is not of this World neither does it come to supplant or unhinge the Kingdoms in this world Kings indeed are called unto Christ and by Christ Psal 2. 10. not to part with their Power or to lose their Place but only to do him service with their Power and in their Place They are not to throw away their Crowns but only with the 24 Elders Rev. 4. 10. to lay them at the feet of Christ as acknowledging their subjection to him and dependancy upon him and derivation from him For so saith the Word and Wisdom of the Father Prov. 8. 15 16. By me Kings Reign by me Princes Rule i. e. by appointment from him and subordination to him For the which reason Tertullian sticks not to say unto the Pagans Noster Apolog. c. 33. est magis Caesar utpote a nostro Deo constitutus The Emperour says he is ours more than yours as being set up and appointed by our God yea by our Saviour whose Name and Stile it is to be Prince of the Kings of the Earth Rev. 1. 5. To be King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. 19. 16. So much for the Office and Function the next Inference I shall make is in behalf of their Right and Power If Kings be appointed of God and entrusted by him as Nursing Fathers to the Church then hence it follows against all opposers that the Christian Sovereign has to do in matters of the Church For sure look what the Prophet here says That Princes shall do as Nursing-fathers Bilson of Subjection that I conclude they may and must do For God would not promise that they should usurp a strange Office but discharge their own And therefore the Fact in this case proves the Right and the Exercise the Power Only mistake not the Point intended By this Right or Power of Princes I do not mean that they either have in themselves the Power Ecclesiastick strictly and properly so called or that they give it unto others unless by giving we understand only Copiam utendi Leave and liberty to use and apply it I intend not to say that Princes by their Sovereignty are to be the sole and supream Judges of Faith or Deciders of Controversies or Interpreters of Scripture or Dispensers of Word Censures or Sacraments or that they may take upon them in their own Persons as the Leviathan speaks to consecrate Churches to propagate Holy Orders to celebrate the Eucharist nor to bind and loose in the Name of Christ I deny not but in these things the Magistrate has no power to act either per defectum facultatis because he has not that skill and faculty that is requisite to the doing of these things or per defectum Juris because the Right of ministring such things is by the Act of God reserved to others As the Priests of old made answer to Vzzia the King a Regis erat non adolere sed facere ut Sacerdotes adolerent Grot. in locum Non est Officii tui It pertains not unto thee to burn Incense 2 Chron. 26. 18. But yet notwithstanding all this being granted there is still in the Nursing-father of the Church a Sovereign Power over Church-men and in reference to Church-matters He has Imperium circa Sacra though not Ministerium in Sacris He has the Right of Supream Inspection though not of immediate Administration for 't is one thing to do these things and another to Vide Grotium de Imperio c. C. 2. p. 24. see or cause them to be done In a word all that I intend is that the Sovereign as Christian has a Super-eminent Power of commanding and ordering the Matters of the Church so far as they
are of publick and general concern not only to Peace and Tranquillity but to Religion and Piety to the due and regular profession of the common Christianity I know indeed there want not those who would oppose this either in whole or in part First some with the Donatists of old quite shut out the Magistrate from these matters According to the Sayings related by Optatus Quid Christianis cum Optatus C. Parmen L. 1. Regibus aut Quid Episcopis cum Palatio What have the Church to do with Kings or Bishops with the Court or Palace And again Quid Imperatori cum Ecclesia L. 3. What has the Emperour to do with the Church This was the Language of the first Fathers of Schism and too much of the like do we find in those Imitators of them who will not have the Ruler to interpose at all in matters of Religion They 'l allow him perhaps a Place in the Church as a Member but not as a Governour or Nursing-father no Laws to be made no Edicts to be passed for the setling of Faith and Order in opposition to errour and distraction But is this to be a Nursing-father to the Church or rather a meer Gallio only as an idle and careless Spectator to stand by and tamely to look on unconcerned upon the miseries and confusions of the Christian Body without stretching forth a Finger to heal help or prevent them How can they be said to discharge their Trust their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or what account can they give unto God of their Power who do not use it to the best advantage not only for the outward safeguard but also for the inward soundness purity peace and order of the Church Never any Classick Author whether a Deut. 17. 18 19. Josh 1. 8. Ezra 7. 16. sacred or b Aristot polit 3. c. 10 11. Tullius de legibus 2. Plato de leg Dion L. 52. prophane that touch'd upon this Subject but mentions Religion as in the Magistrates charge Never any State that profess'd Religion but did exercise an Interest in disposing matters of Religion Never any Instance to be given where Men were permitted in Point of Religion to do every one what was right in their own Eyes except in times of Anarchy i. e. Judges 17. 5 6. when there was no King in Israel no Tutor no Governour no Nursing-father to interpose and regulate things in Church and State But then secondly others there are neither small nor few who with the Church of Rome will allow the Prince defensionem Religionis Bellarm. L. 3. de Laicis c. 17. Et alibi but not Judicium no power of judging but only a Power or Obligation rather of receiving and defending whatsoever the Church determines They 'l grant you that Princes are the proper bearers of the Secular Ibid. c. 18. Sword but then it must be Gladius sub Gladio the Temporal Sword under the Spiritual for though it rest in the Scabbard of Kings yet must it not be drawn or used by them Nisi ad nutum patientiam Sacerdotis So Boniface the 8th in his Extravagant Tit. 8. de Majorit Obed. c. 1. This sure is not to make Kings Nursing-fathers but Vassals to the Church meer Butchers as it were to execute while their Prelates only are the Judges to hear and determine And all this against the grain both of Scripture Antiquity and Reason Princes indeed are bid to serve Christ Psal 2. 11. Serve the Lord with fear but not with an implicit Faith or blind Obedience but praeeunte judicio with judgment and understanding For so runs the tenth Verse Sapite erudimini Be wise O ye Kings be instructed ye Judges of the Earth and then follows Serve the Lord with fear 'T is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 't is a rational reasonable Service that is required at their hands First understand and then serve 'T is the Service of a right judgment the thing which the Church prays for Psal 72 1. Give thy Judgments to the King and thy Righteousness to the Kings Son God who would have Kings among others to come unto the knowledge of the Truth 1 Tim. 2. 4. no doubt but he allows them exercitium Judicii a Judgment to discern what is truth and what is error that they may refuse and suppress the one and embrace and establish the other as shall be thought fit for the publick good and welfare of the Church The ancient Councels and Synods of the Church as Grotius Grotius de Imperio summarum potestat c. 7. p. 174 175 176. proves did ever tender both their definitions i. e. of Faith and Canons i. e. of Government 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the judgment of the Christian Emperour to be examined the one by the Laws of Faith the other by the Rules of Prudence and Expedience And sure 't is all the reason in the world that Kings be satisfied as Men and as Christians in the matters of the Church before they ratifie them as Sovereigns For as a Learned Man says Mr. Thorndike Epilog L. 3. Of the Laws of the Church c. 32. p. 385. Kings having a Right to make the Acts of the Church to become the Laws of the State by declaring to concur with the execution of them doubtless they must needs have a Right to judge whether they be indeed such Acts as Christian Powers may and ought to concur in and accordingly to bound and limit the exercise of them But then again thirdly There is yet a third sort behind that do oppose or at least much debase and diminish the Power of the Christian Sovereign that is such as would have them deal with matters of Religion only at the second hand in a remote consideration sub ratione boni civilis so far as the civil good and interest is concerned in them So that as Bellarmine would bring Bell. de Pontifice L. 5. c. 6. Princes under the Popes girdle Indirecte ordine ad Spiritualia so would these have Kings and Princes to meddle with Causes and Matters of Religion Indirecte in ordine ad politica only in reference to the civil Good Weal and Peace of the State But on the contrary seeing Kings and Princes are by God directly entrusted with the Church as Nursing Fathers to do him that Service in and for the Church by their Authority which none but Kings and Princes can do Since they have been always accounted Custodes Vindices utriusque Tabule the Guardians of both Tables since they are ordained says the Apostle for the punishment Rom. 13. 3 4. of evil Works i. e. of all sorts none excepted since the Law of the Ruler or Magistrate is made and set for the punishing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only of what is opposite to sound Reason and Polity but of what is contrary to sound Doctrine 1 Tim. 1. 9. Lastly since the end of their Place and Function
even of all that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not only Peace and Honesty but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the due and right Service of God 1 Tim. 2. 2. I say from all these Premises we may well infer that for any to confine the Cognizance of Princes to prophane Tryals and to set the faults or matters of the first Table as it were beyond the reach of the Secular Arm or to yield them only as the secondary Object of their Power is both to abase their Authority and to abridge them of their Right And so much shall suffice for the Inferences I shall now only add few Reflections from the Text upon our selves and duties and I have done First then Is this the Right and Title of Christian Kings Are they indeed set up by God as Nursing-fathers to the Church Then let them be so owned by us both in word and deed That is let them have the dues of Nursing-fathers As first That of Honour and Reverence to their Names and Persons Mal. 1. 6. If I be a Father where is mine Honour The Christian Sovereign by his Place and Station he is Pater Patriae the publick Father of his Country and a Nursing-father to the Church Justly therefore does he claim the Tribute of our special reverence and that in a degree next to God So the Scripture places him 1 Pet. 2. 17. Fear God Honour the King As having imaginem Dei sicut Episcopus Christi says St. Austin as Augustin quaest est veteri te stamento Qu. 35. having the Print and Image of God And therefore Contempt here though but in words in the Language of Scripture is called Blaspheming of Glories Jude Verse 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Asecond Due owing to these Nursing-fathers is that of Submission Sujection to their Authority Tit. 3. 1. Put them in mind to be subject unto Principalities and Powers 1 Pet. 2. 13. Submit your selves unto the King 1 Chron. 26. 30 32. 2 Chron. 19. 8 12. as Supreme Supreme without any exception either of Causes or Persons The Romanists would fain exempt their Clergy or at least the Miter from this Subjection But what says the Scripture Rom. 13. 1. speaking of those Powers that bore the Sword Verse 4. And to whom Tribute a Si Tributum petit non negamus Agri Ecclesiae solvunt tributum Ambros Ep. 32. was paid Ver. 6 7. he says Let every Soul be subject to the higher or to the Supreme Powers This he wrote unto the Church of Rome and at such a time in such an Age when Souls were at the best and Powers at the worst And yet must every Soul be subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Chrysostome glosses upon the Place Be thou an Apostle be thou an Evangelist or Prophet be thou whosoever thou must be subject The Command is general the Injunction universal And so St. Bernard writing to an Epist 4◠ad Archiepisc Senon Arch-bishop descants upon the word Omnis Si omnis etiam vestra Quis vos excepit ab universitate c. If every Soul then yours too he that goes about to exempt you goes about to deceive you And surely they that Vide Gregorium Epist ad Mauritium L. 4. c. 76. 78. must admonish others to be subject Tit. 3. 1. much more must they be so themselves Thirdly a third Due owing to these Nursing-fathers is that of Obedience Obedience to their Orders and Commands That is a ready and willing performance of what is prescribed by their Authority and that in a Josh 1. 16 17. Obedientiam promittit populus in omnibus Grot. all things except where obedience to Man is rebellion or transgression against God Coloss 3. 10. Children obey your Parents your Fathers in all things much more our Nursing-fathers whose Authority is higher than that of the Parent and whose Power is Supreme This is that the Apostle joyns and couples with Subjection Tit. 3. 1. Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities to obey Magistrates And indeed the prime and principal part of our Subjection to Governours is Positive Obedience Conformity of Practice to the Orders and Establishments of Authority 'T is that that all Laws and Power and Government asks and looks for aims and drives at in the first place the obedience of the Subject and as for Penalties they are only for the terrifying of Disobedience The latter is but the Sanction that guards the Law the former is that alone that satisfies the demands of the Law And so much shall suffice for the Rights and Dues owing unto Nursing-fathers Unto which in the next place we must also remember to subjoyn the Dues owing unto God in their behalf the Dues of Joy and Praise Prayer and Thankfulness for the Gift and Blessing of these Nursing-fathers which brings me to that special Duty that is reflected on us at this time not only from the Text but from the Day The Day that we now celebrate 't is a Day pregnant with Mercies even the Mercies of the Text. In which respect 't is more than a single Festivity Like St Simon and Jude or St. Philip and James it comes with Twins in the Womb of it A double or rather a triple Holy-day as being the Memorial of a Triple Blessing First as it is Natalitium Regis the Birth-day of our Christian Sovereign and therefore to be celebrated by us Mos ille vetustus per se improbari non potest says Calvin of Herod's keeping of his Birth-day 'T was an ancient Custom and of it self not to be condemned For its Antiquity we find mention of it in the Kings of Aegypt Gen. 40. 20. The Birth-day of Pharaoh solemnized with a Feast to all his Subjects In the Kings of Israel Hos 7. 5. we read of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dies Regis the Kings Day i. e. of his Birth says Arias Montanus Dies natalis ejus In the Kings of Persia their Nativity was a yearly Festival even as far as throughout all Asia So Vide Brisson de Regno Perfico L. 1. p. 27. Plato in his Alcibiades 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the Roman and Christian Emperours we read an intimation of the like Festival Et si in nostrum Ortum aut Natalem celebrandum solemnitas inciderit differatur Says the constitution of Leo and Anthemius de die dominico Yea and amongst private Christians we find the like practised even by Christian Bishops in reference to themselves 'T is evident from the Epistle of St. Ambrose unto Bishop Foelix they L. 1. Ep. 5. were wont to keep the Days both of their particular Nativity and of their particular Installment Much more then may the Birth-day of our Sovereign and Nursing-father claim this celebration at our hands Especially if we consider it in the next place as it was also Natalitium Regni 'T was not only Dies Regis but Dies Regni the Dan. 4. 36. Requisierunt me Scl.
pertaesi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inde sequentis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grotius Kings and the Kingdoms Day the Day of His Return and Royal Restauration the Solemn Day that put a Blessed Period to the long and sad confusions of a Civil and Intestine War and to the manifold and multiplied calamities violences oppressings tossings and distractions of a Twelve-years unsettlement and usurpation O let the remembrance of those days Stobaei Serm. 42. verba Selini endear the enjoyment and celebration of this It was the Custom among the Persians says Brissonius that Brisson de Regno Persiâ—n L. 1. p. 27. when ever their King died they had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justitium quinque dierum a certain vacation or ceasing of all Laws Order and Government for five days together And all to this end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. that they might be the more sensible of the benefit of a King and Laws returning after such a time of disorder and licentiousness God was pleased to exercise us of these Nations with a longer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sad and disorderly Vacation not of five days but of more than twice five years as the Israelites of old without a King without a Prince c. Hos 3. 4. Let us at least make this use of it as to prize the worth of these things by the past want of them and to value our returned Enjoyments by the experience of our former miseries But then again thirdly There is a third Consideration that adds to the Solemnity of this Day in reference to the Church as well as to the State i. e. As it was in a sence Natalitium Religionis the Birth-day of our Religion too i. e. of the publick reviving and restauration of it as to the publick Rights form and settlement of it The Wounds of the Church in our late confusions were as deep as those of the State and as many convulsions in the one as of distraction and dislocation in the other Nothing but In and Out was the Game plaid in Matters of Religion nothing acted upon the Stage but the strife or struggling of Rebeccaes Twins Jacob supplanting Esau the younger Religion catching at the heel of the elder and striving to come into its Place and Birth-right In a word as there was Jus vagum incertum in the State so there was little else but Fides menstrua in the Church one way of Government and Religion thrusting and shoving out the other nothing but Overturning overturning overturning till he came whose Right it was to be our Nursing-father But now blessed Ezek. 21. 27. be God there is some Fixation The Staves of Bands and of Beauty Zech. 11. 7. that were broken begin to piece up again The Wall and Tower of the Vineyard that were trodden down begin to rise again The Ark that had been either Captive or Ambulatory fetch'd home again and set up within its own proper Tabernacle In a word all things brought to such a degree of settlement that we may now once more say unto the Men of Rome that shall ask us Ecce Ecclesiam Loe this is our Church this the Doctrine of it this the Order of it this the Service and Liturgy of it All which since we owe it next under God to the Return of our Nursing-father this is that that should enhance the memory of this Day as bringing with it together with our Laws and Liberties the re-settlement and re-establishment of Religion too The finishing of the second Temple rebuilt by Herod the great says Josephus fell upon the Kings Birth-day which made both the Joy and Day the greater The like may be said of this our day Our Temple was concerned in the Mercy as well as our King the Ark and the Order of Levi as well as the Tribe and Scepter of Juda. And therefore where so many signal and eminent Causes meet as in one constellation it should render the Festivity of the Day the greater What remains then but that we summon up our Hearts and pour out our Souls before God in such Sacrifices of Joy Thankfulness and Prayer as may testifie our due resentment of so great a Mercy First Let 's Rejoyce in this Mercy Let 's meet the memory of this Day with the same thoughts relish and warm affections as we did the first and freshest News of it Remember we the greatness of our then miseries and dangers the smallness of our hopes the sadness of our fears and after all the seasonableness the suddenness the fullness and remarkableness of our deliverance And then if we be not blind we shall see reason to break forth with the Church and say The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad Psal 126. 3. And then secondly Let our Joy and Gladness proceed and beget Praise and Thankfulness in Word and Deed. God has ever shew'd a special care of this our Land and Nation We may say as St. Peter in the Vision unto Brightwood Monk of Glascowe Regnum Angliae Regnum Dei We have Polydor. L. 8. been Gods Hephzibah Gods Darling a Crown of Glory a Royal Diadem in the Hand of God a Isa 62. 3. 4. Land and Stage of Mercy especially of this Mercy and Benefit promised in the Text Kings to be our Nursing-fathers and Queens our Nursing-mothers A Happiness which we enjoyed with the first and earliest in the World The first King that ever embraced the Faith of Christ was a King in this Island His Name Lucius from light or brightness as if God in him meant to fulfil the Prophecy in the very sound of the Letter Isa 60. 3. The Gentiles shall come to the Light and Kings to the brightness of thy Rising The first Emperour that ever became Christian was by Birth a Brittain Constantine the great born at York The first Kingdom that cast off the Romish Yoke and usurpations and by Law setled the Reformation was this of England First in Henry the Eighth and so down successively excepting the bloody Parenthesis of the Marian days down to the present Monarch And blessed be the God of Heaven that the English Scepter is still joyned to the Faith of Christ the Royal Branch married to the Vine of Christ the Rose and Lillies of the Crown still subject to the Cross of Christ that we have still a Prince not only of the ancient Blood but of the true and ancient Faith one who has been tried in his time in the Fire of Affliction in the Forreign Furnace of Temptation and yet himself abides not only a firm Professour but a gracious Defender of the True Ancient Catholick and Apostolick Faith Which that he may so long continue let us in the third and Sacrificamus pro salute Imperatoris purâ prece Tertull. ad Scapulam last place add unto all the Sacrifice of our Prayers and Supplications at the Holy Table That God who has the Hearts of Kings in his Hands would so guide his Heart by the Princely Spirit of Grace and Wisdom that He may be now and ever still and more a Nursing-father to this our Israel that so He living and ruling in the fear of God and commanding for the Truth and Honour of God and procuring the good and well-fare of the Church of God after a long and happy Reign here upon Earth He may be finally possessed with a Crown of Glory and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God and of Heaven hereafter The END