now the assurance that God is concern'd in the Protection and Defence of Sovereign Princes is beyond all and therefore saith the Apostle Ye must needs be subject it 's no indifferent but a necessary thing and that not only for Wrath Rom. 13.5 but also for Conscience sake in respect of the Laws of God as well as of Man And therefore if we should either by force or cunning escape the one yet we are still in danger of the other now there 's no Man whatsoever kept so certainly within the Bounds of his Duty and Obedience as he that sets God always before his Eyes This Consideration alone kept David from killing Saul under so many tempting Circumstances as I think never Man besides had the like 1 Sam. 26.9 Who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord 's Anointed and be guiltless And how far this Guilt extends it self is plainly told us by St. Paul when he saith That they which resist Rom. 13.2 shall receive to themselves Damnation that is are liable to the Wrath and Vengeance of God as well as the Penalty of Humane Laws And indeed what are the severest Laws where this is wanting What do all other Tests signify What are the fairest Promises the deepest Protestations and the most solemn Oaths without this Where this is not nothing can bind us so where this is nothing can absolve us And this brings me to the third and last Thing propounded in the handling of these words which is III. By way of Application to enforce this Duty upon our Practice 1. How ought we to bless God for such excellent Means for our Protection and safety The Kindness he hath shewed to us and the Care he hath taken of us in all Ages hath been exceeding great he hath made us as far as wholsome and good Laws as far as a wise and excellent constitution of Government can as happy a People as are under the Sun And that nothing may be wanting to make us for ever so he hath crown'd it all with that inestimable Blessing of his most Divine and Sacred Truth whereby all the rest are both defended and enlarged Time was that this was a Stranger to us and besides the Light of Nature and that too was greatly obscured we had no farther knowledg of it than what the Interest and Humour of a few insolent and luxurious Priests would allow of and then neither Princes nor People knew what was their own how far to command nor how far to obey Kings must ask leave to be crown'd yea and give sufficient security for their Good-Behaviour before they could obtain it and Subjects must be Loyal no farther than was consistent with the Will of their Ghostly Father and so every Man's Life and Fortune yea his Body and his Soul too must be at their Mercy But blessed be God it is otherwise now for we have a more sure Word of Prophecy to which we do well if we take heed And God grant we may our Duty and Interest is founded upon a more certain Thing our Safety and Welfare more securely provided for whilst our Religion obligeth us to be truly Loyal and our Loyalty to be truly Religious for he that is not truly Loyal is no true Protestant nor can he that is not a true Protestant be truly Loyal Our Religion and Government are now so twisted together that we cannot be false to the one but we must betray the other We can attempt nothing against the Government in any kind but we forfeit all Title to that excellent Religion which we profess A Rebellious Protestant is as great a contradiction as a Loyal Papist for tho' one that calls himself a Protestant may be a Rebel and one that calls himself a Papist may be Loyal yet according to the Principles of each Religion and according to the particular Constitutions of our present Government they can neither of them be as they pretend And therefore 2. How ought we to detest and abhor all such Principles and Practices as corrupt and overthrow such an excellent Thing Religion and Loyalty are and ought to be inseparable Twins and whoever offers to debauch and divide them deserves neither the Name of a Protestant nor the Priviledg of a Subject To this we owe all the Faction and Sedition the Treason and Rebellion that have so stain'd and dishonour'd the Profession of Christianity The truth of it is we owe the first beginnings of these things under the Gospel to the Pride and Luxury of the Church of Rome they taught some of the first Lessons of Disloyalty and Rebellion tho' they have met with too many apt Scholars amongst those that call themselves by a better Name but let them pretend what they will and strive to alter the Name never so much yet as long as they retain the thing it is all one We may call our selves Protestants as much and as long as we please but we are never the more so for that for if we carry on any Seditious Treasonable Designs under that plausible Name we forfeit our Title to it and are Papists or worse if it be possible all the while for the Primitive Christians never thought of such a thing nay so far were they from it that there was more danger of the other extream of complying outwardly to avoid persecution with every thing which the Civil Government requir'd tho' never so Idolatrous and Wicked which gave the Apostles occasion so fairly to state the Question between Subjection and Christian Liberty both in relation to their Enemies and their Friends to allay the Fears and Jealousies of the one and to rectify the Mistakes of the other in which they take the middle and safest way of flying or suffering rather than resisting for as the Gnostick Compliance was to be detested as unworthy the plainness and simplicity of the Gospel so all forcible Resistance was to be avoided too as directly contrary to the Innocence and Meekness of it And therefore whoever they are that take upon them to do any such thing let their pretences be never so fair and plausible I am sure they have not so learned Christ not that the Christian Religion deprives any Man of the liberty of a just Defence against any of the Sons of Violence but then it must be only by such ways as true Religion and the particular Laws of his Country do allow of Thus we have St. Paul twice pleading the Liberty and Priviledges of his Birth to preserve him from the Malice and Rage of his Enemies once he insists upon his being a Roman to prevent his being scourged and another time Acts 22.25 25.10 11. as such appeals unto Caesar from the Jewish Sanhedrim And thus doubtless may any Man flie to the known Laws of his Country for his own fafety and preservation but to go beyond these is dangerous and destructive as is also the perverting the Design and Intention of them and argueth as little fear
and convinced that God seeth and knoweth what he doth and will certainly call him to an account for it and therefore the first thing that wicked Men do is to banish this Principle from their Minds for as long as there are any impressions of it there the remembrance of their own Actions must needs be very uneasy to them and therefore hence it is that the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament lay every where so much stress upon 〈◊〉 and not only make it the Motive to but the Sum and Substance also of all true Religion and this it doth not only in general Terms when it speaks of God's immediate Worship and Service but when it descends to the particular Duties which we owe unto our Neighbour also they are often expressed by the same Phrase Thus for the Duty of Magistrates and great Men. Saith David in his dying words 2 Sam. 23.3 He that ruleth over Men must be just ruling in the Fear of God that is as becomes one who is not only in the presence but in the place of God 2 Chron. 19.7 with whom there is no Iniquity nor respect of Persons nor taking of Bribes And so for any others that are in any other inferiour degree of Power Levit. 25.17 42 43. Ye shall not oppress one another saith Moses but thou shalt fear thy God Nay if thy Brother be sold unto thee for a Bondman thou shalt not rule over him with Rigour but shall fear thy God i.e. shalt use him with that merciful regard which God requires and is well-pleased with And thus the Duty of Subjects towards their Magistrates is expressed in words to the same effect when we are required not only to be subject for Wrath but also for Conscience-sake Rom. 13.5 and what is that but in the Fear of God and therefore whoever resists the Power Vers 2. resists the Ordinance of God and what is that but to cast off the Fear of God! And thus also our Duty towards one another in all Affairs and Businesses whatsoever is expressed Psal 34.11 13 14. Come ye Children saith David hearken unto me and I will teach you the Fear of the Lord and what is that keep thy Foot from Evil and thy Lips from speaking Guile Depart from Evil and do good seek Peace and pursue it Thus saith the wise Man The Fear of the Lord is to hate Evil. Prov. 8.13 So that by the Fear of the Lord we are here to understand the sincere and hearty Profession and Practice of True Religion the doing the Duties of our particular Places with an honest Mind and as we will answer it to God And this I have been the longer upon because it helps us both to understand and practise the following Duty of Fearing the King which comes now to be exaamined and explained 2. What is meant by fearing the King And here we may easily understand the meaning of this Duty by comparing it with the former for according to the particular Nature and Extent of it it hath the same signification with that for as the one teacheth us what is True Religion so the other teacheth us what is True Loyalty for as the one consists in a rational sincere and dutiful Affection and Zeal for God and his Interest so doth the other for the King and his they only differ in Degree as the one is subordinate and must give place unto the other tho' to none besides for as we are to be obedient for Conscience-sake in the Fear of God so we are to be so according to the Will of God for if any thing is required that is contrary thereunto Acts 5.29 we all know that God is to be obeyed rather than Man Nor doth this at all derogate from the Duty of the Text but rather confirm and maintain it for if Kings are to be feared and honoured as they are God's Vicegerents then whatever doth dishonour God reflects also upon them and therefore those that are truly zealous to preserve the one do best secure and uphold the other nor doth this in the least eclipse their Power and Dominion but leaves them to the full exercise of it since it never alloweth us to rebel against it but rather to yield to it and to suffer by it which when we chearfully and willingly do we shew we are more tender of the King's Honour and Safety than we are of our own which is certainly the truest Principle of Loyalty and the best demonstration of the honesty of our Intentions in the practice of this Duty for tho' the Government may by this means be sometimes crossed of its Will yet it 's never in danger as to its safety 3. What is meant by being given to change The word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifies Changers and so it 's rendred in the Margent and it is sometimes taken in a good fence and sometimes in a bad 1. It is sometimes taken in a good sense for those necessary Changes and Alterations that are made in things that are amiss which it is every Man's Duty in the place wherein he is set by all honest and just Ways and Means to endeavour but this cannot be Solomon's meaning here Therefore 2. It is taken sometimes and here more especially in a bad fence for those that rather endeavour to disturb those things that are well and therefore it is properly translated by being given to change that is Persons of unsetled Minds govern'd by no Principles either of Religion or Honesty whose Profit or Lust is the only thing they are guided by and which no Government can have any certain security against fickle and unconstant Men that always turn with the Times meer Weathercocks both in Religion and Government and therefore true neither to God nor the King whose Religion is only Reason of State and whose Loyalty is either Interest or Humour and to speak according to the present Distemper of our Times Protestants to day Papists to morrow any thing the next and yet all this while nothing at all And therefore well doth the wise Man caution us against such as these as the most dangerous Company we can keep for they that have no honest regard to the Interest of True Religion can have none to their King and Country he that every day makes bold with Almighty God and sets him at defiance in the manifest breach of his Laws for the sake of his Pleasure or of his Profit can never give his Prince any tolerable security that he will not serve him so upon the like occasion and this is the reason why Princes are many times so unfortunate in the choice of their Ministers because it is an hard matter to find a great Politician to be as good a Man one who always makes the Laws of God and his Country the constant measure of his Actions let what will happen to him which if they did but truly fear God
's the bane of all Society a dangerous Civil War even in the midst of Peace since it sets every Man's Hand against his Fellow and yet no Enemy appears Now True Religion provides a Remedy against this by presenting the God of Truth unto us as more concern'd for it than for any thing else because he himself is always made a Party to it for every Lye we tell is a bold and impudent denial of his Being whose very Essence is Truth and every false Oath we take is to ' vouch his Authority against the plainest Declarations of his Nature and Will and therefore it is better for us to cease to be Men than to cease to be true for no Government can need our Persons so much as our Truth and Honesty 4. True Religion teacheth us that Sovereign Princes are not to be resisted by force of Arms much less to be Depos'd and Murder'd you see how careful it is to secure the Persons and Rights of private Men that none may be wrong'd and injur'd in either and if so much more doth it take care of the Prerogatives of Princes And there 's nothing more plain and evident than this even from the Doctrine and Practice of our Saviour and his Apostles and of all good Men in all Ages affixing a Sacredness to their Persons equal to the Greatness of their Power What can be more plain and full than the Apostle's excellent Discourse to this purpose Rom. 13. and his charge to Titus to preach the same Doctrine afterwards Tit. 3.1 so far is True Religion from giving the least countenance to Disobedience and Rebellion And that this proceeds not from weakness and want of Power is evident enough for our Saviour had a greater Power at his command than all the Powers of the Earth and the same might have been as easily communicated to his Church had it been any ways essential to it Nor did there even at that time want either for Opportunity or Provocation to resist had it been at all consistent with it for the Magistrates that were then were as barbarously tyrannical and cruel as ever were nay they had usurp'd their Power but a little before and were then so odious by the savage exercise of it that there was indeed a very fair Opportunity offered thereby to shake off that heavy Yoke for the Romans were weary of and groan'd under the Oppressions of their inhumane and bloody Emperors and the Jews were always forward enough to shake off a Forreign Jurisdiction and there wanted not a considerable Party even amongst the Christians to run up Christian Liberty to a very great and formidable height and yet even then the Apostles all with one consent preach'd Obedience and Subjection to the Civil Powers as being an Ordinance of God upon which score Religion it self obligeth them to have always a very great veneration for it Nay 5. True Religion teacheth that even it s own Interest is not to be propagated and established by Violence and Blood There is nothing certainly dearer to good Men than their Consciences and there 's nothing that they desire more than the free Exercise and Enjoyment of them and therefore there is nothing so apt to provoke them as restraints therein because nothing comes so near to them the Arguments are at first sight so plausible and fair the Cause it self so honest and good and the Success so inviting that it requires a more than ordinary resolution of Mind to forbear from Resistance and certainly nothing but the Power of that Religion it self which is so dear to them can do it and therefore to prevent such things it presents it self to them as a mild and good-natur'd Thing whose greatest Force lies in its Sweetness whose Arms are Convincing Reason and Almighty Truth and therefore the Weapons of whose Warfare are not Carnal 2 Cor. 10.4 but suitable to the Enemies it fights with which are Spiritual It wages no War against Men's Persons but against their Lusts captivates their Minds and not their Bodies beats down only their towring Imaginations and not their other Castles and Forts And of what use now are Swords and Guns for such Service What do they signify to the Reason of Men's Minds They may be strong but they are very absurd Arguments to rational Creatures they may compel to a complyance but they 'l never prevail to a Conviction for no Man can judg of any thing in the World otherwise than his Reason and Understanding directs him A Man may speak and act contrary to his Judgment as God knows too too many of us do but he can never think otherwise if he would never so fain A Man that sees the Sunshine at Noon-Day may say it is Midnight and grope about as if it were so but it 's impossible for him to think so A Papist may say That the Bread in the Lord's Supper is transubstantiated and made real Flesh but whilst he sees and feels and tasts all the Qualities and Properties of Bread it 's as impossible for him to think it so as it is for his Priest to make it so and therefore he hath need of a very lusty Faith indeed to make it out A Man may will and desire a thing that 's contrary to his Reason but he cannot change his Opinion about the nature of it till his Reason and Judgment are fully satisfied in it Besides True Religion presents it self to our Affections as an amiable and lovely Thing that designs our real Good and Welfare now that which raiseth Wars and Commotions in the World is both frightful and destructive and begets Hatred and Detestation How can we believe that Man desires God's Glory and our Good that with an implacable Fury and Malice which is the true Image of the Devil is still doing us all the mischief he can Fire and Faggot Blood and Slaughter are strange ways of making Love by and wholly unknown to Christianity till the Romish Incendiaries first invented them The Primitive Christians knew not the way of firing Men's Houses to root out their Heresies of plundring their Goods to convince their Consciences of tormenting their Bodies to beget Faith in their Souls nor of absolving Subjects from their Allegiance to their Princes and thereby raising Rebellions and Wars for their own Interest and Advantage no nor for their own Safety and Preservation they were still taught to commit God's and their own Cause to him who was best able to protect and defend both and to keep themselves always within the bounds of Modesty and Meekness and by no Oppressions or Provocations whatsoever to take up Arms against a Lawful Authority by which disposition and temper it gives certainly the greatest security that any Government can desire But yet it goes farther still For 2. It cuts off all occasions of Rebellion and Disloyalty it not only lops the Tree but it digs it up by the Roots fights with the Small as well as the Great as truly knowing what great and
of God as it doth of Loyalty to the King and good Affection to the Government we live under which hath provided so excellently for our Defence and Security for tho' we may pretend a very great veneration for the King and his Government yet if we use his Name and Authority to undermine or overthrow the Fundamentals of it in any kind we set the King against himself as well as his Subjects we lessen his Power by dividing his Interest we stain his Honour by making him give the lie to so many gracious Declarations of his Will to make the known Laws of the Land the only Rule and measure of his Actions and we let in Popery with all its mischievous Effects and Consequences by the very same means we profess to keep it out For every thing that brings Confusion and Disorder amongst us either by Force or Fraud by open Rebellion and an ill-gotten Power or by a treacherous management of what we come more honestly by is as meritorious a piece of Service to that bloody Religion as any we can do it since it hastens that which it most desires and delights in to wit our own Ruin and Destruction Which now that we may prevent in the third and last place 3. Let us resolve to persevere in the practice of this Duty whatever befal us And 1. For the Fear of God a Duty or rather a Fundamental Principle so essential to us that we must cease to be Men before we can be void of it so universally useful that we must resolve to become our own Enemies before we can decline it so rivited into that Religion which we profess that we must fly in the face of our own Consciences whenever we act against it and yet alas a Duty so much neglected and despised in this Atheistical Heaven-daring and God-damming Age wherein we live as if it were a part of our Religion to bid defiance unto God and all that is good And yet if it were indeed a part of it I am apt to think it would not be so much in fashion as it is for we seem to glory in nothing more than in running counter to every thing which some Men place Religion in without considering whether the thing be really so or no As if because we have been sometimes abus'd by Hypocrisy and Pretences we must necessarily throw off that which we know to be sincere and true And that which makes it more to be lamented is the sanction that is put upon this untoward Humour by making it a note of our Loyalty to the King and our good Affection to the Church as if drinking his Health till we lose our own were a greater piece of Service to him than praying for his Life and Safety submitting to his Government or chearfully offering up our Lives and Fortunes to the defence and support of it as if no conformity to the Church tho' never so exact and canonical no means to perswade others to the like tho' never so successful could make a Man so true a Son of it as drinking the confusion of all that dissent from it and Damming and Hectoring every thing that is not of the same furious and violent temper with our selves Certainly my Beloved these things are as far from our Duty and Religion as they are from our Peace and Safety and therefore the allowing them so considerable a share therein must needs be very dangerous and destructive Which that we may prevent or avoid let us have recourse unto those things which the Spirit of God who best understands the nature of it hath wisely and with great plainness and simplicity placed True Religion in even as Solomon here expresseth it in the true Fear of God which is very well explain'd by St. James who calls it not only a pure and undefiled thing but tells us too That it is peaceable gentle and easy to be entreated James 3.17 full of Mercy and good Fruits 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without partiality as it 's very fitly translated as it were on purpose to fit the Humour of our Times or as it is in the Margent too very properly rendred without wrangling and without hypocrisie and deceit all which if we would but rightly and seriously consider we should certainly avoid those dangerous Evils which threaten us both from abroad and at home And therefore well doth the wise Man make it the foundation of True Loyalty since it 's not only supported by it but it will prove deceitful and vanish into Air and Nothing without it for those Men are always most given to change the Principles of whose Religion are most fickle and inconstant and always adapted to Times and Occasions or else who have none at all to fix them to any certain Measures that may be confided in but now the true Fear of God is a fix'd and certain Thing a sure Guide to us and a constant and powerful Security to the Government we live under and disposeth us every way for the practice of the other Duty of the Text which is the only thing that now remains to be exhorted to Therefore 2. Let us be always loyal and true to the King and his Government You see how much the Principles of that Religion which we profess do oblige us to it and methinks there needs no other Argument or Motive to enforce it and yet it may not be amiss a little further to explain it for as Religion in general is an ambiguous Term and oftentimes made use of only to serve a Turn and therefore applied then to all those things that are proper for it so is Loyalty too And the King's Honour and Interest may be pretended when both of them are it may be undermined and betrayed True Loyalty therefore consists in a cordial Veneration for the King's Person as Sacred and in a dutiful Submission to his Laws and Government at all times Not that every Man who breaks any of the Laws is ipso facto an Enemy to the Government for then there would be no true Friends to it in the Nation Jam. 3.2 since as St. James says in another case In many things we offend all But then do we become Enemies to it when we undermine or oppose those Laws upon which the Government doth subsist and which it is maintained and supported by let them be never so uneasy to us which if they should at any time be and grind either upon our Estates or Consciences we must not presently flie in the Face of that Authority which God hath set over us and by Force of Arms endeavour to relieve our selves but must with all cheerfulness submit even to the spoiling of our Goods and the loss of our Lives till God shall find out a way for our Deliverance and fully reward and crown our Patience And tho' this be an hard Lesson yet it 's a good one and such as the Primitive Christians overcame their Persecutors by and the English Martyrs founded that happy Reformation of Religion amongst us upon and such as if we throughly learn will provide the best for us against all Accidents whatsoever But I trust in God we shall never have any such great occasion for it but that he will still go on to protect and defend the Sacred Person of the King that he may outlive even the treacherous Hopes and Expectations as well as the undeserved and implacable malice of his Enemies who promise themselves any Benefit or Advantage by his Death and therefore wish and long for it that he may be always a Nursing Father unto this our Israel a powerful Defender of that Faith which as it enriches his present Crown so it will entitle him to a better that his Government may be for many and many Years the Glory and Blessing of these Nations as his Person hath been hitherto the Darling of God's Providence which as it is the avowed Design of this Meeting to bless God for so let it be the Business of our Lives to contribute all we can unto And thus I have given you a Sermon which was indeed intended for another Occasion which because I have been so severely reflected upon for what I undertook therein I was resolv'd to take this Opportunity to submit it unto your Judgment that so you may see that the Person whom you have so unanimpusly desir'd and receiv'd for your Minister is not a Man of those dangerous Anti-monarchical Principles as some Men would endeavour to make the World believe and if now you are but satisfied therein I shall have the less reason to care whether any Body else be or no. FINIS In Page 15 line 21 read Principles P. 19 l. 4. read been for he ADVERTISEMENT POpery a great Mystery of Iniquity proved in a Sermon on 2 Thess 2.7 recommended in such secure Protestants that will not believe there is a Popish Plot c. Righteousness and Peace the best Means to prevent Ruin Recommended in a Sermon preached at Guild-Hall Chappel Sept. 25. 1681. before the Lord-Mayor c. By the same Author Both sold by Jonathan Robinson
they would certainly be and do And this leads me to the second thing propounded which is to consider II. The Nature of this Duty The meaning of which is I suppose by this time pretty well understood and therefore that which I shall endeavour next shall be to show That True Religion called here the Fear of God is the best security of true Loyalty and that those Persons who fear God most will serve the King best And this I shall do in three several Particulars 1. True Religion fixeth Men to certain Principles which any Government may safely rely upon 2. It cuts off all occasions of Rebellion and Disloyalty 3. It urgeth stronger Motives and layeth greater Obligations upon us to be truly Loyal than any thing in the World can besides 1. True Religion fixeth Men to certain Principles which any Government may safely rely upon The Actions of Men either are or should be still governed by some Principle or other according to the Truth or Falshood of which they are always either good or bad Now for those Persons that have no Principles at all it 's only by chance if ever they are good and therefore no Government can safely confide in them Now True Religion layeth down such Principles as are to be trusted such as secure and maintain the Civil Rights of all Men and take care not only that God but that Cesar also may have his utmost Due which are such as these 1. That we must by no means do wrong tho' we have Power enough and can do it without Danger or Discovery nay we must rather take Wrong than do it 2. That we must not revenge our selves when it is done unto us 3. That we must always speak and act according to the Evidence and Verdict of Truth 4. That Sovereign Princes are not to be resisted by force of Arms much less to be Depos'd and Murder'd Nay 5. That True Religion it self is not to be propagated or establish'd by Violence and Blood 1. True Religion teacheth us That we must by no means do Wrong tho' we have Power enough and can do it without Danger or Discovery nay we must rather take Wrong than do it True Religion is very tender of the Rights of all Men and tho' it lays none under the necessity of being wrong'd yet it restrains all from the doing of it in any kind whatsoever it makes an Hedg about every Man's Liberty and Property fenceth and encloseth him in from Violence and Rapine secures him against open Force and secret Fraud that he shall neither be overpowred by the one nor undermined by the other but continue safe under its Protection from all the merciless Attempts of the Sons of Violence and from all the treacherous and false Accusations of the Sons of Belial it never makes the fairest Opportunity a sufficient Warrant to the doing of Mischief nor the closest Privacy an encouragement thereto but by shewing us the All-seeing Eye of God and the certainty of his Vengeance makes every Man to become his Brother's Keeper and therefore whoever offers injuriously to invade us in any kind tho' under never such specious Pretences and guarded by never so great a Power is a publick Enemy and a notorious disturber of the common Peace of Mankind and hazards the Peace and Tranquillity of any Government whatsoever 2. True Religion allows us not to revenge our selves when we are wrong'd Had it made no Provision for our Reparation and Satisfaction in such Cases we might possibly think hardly of it but since it hath made better than any we can think of besides we can never certainly do better than to have recourse thereunto upon all such occasions and as long as we do so the Honour and Safety of the Government is as well provided for as our own and both of them better than any other way It is an unreasonable and a dangerous thing for any Man to be his own Carver in such Matters for if a Man is not to be a Judg in his own Case he is not certainly to be the Executioner of his own Wrath and blessed be God there is no need of either for God hath provided such Ways as are fitter for both he hath consider'd us as we are Men united into Society and therefore necessarily under Government and hath therefore placed the Power of avenging us in such hands as are best able and fittest to do it and to them we not only lawfully may but we must too always resort for it therefore the Apostle calls Magistrates Rom. 13.4 the Ministers of God Revengers to execute Wrath upon all that do evil and as if this were the chief thing he tells us that otherwise they do but bear the Sword in vain Nay so careful is True Religion to give all possible security to the Civil Government against this dangerous Evil that it forbids us all private Revenge tho' the Magistrate himself either neglect or refuse to right us Rom. 12.19 Dearly Beloved avenge not your selves but rather give place unto Wrath Submit with patience chearfulness to the present necessity of your Condition for you are not left destitute of Help and Relief the Great God will take your Cause into his own Hand and will do you right Vengeance is mine saith the Lord I will repay And he that can thus stop his own Mouth tie up his own Hands and peaceably wait God's Leisure tho' it be till the Day of Judgment before he be righted can never be a bad Subject 3. True Religion teacheth us always to speak and act according to the Evidence and Verdict of Truth As Peace is the great Blessing of Society so Truth is the great Conservator of it take away that and we are strip'd naked of our best Defence either against the Malice and Violence of Men or the Wrath and Justice of God And therefore this hath he en always required as one of the Fundamentals both of Religion and Government That we should every Man speak the Truth unto his Neighbour as the Prophet Zechariah expresseth it Chap. 8.16 17. Speak ye every Man the Truth to his Neighbour execute the Judgment of Truth and Peace in your Gates and let none of you imagine Evil in your heart against his Neighbour and love no false Oath For when once it comes to this that we cannot believe and trust one another how can we tell how to discern between right and wrong and know either who or what is good or bad And therefore the want of this was that which the Prophets all as it were with one consent complain of not only as a very ill thing in it self but as the certain Forerunner of approaching Ruin for besides the Justice of God which it provokes more than any thing else it is in it self a Scourge and a Plague which no Remedy can be provided against it 's like that fretting Leprosy under the Law which nothing but the pulling down of the House could cure it
dangerous Revolutions have proceeded from very little and contemptible Beginnings And therefore 1. It makes us diligent and industrious in our particular Callings 2. It makes us serious and considerate 3. It makes us loving and charitable good-natur'd and kind 4. It makes us temperate and sober Nay 5. It ties even our Tongues and our Thoughts to their good behaviour 1. It makes us diligent and industrious in our particular Callings for Idleness is a dangerous thing to the State and therefore to be timely provided against They that have nothing to do are ready for any mischief and for this as soon as any other and when any Opportunity offers it self they are some of the first that run in to do hurt for as they are the sowers of Discord in Times of Peace so they are the most turbulent and mischievous in Times of War Now True Religion provides a Remedy against this by obliging all Men to some honest Calling or other and to a daily and industrious diligence therein and that perhaps with as great severity as any one Temporal Concern in the World This we command you saith the Apostle 2 Thess 3.10.14 that if any would not work neither should he eat nay he was to be banished the society of Christians Note that Man saith he and have no company or fellowship with him that he may be ashamed a thing which it were to be heartily wished were a little more seriously consider'd of in this Age in which so many neglect their Callings and live too like those Strangers at Athens who spent their time for the most part in hearing or telling of News an Evil certainly of very dangerous consequence not only to such Persons themselves who are thus fond of it but also to the publick Peace and Tranquillity of the Nation 2. It makes us serious and considerate and by consequence constant and fix'd to our Principles Now Rebellion is always the effect of Rashness and a giddy Mind and proceeds from a vain and foolish desire of Change And this the words of the Text have a particular respect unto and provide against by making the Fear of God which is always one and the same the constant Rule and Measure of all our Actions and Designs 3. It makes us loving and charitable good-natur'd and kind a temper as directly contrary to all Sedition and Disloyalty as can be for Rebellion is always an ill-natur'd thing proceeding from Envy and Discontent fomented by Hatred and Malice and brought out into Act by Rage and Fury Now True Religion allays Men's natural Heats cures the Distempers of their Minds charms their most head-strong and unruly Passions and not only restrains Violence and Wrath but converts it into Love and Meekness it unites us together in the most indissoluble Bonds of Peace and Amity and is so far from suffering us to Devour and Destroy that it obligeth us to Preserve yea even to die for one another and to prevent all Mistakes it expresly commands us to love our Enemies So far hath it gone and so much hath it done for the publick Interest of Society and to secure the Peace and Tranquillity of it and by consequence to secure all Civil Governments from any dangerous and rebellious Attempts and Practices 4. It makes us Temperate and Sober And without this no Government can always be secure and safe for what stress can any wise Man lay upon Whoring and Drinking Who can confide in such Persons who are so seldom their own Masters But admit that such Persons may be Men of Honesty and Courage yet who can expect the Blessing and Protection of Almighty God without which there can be no true Safety amidst such Actions If our Loyalty must be measur'd by the multiplicity of our Oaths by the largeness of our Healths and the number of our Whores God help us No my Beloved these are the things that dispirit our Minds weaken our Hands and deprive us of our best Defence and are enough to spoil the best Cause in the World I could instance in several Princes and States who have receiv'd more hurt by the Debaucheries and Luxury of their Friends than by the Malice or Strength of their Enemies but that the thing is too plain and obvious to need any Example and therefore Religion teacheth us to master our Lusts that so we may at all times govern our Passions and be always disposed to Quietness and Peace 5. It ties even our Tongues and our Thoughts to their good behaviour and there is very good reason it should for tho' the Tongue be but a little Member yet it 's oftentimes a very unruly one and when let loose doth always a great deal of mischief and therefore is by no means to be left at Liberty and therefore hence it comes to pass that Religion and Loyalty are both expressed by the same Phrase and ought both to be of the same Nature and Quality i. e. hearty and sincere And therefore how severely are they condemned by the Apostle Jud. 8. who despise Dominion and speak Evil of Dignities and therefore well says the wise Man Eccl. 10.20 Curse not the King no not in thy Thought for the Bird of the Air shall carry the Voice and that which hath Wings shall tell the Matter St. Paul indeed once and that upon an extraordinary Provocation betray'd too much of the heat of his natural Temper in reflecting severely upon the High-Priest for commanding him to be smitten unjustly but he presently checks himself for it and acknowledges his Error before them all and tells them that it proceeded from Rashness and Passion and not from Religion or Design Acts 23.5 I wist not Brethren that it was the High-Priest I consider'd not what I said nor to whom I spake For it is written Thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of thy People And therefore certainly from so great an Example founded upon so good an Authority we cannot but see the reasonableness and importance of this Duty let the usage we meet withal from them be what it will Religion obliges us to suffer and certainly Railing and Reviling are but ill Preparatives for it and shew but little of that good Spirit which we pretend unto And this brings me to the third and last thing whereby True Loyalty is so much promoted by Religion and that is in that 3. It urges stronger Motives and lays greater Obligations upon us to be truly Loyal than any thing in the World can besides It propounds to us the Fear and Dread of the great God the everlasting Good and Welfare of our Souls and the Concerns of Eternity than which certainly nothing can be more great and prevalent upon us Other Arguments from the sweet and blessed Effects of Peace from the Fury and Spoils of War and the Hazards which we run in engaging therein can never be so strong and cogent but that great Provocations ambitious Hopes and greedy Desires may overcome them but