A SERMON PREACHED AT Hampton Court before the King's Majesty, On Tuesday the 23. of September, ANNO 1606. By JOHN BUCKERIDGE, D. of Divinity. ¶ IMPRINTED AT London by ROBERT BARKER, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majesty. A SERMON PREACHED AT Hampton Court before the King's Majesty, on Tuesday the 23. of September 1606. ROME 13.5. Quapropter necesse est subijci, non solùm propter iram, sed etiam propter conscientiam. Wherefore you must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience. THese words are a conclusion of this discourse of the Apostle concerning the obedience of Christians towards their superiors; The process of which Scripture is grounded upon many reasons: 1. ab Authore, from the first founder, and Author of all power, Omnis potestas est à Deo; All power is of God, to whom in himself, and in his ordinance all creatures must be subject: wherein although it sometime happen, That Potens, the Ruler is not of God, Osea 8.4. as the Prophet saith, They have reigned and not by me: And likewise modus assumendi, the manner of getting kingdoms is not of God always, because it is sometimes by sinful means: yet potestas, the power itself is ever from God. The 2. à bono Ordinis, 1. Cor. 14.33. from the good of Order: and the Lord calls himself, The God of Order, not of confusion. And, Ordo est uniuscuiusque bonum, Order is the good of every creature: with whom it is better not to be, then to be out of order: And, potestates quae sunt à Deo, ordinatae sunt, The powers that are of God, are ordained or ordered. The 3. is, à malo culpae, to disobey God in his ordinance is a sin, He that resisteth, resisteth the ordinance of God. The 4. is, à malo poenae, they that disobey, acquirunt, not only accipiunt, do not only receive for their deserts, deservedly, but willingly pull upon themselves damnation; temporal, in which God is more quick to revenge the wrong and Treasons committed against his Lieutenants, and Viceroys, than the greatest sins against himself; And also eternal, as is manifest in Chore, Numb. 16.32. Dathan and the rest, that went down quick to hell; And, non est damnatio sine peccato, there's no damnation but for sin. The 5. is, à bono societatis, from the good of Peace, Protection, justice, Religion and the like, which man receives by government, He is God's minister for their good: If he be a good Prince, causa est, He is the cause of thy good, temporal and eternal; If an evil Prince, occasio est, He is an occasion of thy eternal good, by thy temporal evil. Si bonus, nutritor est tuus; Si malus, tentator tuus est; If he be a good King, he is thy nurse, receive thy nourishment with obedience; If he be an evil Prince, he is thy tempter, receive thy trial with patience; so there's no resistance, either thou must obey good Princes willingly, or endure evil tyrants patiently. The 6. is, à signo, from a sign, tributa penditis, or praestatis, not datis: You pay tribute & custom, and Subsidies of duty and justice; You give them not of courtesy; and they are stipendium Regis, not praemium, they are the King's stipend or pay, not his reward: Ministri Dei sunt, in hoc ipsum seruientes; They are Gods ministers serving for that purpose; Not to take their own ease and pleasure, but to govern others; Waking when others sleep, and taking care, that all men else may live without care. All these Arguments the Apostle in the words of this text, concludes with an Ideo; Wherefore: Because all powers are of God: Because all powers bring with them the good of order: Because it is a sin to disobey: Because judgement and damnation temporal and eternal is the punishment of this sin: Because government is the means to enjoy all the benefits of life; Because Kings are hired by tribute and custom by governing to serve their servants and subjects; Ideo necessitate subditiestote, Therefore you must be obedient of necessity, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. Wrath is forum externum, that external court, that contains all outward arguments, à praemio & poena, from reward and punishment of God and man. Non sine causa gladium portat: he caries not the sword in vain, he is to reward or punish. And this is the servants and hirelings argument, which keeps base affections within compass, and prepares the way to charity itself, Vt seta filum introducit, as the needle or bristle brings in the thread: wherein although he that obeys for wrath, hath not the virtue of obedience, and so been non agit, quia ex voluntate non agit, He doth not well, because he doth not with his will, or from the heart; yet quia bonum agit, timor seruilis bonus est, Because the act of obedience is good and a political virtue, this servile fear for wrath is good, proceeding sometimes from the holy ghost, and of great consequence in Church and Common wealth. Conscience is that forum internum, that inward Court wherein God sits, and either by the principles of reason, or by the laws of the holy ghost, governs and judges all our actions done or to be done, and either accuseth, or excuseth, It is judicatorium rationale, Bern. de Domo Interiori. ca 28 not an affectionate or wilful, but a reasonable judge. It is Liber animae, ad quem emendandum scripti sunt omnes libri, It is the book of the soul, for the examining and amending where of all books were written: In which are registered all our thoughts, words, and deeds: what we have done, what we must receive, and whither we must go, to heaven or hell; and when we must leave all other books, this book will not leave us, but bring us to God's tribunal, where it shall be laid open, and judge us. Haec est privata lex hominis: this is every man's private law: against which whosoever doth any thing, sins. And therefore in some cases, Conscientia etiam erronea ligat: An erroneous conscience doth bind. The process of this conscience is by way of Syllogism. The proposition is framed by the Synderesis of the soul, which cannot be deceived; All good is to be done, all evil is to be avoided. The Assumption is the discourse of reason: and therefore many times is erroneous. This is good, or this is evil. The conclusion is the collection of conscience. Therefore this is to be done, or that is to be avoided. Wherein because the discourse of reason being erroneous, makes an erroneous conscience; therefore that the laws of men be not exorbitant, it shall be needful to prescribe certain rules or causes, that must concur in all laws, Civil and Ecclesiastical, that they may bind the conscience. First there must be materia debita, a due matter, that is just and lawful, or else indifferent in itself: for in things simply good or evil, which are commanded or forbidden by God and Nature, No man hath power to cross the will of God. And in these things man's power is declaratory and executory, not sovereign of itself; In things indifferent there is a power to command for circumstances of time, place, order, and the like, and there is a necessity of obedience, and that for conscience sake, else man hath no power to command any thing of himself; And yet it is the sin of disobedience, Non solùm malum, sed & vetitum facere, not only to do that which is evil, but that also which is forbidden. The 2. is forma debita, a due form, an equal proportion of honours & burdens, according to the difference & degrees of several Estates, conditions, and qualities, as also a due order of proceeding in lawmaking, without tumult or confusion, without malice, spleen, or revenge. The 3. is Efficiens debitam, a due efficient, or a sufficient power to whom the care of lawmaking is delegated. For as the sentence of him that is no judge, is no sentence; so the Law of him that is not authorized to decree Laws, is no Law. The 4. is finis debitus, a due end, Public good, and not private: for as a Tyrant herein differeth from a King, that the Tyrant intendeth his private good, & the King proposeth the public: so evil Laws aim at private and bad ends, and good Laws propose the most public and best ends, the increase of good Religion, and safety of the Common wealth. And these causes concurring, the matter being lawful or indifferent, the form due, the efficient potent, and the end public and good, the Laws of man must be obeyed, not only for wrath but for conscience, which is the greatest Obligation on earth: For Nemo humanam potestatem contemnit, nisi qui prius divinam contempsit, No man contemns the power of man, unless he first have contemned the power of God. Thus we see, All must obey: Evil men for fear, and good men for conscience. Now Subjection in this Text, is a transcendent, and hath no proper place to be spoken of, because it is to be spoken of in every place; And therefore let us consider two points. The persons, and the necessity of obedience. The persons are two, Subjects that must obey, and Higher powers, that must govern and command. The necessity will bring us to the circuit and causes, in which we must obey. The subjects are set down in the first verse, with a note of universality, Omnis anima, Let every soul be subject; Not only heathen, but Christians, and clerk also: they have no exemption, but by the grace and privileges of Princes. Omnis anima, quia ex animo: Let every soul be subject, and subject with the will and heart, and inward affection of the soul, as S. Paul often teacheth, Ephes. 6.6. Coloss. 3.22. Non ad oculum, but ex cord, Not with eve-seruice, but from the heart. So that in Naturam totam peccat, qui potestatibus resistit, he sins against all Nature, body and soul, that resisteth the higher powers; And qui dicit Omnem, excludit nullam, He that saith, Every soul, exempteth no soul: The soul of the Priest, and Ecclesiastical person, as well as the soul of the Lay-man must be subject to the higher powers. For why? S. Paul in this Epistle wrote as well to the Clerks & Priests, or Bishops of Rome, (if there were any then resident at Rome,) as to the people. Matth. 22.21. And our Saviour when he said, Date quae sunt Caesaris, Caesari: Give to Caesar, the things that are Caesar's, spoke as well to the high Priests, Scribes and Pharisees, as to the people. Chrysost. in Rom. 13. hom. 23. chrysostom saith upon this place, Sive Apostolus, sive evangelista, sive Propheta, sive quis quis tandem fueris: Be thou an Apostle, an Evangelist, a Prophet, or whosoever thou art, thou owest this subjection: His reason is, Neque enim pietatem subvertit ista subiectio, For this subjection doth not overthrow true godliness. In which exposition concur Theodoret, Theophylact and Oecumenius upon this place. Gregorius Epist. 1.2. cap. 100 & 103. S. Gregory in an Epistle to the Emperor Mauritius in the person of Christ, saith, Sacerdotes meos manui tuae commisi, I have committed my Priests to thy hand. And in another Epistle he saith, That God made him ruler, not only over Soldiers, but also over Priests, Dominari enim non solùm militibus, sed etiam sacerdotibus concessit. Bernard. Epist. 420. And S. Bernard long after writing ad Archiepiscopum Senovensem in France, allegeth this place, Let every soul be subject to the higher powers; And addeth further, Si omnis anima, & vestra: quis vos excepit ab universitate? If every soul be subject, then is your soul: For who hath exempted you from this universality? And if a man survey all ancient Histories, he shall find that this exemption is much younger than their times. Act. 25.11. The Apostle S. Paul appealed to Caesar, to his lawful superior. The Martyrs, and Confessors, and godly Bishops, never pleaded this exemption against their persecutors, until the Bishop of Rome, like the ivy that growing by the wall, eateth out the wall, so he growing by the Roman Empire, had eaten out the Empire, and then he did exempt himself and his Clergy, from the higher powers ordained of God. For so they are higher, and indeed highest Powers next under GOD: that is the next thing to be considered in the persons, Powers they are, and therefore governors, for potestas is regiminis: the power is the power of governing; And civil powers they are, which then were Gentiles and Infidels, though now Christians: and that appeareth by two circumstances: they bear the sword, and they receive tribute: Neither of which belongs to the Priest's office. And they be higher powers: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: the word is with a comparative preposition, the same that S. Peter hath, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Regi tanquam excellenti: to the King as to the superior, merito fortasse inferiori, 1 Pet. 2.13. but dignitate & authoritate superiori: inferior peradventure to some in graces and virtues, but in dignity and authority superior to all; for all men are under them, and therefore they are superior to all mortal men, carrying that sword, quo omnes corrigendi, with which all men are to be corrected. And therefore the style of Supremacy, or Supreme governor is waranted out of the letter of this Text. And Kings and Emperors, as they have their calling immediate from GOD, so they admit no superior on earth but God, to whom only they must make their account. And so much Tertullian acknowledged Colimus imperatorem ut hominem à Deo secundum, Tertull. ad Scapul. & solo Deo minorem, We Christians honour our Emperor as the second man after God, and minor to none but to God. Super Imperatorem non est nisi solus Deus qui fecit Imperatorem, Optatus contra Parm. lib. 3. ● saith Optatus; The Emperor admits no superior but that GOD that made the Emperor. And in that place he accuseth Donatus, that he esteemed himself as GOD and not a man. Dum se Donatus super Imperatorem extollit, dum se Episcopus Romanus, or, Dum Presbyterium, he might have said, either while Donatus the Bishop of Rome, or the Presbytery, one Pope, or many Popes doth extol himself above the Emperor: non verendo eum qui post Deum, not reverencing nor fearing him, who next after God is reverenced and feared of all men. Theodosius Images were cast down in Antioch, whereupon Chrysostom saith, Chrysost. ad pop. Antioch, hom 2. Laesus est qui non habet parem super terram, summitas et caput omnium super terram hominum. The Emperor is wronged who hath no equal upon earth, the height and head of all men. Wherein let no man mistake: when we call Emperors and Kings Supreme governors, we do not extol them above GOD, or his Law or word: Ministri Dei sunt, as the Apostle sayeth, they are Gods ministers: and therefore subordinate to him that sent them. Act. 4.19. And if they command any thing against GOD, their authority comes too short: in such things it is better to obey GOD then man. And yet in these things though we may not obey, yet we may not resist but suffer, as julian's soldiers would not sacrifice at his command, August in psael. 142. yet when he led them against an enemy, they obeyed most readily: Distinguebant dominum temporalem à Domino aeterno, & tamen subditi erant propter Dominum aeternum, etiam domino temporali, as S. Augustin saith, August. De verbis Dom. sec. Matth. hom. 6. They made a difference between their temporal Lord and their eternal Lord, and yet for their eternal Lords sake, they were subject to their temporal Lord: for as among men, if the Proconsul command thee any thing, and the Emperor command the contrary, thou dost well to obey the Emperor, and not the Proconsul: So if the Emperor command any thing, and God command the contrary, thou dost well to obey God, and not the Emperor. In these cases saith S. Augustin, Timendo Potestatem, contemn potestatem, in that thou fearest God's power, fear not man's power. So then they are supreme, because they admit no mortal man as superior upon earth, yet they are not supreme above GOD nor above Christ, for all their authority is derived from GOD and Christ. And as it is à Deo, from God and Christ, so it is propter Deum, and propter Christum, for God and for Christ, not against God nor against Christ, for the truth, not against the truth. Dan. 3.6, 29. As nabuchodonosor's Law was to be disobeyed that he made for an Idol, so the Law that he made for the true GOD was to be obeyed. And as in civil causes by all men's confession they are supreme, and yet not above God nor Christ: So in causes Ecclesiastical they are likewise supreme on earth, yet not above God nor Christ: they are ministri Dei non Papae, non presbyterij. They are Gods immediate ministers of whom they hold in Capite: not man's, not the Popes, not the Presbyteries, to draw their swords at their command. Now that their authority is not confined to the second Table of causes Civil, but extends itself to the first Table, and causes Ecclesiastical, will appear in this word, Necessitate subditi estote: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, you must of necessity be subject: for this is not Necessitas externa, an external necessity, only of force and compulsion for wrath, propter iram; but also Necessitas interna, an internal necessity, of love and duty, propter conscientiam: And according to the School, there is Duplex necessitas, a double necessity. There is necessitas naturae, the necessity of nature: as the fire is necessarily hot by nature; and if it cease to be hot, it ceaseth to be fire. And there is necessitas praecepti & finis, the necessity of the precept and the end: for all precepts are necessarily to be kept in respect of the end. So that a sick man should recover his health, it is necessary necessitate finis that he observe the precepts of Physic and keep a good diet: So S. Paul saith: ●. Cor. 9.16 Necessitas mihi incumbit, A necessity is laid upon me, and woe is me, if I preach not the Gospel: there is a necessity not of nature, but of precept, his calling, and the end, salvation: So subjection to higher powers is necessary in Christians, Necessitate praecepti & finis, by the necessity of the end: peace, and tranquillity, and Religion in this life, and life everlasting after death: and by the necessity of the precept, Exod. 20.12. Honour thy father and mother: in which number all Kings and Fathers of Countries, and Princes must have the honour of reverence to their Persons, of obedience to their Laws, of patience to their punishments, of maintenance to their Estates, and of fidelity to their Crowns. Now because Government, and Obedience are relatives of equal extent; so far must we obey as their commission is to govern: And the precept of their Authority extends not only to civil causes in the second Table, but also to Religion in the first. And this precept according to the difference of times, is threefold: Natural, Legal, and evangelical. In the Law of nature it can be no question, but causes Civil and Ecclesiastical belonged both to one man, since the calling of King and Priest was united in one man: The Prince of the family was both chief Magistrate, and Priest, & had the supremacy in both: Which Aristotle well observed, when he said, Arist. polit. lib. 3 cap. 10 & 11. Quae ad Deorum cultum pertinent commissa sunt Regibus. Things pertaining to God's worship are committed to Kings as a part of their charge: In which respect he saith, Imperator erat Rex, & judex, rerúmque divinarum ei cura commissa est, The King was in war an Emperor, in peace a judge, and in divine causes an Overseer; And this was practised by all Nations, Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Grecians, Romans, jews and Gentiles, Pagans and Christians: All which did establish Religion by their public Laws, and maintained it by the Magistrate's sword. justinian said, Novel Constit. 6 Nos maxima solicitudine, The true Religion of God, and the honest conversation of Priests is our greatest care. Rex seruit Deo, aliter quâ homo aliter quâ Rex, (saith S. Augustine) The King doth serve God as a man, and as a King; August Epist 50. As a man he serveth God by living holily, As a King he serveth God by making (Ecclesiastical) Laws with convenient rigour and severity, that shall command that which is just, and forbid that which is contrary. His examples are Ezechias and josias that destroyed Idols, and reform the worship of God. And also among the Heathen, first Nahuchodonosor, Dan. 3.29. who being instructed by the miracle of the fiery Furnace, made a Law for the worshipping of daniel's God: 〈◊〉 6 26. next Darius, who by occasion of a like miracle made a Decree that all men should fear and tremble before the God of Daniel: 〈◊〉. 2 6. And last of the King of Ninivee, who at jonas preaching proclaimed a fast, and commanded all the city, man and beast to fast, and to cry mightily to God, and to turn from their wicked ways: And these three did this, not out of a prophetical Spirit, as some pretend, that David, and Solomon, and josias did; But as belonging to their function Royal by the light of Nature. Wherein if any shall say, That servitude is the punishment of sin, and so this proceedeth out of nature corrupted, not pure, I answer: Peccatum servitutem fecit, Natura subiectionem induxit: Sin brought in tyranny and slavery. Gen. 9.25. Cursed be Cham, a servant of servants shall he be. But order of superiority and subjection is the instinct of purest nature: For in heaven there is order among blessed Angels, and some are higher, and some lower, and they obey one another, if not ex praecepto, yet ex consilio: if not by precept and command, yet by counsel and direction. And in the state of innocency, there was superiority and subjection not only between man and all other creatures, but between man and woman: and had they lived in Paradise, till they had been father and son, there should have been patria potestas: and being many families, there must necessarily have been Regia potestas: Else the best and most happy life must have been without the greatest happiness of life, and that is Order. And this superiority and subjection remained not only in the profane and wicked, but also in the line of the godly and the Church, until the Law of Nature, which was daily adulterated and corrupted by the affections and traditions of men, was written by Moses in Tables of stone: which is the second precept of this subjection. And this Law of Moses did renew the Law of the kingdom, Deut. 17.18, 19, 20. and ordained that the King should have a book of the Law written by the Priests, and delivered him at his Coronation, in which he is commanded to read all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and to keep all the words of this law, and these ordinances to do them; And in this law there be many Precepts that concern the King, as he is a man, and many that concern him, as a King; And in this ordinance the king is made Custos legis Divinae, The guardian of God's Law, and the whole Law is committed to his charge; The first Table, that concerns God's worship and causes Ecclesiastical, as well as the second Table that concerns civil conversation, and causes secular. By virtue of which Commission, when the kingdom & Priesthood were divided in Moses and Aaron, Moses the civil Magistrate exercised a Supremacy over Aaron the high Priest, Exod 32.21. in causes Ecclesiastical, whom he reproved for making the golden calf: Numb. 15.31. and in his time the breach of the Sabbath by gathering of sticks was punished by the Civil sword. joshua a Prince and no Priest, as Moses is said to be, succeeded Moses in this charge, and by this Commission he a joshua. 5.2. circumcised the sons of Israel, b joshua 8.30. erected an Altar of stone, read c joshua 8.32, 34. the Law, did d joshua. 7.24.25. execution on him that concealed the things dedicated to Idols, e joshua. 24.23, 25. caused the people to put away strange gods, and renewed the covenant between God and the people. And these are causes Ecclesiastical. David's whole study was for causes Ecclesiastical, after he had freed Israel from all enemies: then did he compose Psalms to be sung by Asaph and his brethren, than did he set orders for the Temple, appointed Priests, 1. Paral. 16. 1. paral. 23. 1. paral. 24. 1. paral. 25. 1. paral. 26. 1. paral. 27. Levites, singers, and other inferior servitors, and assigned to them their dignities, courses, and offices. Solomon by this Commission built the Temple and dedicated it, 1. Reg 6. 1. Reg. 8. 1. Reg. 2. 3●. he deposed Abiathar the high Priest, and placed Zadok in his room. I hope this is a matter and argument of great supremacy. Asa took away the Altars of strange gods, 2. Paral 14.4. etc. 2 Paral. 15 8.12, 13, 14, 15. 2. paral. 15.16. the high places and groves: he put down his mother because she had made an Idol: he took an oath of juda and Benjamin, that whosoever would not serve the Lord, should be slain. This was sharp Law in a cause merely Ecclesiastical. 2. Paral 17.6, 7. jehosaphat sent his Princes to teach in the Cities of juda, and with them Levites, and Priests: 2. Paral. 19.4. himself went from Beersheba to mount Ephraim and brought all the people again to the God of their fathers: ●. Paral. 19.8. he set of the Levites and Priests and chief of the families of Israel, for the judgement and causes of the Lord, and this is as a King's high Commission. 2. Para. 29.3, 4. Ezechias service in this kind is famous: he opened the doors of the House of the Lord, and brought the Priests and Levites in, ver. 5. he commanded them to sanctify themselves, & to offer burnt offerings, which they did according to the King's commandment. Here Priests are obedient to the King's command in their own duties and charge. He commanded the Levites to praise God with the words of David; 2. Paral. 29.30. 2 Paral. 30.1, 6, 12. 2 Paral. 31.2. there he enjoined a Liturgy: He commanded all Israel and juda to keep the Passeover; here is omnia cum Imperio: 2. Paral 31.1. He appointed the courses of Priests and Levites by turns, he took away the high places, broke down the Images, and broke the brazen Serpent made by Moses, 4 Reg. 14.4. because the people burned incense unto it. Manasses that had set up Altars, groves, 2. Paral. 33.3, 15. and Images before his captivity, after his repentance and return, he took away the strange gods and the Image that he had put in the house of the Lord, and the like, and restored the worship of God; and there he commanded juda to serve the Lord. The last example I will trouble you with, is josias; 2. Paral. 34.3, 4, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. he purged juda and jerusalem from high places, groves, and Images: he gathered all Israel, read the Law, renewed the Covenant, and caused all Israel to stand to the Covenant, and he compelled them to serve the Lord: he kept the famous Passeover, 2. Paral. 35.1, 2, 3, 10, 18. and reduced the Priests and Levites to their courses set by David and Solomon. These and many more are the Acts of famous Kings in the time of the Law, done by their Royal authority, not at the appointment and command of the Priests: that had been only Potestas Facti non juris: A power of Execution, and not a power of jurisdiction, if the Priests had first commanded the King, and then the King had commanded the people: But the Kings did make Orders and Decrees, and commanded the Priests as well as the people, and reform the Priests, as well as the people. Yea, Solomon did depose Abiathar the high Priest: and they forced and compelled both Priest and people to serve the Lord, and to abolish idolatry and superstition: And therefore this is a power of jurisdiction over persons Ecclesiastical in causes of Religion. If it be said that these Kings did this by the direction of the Prophets, and most of these Kings had their peculiar Prophets and Seers; this is nothing to the question: for no man ever denied direction to Kings. They have Counsellors for causes Civil, and Prophets, Priests and Bishops for causes of the Church. And the question is not, Quâ directione, but, quâ authoritate: Not by what direction; they must direct themselves by their best helps: but by what Authority; not a derived or delegated Authority from the Priest, but by that original Commission, Necessitate praecepti, by the necessity of the precept, in which they are made guardians of the whole Law. If it be further said, these Kings did this by an extraordinary and Prophetical power, which is but only said and never proved; the confutation is ready: If this had been done by a Prophetical power, why are those Kings registered as glorious and good Kings, that walked in the ways of David, and took care of God's Religion: And on the other side, those Kings that omitted these duties of Religion, not only noted and disgraced, but condemned for the omission of that which according to this opinion concerned not their office? Had the supreme care of Religion in these Kings been only a Counsel and no Precept, no man should have been disgraced and condemned for it; for no man is to be condemned for the omission of a Counsel, And therefore the Scripture condemning many Kings for the omission of this duty, and registering Nahuchodonosor, Darius, and the King of Nineue for their great care in this charge; this is not a Counsel, but a precept in the Law, that Kings must take charge of the whole Law, and causes Ecclesiastical as well as Temporal. When the Donatists pleaded that Kings were to meddle with Civil causes of the second Table, Optatus contra Parm. lib. 3. and not with Ecclesiastical causes of the first, Optatus held it to be a madness in Donatus: Ille solito furore accensus in haec verba prorupit, Quid Imperatori cum Ecclesiâ? Donatus inflamed with his accustomed fury, broke forth into these words, What hath the Emperor to do which the Church? But, saith Optatus, the Apostle taught us to pray for Kings. Non enim est Respublica in Ecclesia, sed Ecclesia in Republica, i. in Imperatore Romano: The Commonwealth is not in the Church, but the Church is in the Commonwealth, that is, in the Roman Emperor. And S. Augustine rejecteth the plea as ridiculous, 〈…〉 Nolite curare in regno vestro, à quo tueatur vel oppugnetur Ecclesia: Take you no care in your Kingdoms who oppugneth the Church, and who defendeth it; who is religious, and who sacrilegious: This is as much as if you should say, Take no care who is chaste and who is unchaste. Cur enim adulteria legibus puniuntur & sacrilegia permittuntur? As if adulteries were to be punished, and sacrilege permitted. The force of the Argument is this, If the King be to punish by Civil punishment in the second Table, murder, theft, adultery, and the like; much more in the first Table, Atheism, Idolatry, Sacrilege, Heresy, Schism, and the like: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 else these sins must go unpunished in this life. But it will be said, Indeed the kingdom was above the Priesthood in the Law: but in the Gospel, the Pristhood is above the kingdom, And therefore though kings in the Law meddled with Ecclesiastical persons and causes, necessitate praecepti; yet in the Gospel their authority is confined only to causes Civil: the Church that was governed 300. years before any king was Christian, hath no need of their supremacy, there is no precept of obedience in the Gospel which imposeth this necessity. Indeed if the Gospel were either a Revocation or limitation of their Commission granted in the Law, it were somewhat. But when the rule holds, that evangelium non tollit praecepta naturae & legis, sed perficit: The Gospel doth not take away the precepts of nature, and the moral Law, but perfect them: The commission of Kings granted in the Law, standeth good to the world's end. And Christ came ut tolleret peccata non iura mundi, john. 1.29. not to take away the Laws and societies, but the sins of the world: And he renewed the precept, Matt. 22.21. Date quae sunt Caesaris, Caesari: Give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's by the Law of Nature and Moses: And the Apostles do often and almost every one of them in their writings double the precept, As Saint Peter, 1 Pet. 2.23. Jude 8. 1. Tim. 2.2. and Saint Jude, and Saint Paul in many Epistles. One place shall serve for all. 1. Tim. 2. he ordaineth that Christians shall pray for Kings and men in Authority. The reason is, That we may live a quiet and peaceable life under them, And the compass is: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: in all godliness and honesty. Therefore godliness and honesty belongeth to the King's charge; And so the same precept with the same extent remaineth in the Gospel that was given in the Law. Psal. 2.11. In the 2. Psalm it is prophesied, that Christian kings should serve the Lord Christ in fear, and rejoice to him in reverence: and they must serve him not only as men, but as kings; and kings as they are kings, August. contra Crescon. lib. 3. cap. 51. (saith S. Augustine out of this place,) serve the Lord, if in their kingdoms they command that which is good, & prohibit that which is evil, Non solùm in iis quae pertinent ad humanam societatem, verùm etiam in iis quae ad Divinam religionem, Not only in things pertaining to human society, but also in matters concerning Divine worship. Isai 49.23. And Esai prophesied that in the Gospel Kings should be nursing fathers and Queens should be nursing mothers of the Church, and they must nourish by their milk: and internal milk of the word and Sacraments, they cannot give: they can neither preach the word, nor administer the Sacraments no more than Vzziah could burn incense, or offer sacrifice to God: 2. Paral. 26.16. Neither can they give commission or power to any man to preach or minister the sacraments, which is an authority derived from God by imposition of hands; Ite, praedicate: Permittere, Marc. 16.15. & licentiam dare possunt, non authoritatem. Their authority is a permission or licence to preach in their dominions, not a power of mission or ordination: And therefore since they cannot give the internal milk of the word and Sacraments; they must give the external milk of discipline and government. And although the Church were governed for the first three hundred years before any Emperor or king became a public professed Christian: yet as S. Augustine saith, August. Epist. 50. Aliud fuit tunc tempus, & omnia suis temporibus aguntur. The times were different, and all things have their time. And therefore assoon as Constantine became a Christian, he assumed this supremacy: he put down idolatry, he established Christian religion, composed differences of Bishops, suppressed heresy and Schisms, called Counsels, and gave his suffrage in them, he heard causes of religion, & judged them in his own person, he made laws, decrees, edicts and orders for religion. And this saith Eusebius, Eusebius de vita Constan. lib. 1. cap. 37. he did tanquam communis Episcopus à Deo constitutus, as a common Bishop or overseer ordained of God. And concerning these that boldly and unadvisedly were inflamed with the memory and praise of those Arrian Bishops: pestium illarum is Constantine's words, those plagues and firebrands of the Church, 〈◊〉. lib. 1 ●●. 19 Illius statim audacia, ministri Dei, hoc est, mea executione, coercebitur. The boldness of such, (Bishops and others) shall be brought in order by the sword or execution of God's minister, that is, myself. And the sixth Toletan Council speaking of Chintillanus the king, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 14. saith: Nefas est in dubium deducere eius potestatem, cui omnium gubernatio superno constat delegata judicio. It is an heinous offence to call his power into question, to whom it is apparent that the government of all is delegated by the divine Decree. To reduce these things to certain heads: 1. The first work of this supremacy is reformatio Ecclesiae, The reformation of the Church, by abolishing Idolatry, superstition and heresy, and placing of true Religion: practised by Constantine, and all the godly Emperors his successors: A matter so evident both in the Law & the Gospel, that it needeth no proof; And they which withstand, and cry down the Supremacy of Kings, were the men that first told Kings that they had a supremacy in causes Ecclesiastical, and aught to reform the Church, and make way for Gods own kingdom, and Christ's own Sceptre: which when they had effected by the Civil sword, and grew potent and strong, and able to stand of themselves; Then these Equivocating companions began to deal plainly, and to tell Kings that they had nothing to do in causes Ecclesiastical; As those that when they have beat the child, burn or cast away the rod: as who using temporal Authority as a ladder to climb up to the height of their ambition, fling it away and break it in pieces, as if they that reform for them, might not also reform them, and bring them into Order. The second work of this Supremacy, is Conuocatio Synodorum, the calling of Counsels and Synods: as the four first general Counsels were called by four Emperors: The Nicene Council against Arrius, by Constantine: The Council of Constantinople against Macedonius, by Theodosius the elder: The Council of Ephesus against Nestorius, by Theodosius the younger: The Council of Chalcedon against Eutiches, by Martian. I might add the Council of Sardis by Constans and Constantius, & many more, for many hundred years after Christ. But I note rather the weak allegation of Cardinal Bellarmine, That all these Counsels and many more, Bellar. de Concil. l. 1. cap. 13. were called by Emperors, but authoritate Papae, by the authority of the Bishop of Rome (or the Presbytery, if there were any such thing then in being,) as if in those times Emperors had been vassals to the Bishops of Rome; Leo Epist. 9 whereas Leo magnus made supplication to Theodosius the younger, supplicationi nostrae dignetur annuere, that the Emperor would call a Council in Italy. But the Emperor called it at Ephesus, And the Bishops of Italy could not come in time: and Eutiches heresy was there countenanced by the means of Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria. Epist. 24. Then Leo made a second supplication, and alleged the sighs and tears of all the Clergy, for to obtain a Council in Italy. Epist. 26. He solicited the Princess Pulcheria, to further his supplication to the Emperor: He wrote to the Nobles, Epist. 23. Clergy and people of Constantinople, to make like supplication to the Emperor: yet he could not obtain it in the time of Theodosius. When Martian succeeded (by the favour of Pulcheria) a Council was granted, not in Italy, but at Chalcedon; Then Leo made a fresh suit, Epist. 43. That the Emperor would command the Bishops of the Council, that the faith of the Nicene Council might stand in full force unaltered, which the Emperor did at his request, Oratio Marriani in Concil. Calc. And the emperors Oration to that purpose is extant. Now, if supplication, intercession of friends, sighs and tears of Priests be the authority of the Pope, than the Pope used his authority, and commanded the Emperor to call Counsels. Epist. 59 But in the subscription you shall see his authority, Because (saith Leo) I must by all means obey your sacred and Religious will, I have set down my consent in writing to those Constitutions. Here you see it is plain, Counsels were called by Emperors at the Pope's supplication and entreaty: And therefore when Ruffinus alleged the Canon of a Council against S. Hierome, Hierom. in Apologia contra Ruffinum. his answer was, Doce quis eum Imperator iusserit convocari, show what Emperor commanded this Council to be called. I will therefore end this point with Socrates words, Who giving a reason why in his Church-story he made so often mention of Emperors, Socrates lib. 5. in praemio. saith, Propterea quod ex illo tempore quo Constantini esse coeperunt, negotia Ecclesiae ex eorum nutu pendere visa sunt, atque adeo maxima concilia de eorum sententia, & convocata fuerunt, & adhuc convocantur, Since Emperors became (like Constantine) fathers of the Church, the causes of the Church have depended upon their will: And therefore the greatest Counsels have been, and yet are called by their authority. The third work is promulgatio legum, the promulgation of Church Laws and Edicts, commanding or forbidding things, Eusebius de vita Constantini. lib. 2. cap. 20. cap. 21. cap. 24. cap. 44. expedient or hurtful for the Church's government: whereof the Church stories are full. Constantine made many Laws concerning Confessors and Martyrs, Christians and Heathen. Eusebius mentioneth two Laws; one that abolished idolatry, images, sacrifices and divinations; an other concerning building & enlarging of Churches at the Emperor's charge. Theodosius made a Law against the Arrians: Theodoret. li. 5. cap. 15. the manner of it is worth the repeating. Amphilochus Bishop of Iconium had been a long suitor in vain, at last he used this stratagem: he came into the Court and saluted the Emperor, but would not salute the emperors son Arcadius newly created Caesar. Theodosius thinking he had not seen his son, showed him his son and bid him salute and kiss him. Amphilochus answered, It is enough to honour the father. Theodosius interpreting it as a contempt of his son, grew very angry, whereupon Amphilochus discovering himself said, Art thou offended O Emperor that I reverence not thy son, and thinkest thou that God is not offended with the Arrians the blasphemers of his son? The Emperor overcome with these words, Legemscribit, made a Law presently forbidding the assemblies of the Arrians. I should tyre myself and your patience, if I should enter particulars: only I must refer you to the titles of the Civil law, De summa Trinitate, & fide Catholicâ: de sacrosanctis Ecclesijs: de Episcopis & clericis, de haereticis, etc. which were promulgated by justinian, Theodosius, Valentinian, Honorius, Arcadius, and other godly and Religious Emperors. 〈◊〉 Franciae per Ansegisum 〈◊〉. There is a Collection of Ecclesiastical Laws made by Charles the Emperor, Lodovick and Lotharius: gathered by Ansegisus Anno 827. Of Charles his Laws there be 168. And of the Laws of Lewes and Lotharius 157. In the Preface, the Emperor Charles professeth, Quapropter & nostros missos ad vos direximus, qui ex nostri nominis Authoritate unà vobiscum corrigerent, quae corrigenda essent: Therefore we have directed our Commissioners unto you, (here you see Kings high Commissioners and visitors are ancient) that shall join with you to redress those things which need reformation, according to our Canonical Constitutions, in our name, and by virtue of our Authority. And these Laws were of that force in those days, that when Mauritius the Emperor that made a Law, that Nemo publicis administrationibus implicatus ad Ecclesiasticum officium perveniret, Gregorius Epist. lib. 1. cap. 100 & 101. That no man entangled with public charge, should be advanced to an Ecclesiastical office, S. Gregory approved this part of the Law, because many under this colour did mutare seculum, not relinquere. And further, the Law forbade any Soldier to enter a Monastery till his warfare was expired. S. Gregory though he wished not any to fly the wars, or not pay their debts, under the name of a Cloister; yet because he saw it hindered many from the warfare and service of God, wrote an humble Letter to Mauritius, Ego dignus pietatis vestrae famulus. and another to Theodorus the emperors Physician, to entreat the revocation of this Law invented by julian, in a very submiss Style: Ego quidem iussioni vestrae subiectus, I your servant and subject to your command, have sent this Law to many parts of the world, and now I write my opinion to your Majesty: Vtrobique ergo quod debui exolui, qui & Imperatori obedientiam praebui, & pro Deo quod sensi, non tacui: In both I have done my duty; I have performed my obedience to the Emperor, and I have not concealed what I thought fit for God's cause. August. Epist. 166. And S. August. saith of this power of Laws, Hoc iubent Imperatores quod & Christus jubet, quia cum bonum iubent, nemo jubet nisi per eos Christus: When Emperors command that which is good, it is Christ and no man else that commandeth by them. The fourth work of this Supremacy, is receiving of Appeals, and giving Decisions, Restitutions, and Deprivations, and other punishments of Bishops for causes Ecclesiastical. Wherein although Constantine at the first in modesty, and a desire to suppress the calumniations of Bishops, and being not yet so fully instructed in Christian faith, took the papers and Articles of the Bishops and burned them in the Nicene Council; yet being better instructed, and seeing the necessity of his Authority in these causes, Vide Optatum lib. 1. & Aug. Epist. 162. & 166. he judged Cecilianus cause himself. Donatus procured Cecilianus to be condemned by 70. African Bishops for certain crimes objected against him: As also that he was ordered by one Foelix, who as it was pretended had burnt the Scriptures. And in a tumult they set up another Bishop of Carthage against him: then they appealed to Constantine, and desired him to assign them judges: Constantine by his Commission extant in Eusebius, Eusebius li. 10. cap. 5. delegated and authorized Meltiades Bishop of Rome, Marcus a Clergy man of Rome, yet no Bishop, and Rheticius, Maternus, and Marinus three French Bishops, to hear the cause, who gave sentence for Cecilianus. Upon a second Appeal, Eusebius li. 10. cap. 5. Constantine made a second Delegacy to Chrestus bishop of Syracuse, & certain Bishops of France met at Arle, who likewise gave sentence with Cecilianus. Upon the third Appeal, Constantine appointed Elianus a Civil Magistrate to examine Foelix, who acquitted Foelix also. Then the Emperor called both parts before him, and gave final sentence for Cecilianus, and made a severe Law against the Donatists; by which Law many Donatists were brought home to the Catholic Church. In which passage, I pray you observe: 1. That Meltiades not as supreme judge of all Controversies, but as delegated by Constantine, did judge of Cecilianus cause: August. Epist. 162. And S. Augustin defendeth him from usurpation upon the 70. African Bishops, because the Emperor so appointed it. Next the Bishops of France did judge the same cause after Meltiades without any wrong to the Sea of Rome: no man in that age found fault with it. And thirdly it is apparent that Constantine was superior to Meltiades, and both made him his Delegat, and judge of his sentence and judgement, August. contrae Parm. lib. 1. cap. 6. which S. Augustine calleth ultimum judicium, the last judgement, ultra quod causa pertransire non potest, and that the cause had gone as far as it could go. And whereas the Donatists pleaded that a Bishop should not be purged judicio Proconsulari, by the Proconsul's judgement; S. Augustine answers, August. Epist. 166. The Bishops sought it not, but the Emperor enjoined it; Ad cuius curam, de qua rationem Deo redditurus erat, res illa maximè pertinebat, To whose charge, of which he must make account to God, this matter did chiefly appertain. Extat haec collatio apud. Optum. There was a conference held by the appointment of the Emperor Honorius: the judge designed by the Emperor was one Marcellinus, (to whom Augustine after writ his Books De Civitate Dei,) at which S. Augustine was present, and others, who disputed against Petilianus, Emeritus, and Gaudentius, and other Donatists: which was gathered by Marcellus: And S. Augustine hath written the several days Collations. Marcellinus gave sentence against the Donatists, and it was confirmed by the Emperor Honorius, all which is extant. Theodosius called a Council of all sorts, Socrates lib. 5. ●ap. 10. Nactarius and Agilius made the confession of Consubstantiality: Demophilus delivered up the Arrian faith: Eunomius the Eunomian faith: Eleusius the Macedonian faith. Tum solus & separatus precatur Deum, saith Socrates, Then the Emperor alone, separate from all company made his prayers to GOD, to direct him in the Truth, and then he read the several faiths: and condemned and rend all the rest, that rent and divided the Trinity, and commended and approved that faith of the Consubstantiality of the Father & of the Son. I must here omit infinite other matters of facts and punishments, and many objections, and conclude with a question that Theodosius proposed to these several sorts assembled, which he did by the counsel of Sisinius; What account (saith Theodosius) make you of the Doctors and Histories of the Church, Socrat. lib. 5. cap. 10. that are unpartial, and lived before these questions were moved? If it be answered, as than it was, Habemus tanquam magistros, We esteem them as our fathers and masters; the cause is clear, they give witness on our side; If they reject them, it is a matter of great deliberation, whether a man would be of such a Church, whereof never any man was before themselves. In which case it seemeth more than reasonable, That in a reformation, we should conform ourselves, Ad regulam Antiquorum, to the rule of the Ancient, Scriptures, Apostles and fathers, chrysostom, Nazianzen, Basill, Ambrose, Hierome, Augustine, Gregory & the like, rather than after the New cut of those, who have not above the life of a man on their backs, sixty or seventy years. And surely the rule of Charity is, That since all the Question is of the Church's Regiment, not so much who should feed and rule the Church, for so must both Prince and Priest, but who should rule & govern most; we should every one lay down all contentious humours, and join hand and heart to feed and govern God's inheritance, and strive rather in deeds than words, who shall most carefully do that duty which God hath laid upon him necessitate praecepti by this triple necessity of his precept. That so we may be all partakers of the end, peace and tranquillity, and religion in this life, and life everlasting in the kingdom of heaven, which God grant, Amen.