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Gods many and Lords many (in the estimation of the heathen) yet is there to us but one God-and one Lord Jesus Christ"-but because they were God's vicegerents on earth, delegated by Him, and exercising authoritative jurisdiction from Him, to repress crime, punish criminals, and protect society from violence and wrong.

This delegated and authoritative jurisdiction conferred by God on THE POWERS THAT BE, may further be substantiated from the titles given to Christ of KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS, from the gracious promise that* KINGS shall be NURSING FATHERS and QUEENS the NURSING MOTHERS of the church of Christ, from the assured prediction that the glorified saints shall be †KINGS, shall REIGN upon the earth at the restitution of all things, shall JUDGE the world and angels, and from the declaration of Messiah in our text: By me, that is, by my Divine sanction as Godman and administrator of the universe, and as my representatives on earth to minister justice between man and man, kings reign and princes decree justice— By me princes rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth."

The Divine authorization of civil government, manifestly enforced by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, was advocated by || Bishop Horsley and by President Dwight of America, men of renown in their generation. And you must admit that no small deference is due to Bishop Horsley's interpretation of Romans xiii. chapter, when I inform you, that Robert Hall, a name of no mean celebrity in Leicester, and whose memory is justly endeared to many, admitted to me with his own lips and in the most emphatic tone of voice, that in his judgment " BISHOP HORSLEY HAS THROWN MORE EVANGELICAL LIGHT ON THE SCRIPTURES THAN ANY MAN THAT HAS ARISEN SINCE THE DAYS OF THE APOSTLES."

*Isaiah xlix. 23.

This interpretation of

† Revelation i. 6; v. 10; xx. 6.

1 Corinthians vi. 2 and 3.

See Horsley's Sermon XLIV. on Romans xiii. 1.

§ See his Sermons CXIII., CXIV., CXV. upon the fifth commandment

Romans xiii. chapter, was also maintained by Robinson, that man of God, who once ministered in this House of Prayer, whose trumpet gave no uncertain sound, and whose faithful proclamation of the Gospel from this pulpit was owned and blessed of God to the conversion of many, who shall be his *hope and joy and crown of rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming. God grant that all now present may by faith be incorporated with the blood-bought throng, and that of us, as well as of Robinson and his many converts it may be said: +" Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them." III. Our duties resulting from these premises.

The Divine sanction and heaven-delegated jurisdiction wherewith Scripture clothes the governments of the world, monarchical, aristocratical, and democratic, obligates subjects to a fourfold duty-adoration or praise for mercies received-prayer for all in authoritypayment of taxation-and subjection to the powers

that be.

1. Adoration to the Father of mercies and God of all consolation is an essential branch of Christian duty. Thanksgiving should be intermingled with every prayer. The burden of the Psalms of David is praise to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. What cause of thankfulness have we, my brethren, for our insular position; for the stability of our government amidst the wreck of surrounding nations; for our incomparable mixed Constitution, the Three Estates of the Realm, whereby this kingdom is governed; for our excellent criminal jurisprudence; for the universally acknowledged impartiality, rectitude, and independence of the Judicial Bench; for the equitable administration of justice; and for the security of person, property and character, enjoyed by all classes of the community, above all the other nations of the earth. Well may Jehovah's address to Israel be appropriated to England.

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*What nation is there so great, which hath statutes and judgments so righteous as those laws whereby England is administered? Praise to heaven for these transcendent blessings bestowed by Divine sovereignty on our highly favored though sinful land, not on account of our national merits and goodness, but according to the good pleasure of God's will, because He hath a favor unto us, is the bounden duty of this Church and Nation. 2. Intercession for rulers is a duty enjoined to people of every age and clime professing the Gospel of Christ. "I exhort, says St. Paul, that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty: for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour." Jeremiah gave the same injunction to the Jews, captives in Babylon: "Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried captive, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace." And when Darius issued a decree for the rebuilding of the Temple, he assigned this motive for the royal edict, that the Jews +"might offer sacrifices of sweet savour unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons." In obedience to this command §special prayer is offered by the Jews in

* Deuteronomy iv. 8.

Jeremiah xxix. 7.

† 1 Timothy ii. 1-3.
Ezra vi. 10.

The following is a translation of the Prayer offered by the Jews in the Hebrew language for George III., and the Royal Family. The same Prayer is now used for Queen Victoria. "He who dispenseth salvation unto kings, and dominion unto princes; whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; who delivered His servant David from the destructive sword; who maketh a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters; may He bless, preserve, guard, assist, exalt, and highly aggrandize, our most gracious lord, King George the Third, our most amiable Queen Charlotte, their Royal Highnesses George Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and all the Royal Family. May the supreme King of kings through His infinite mercy preserve them, and grant them life, and deliver them from all manner of trouble and danger. Subdue nations under his feet, cause his enemies to fall before him, and cause him to prosper in all his undertakings. May the supreme King of kings exalt and highly aggrandize him, and grant him long and prosperously to reign. May the supreme King of kings, through His infinite mercy, incline his heart, and the hearts of his counsellors and nobles with benevolence towards us and all Israel. In his days, and in ours, may Judah be saved, and Israel dwell in safety, and may the Redeemer come unto Zion: may this be His gracious will, and let us say, Amen."

every synagogue of the world, for the rulers of the country where they are permitted to dwell. Henee the Jews are and ever have been a loyal people, though almost everywhere oppressed, persecuted, and trodden under foot. Intercession for, and subjection to, rulers are correlative duties. No one can rebel against a government, for which he has fervently and habitually prayed. Men must cease to pray for the POWERS THAT BE, or cease to rebel against them. Intercessory prayer for rulers, offered in faith, must ever be productive of genuine loyalty and scriptural submission to the powers that be.

3. The payment of taxation for the support of government is another obligation enforced on the Christian Church by the Apostle of the Gentile world, writing to the Roman converts under the dictation of the Eternal Spirit. *Render to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour." This duty is commanded by our Divine Master. +Render to Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's." And when tribute, inconsiderately promised by Peter but not legally due, was required of Christ, a special miracle was performed, that the tribute might be paid, and that no offence might be given. Thus taxation must be paid, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake, without evasion and without reservation.

4. Subjection to the powers that be, to governments de facto and not simply to governments de jure, in all matters not manifestly opposed to the supremacy of Jehovah's revealed will, is an obligation incumbent upon every one that nameth the name of Jesus." No imperfection in legislation or government can justify rebellion. Imperfection is incident to every work of

man.

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The generation which came out of Egypt endured much necessary discomfort during their forty years sojourn in the howling wilderness. But this discomfort

*Romans xiii. 7.

Matthew xvii. 24-27.

Matthew xxii. 21.
2 Timothy ii. 19.

did not justify their murmurs against Moses and Aaron which originated in unbelief. Because of unbelief manifesting itself in these murmurs and a rebellious spirit, their carcases perished in the wilderness.

The ten tribes were grievously oppressed by the heavy yoke of excessive taxation towards the termination of Solomon's reign. But this oppressive yoke did not justify their rebellion against Rehoboam, nor the constitution of the schismatical kingdom of Samaria. Witness their national idolatries, their apostacy from God, and their final deportation to "Halah and to Habor by the river of Gozan.”

No reign could have been more oppressive and tyrannical than that of Nero, the greatest monster of iniquity who almost ever swayed a sceptre, yet to the Roman converts to Christianity living under that reign the mandate of St. Paul is imperative: "Let every soul be subject unto the sovereign powers.'

From the profligacy of the noblesse, the martial ambition of their sovereigns, and the general degeneracy, the French people were oppressively taxed, and reduced to a hopeless national bankruptcy. But these circumstances did not, and could not, justify the decapitation of their monarch, the subversion of their constitution, or the national profession of Atheism, which has disgraced France above all other nations. Witness the reign of terror and the demoniacal effusion of blood consequent on the first French Revolution.

REFORM, NOT REVOLUTION, RECTIFICATION OF DEFECTS, ABUSES, IMPERFECTIONS, AND IRREGULARITIES, NOT REBELLION, IS ALIKE THE PATH OF DUTY AND THE PATH OF SAFETY. THEY WHO IN REBELLION SOW TO THE WIND, SHALL, IN ITS CONSEQUENCES, REAP THE WHIRLWIND. Listen to Him who speaketh from heaven. To us, my brethren, the Spirit saith: Fear God, honour the Queen; be subject to principalities and powers; obey magistrates; ‡meddle not with them that are given to change; for

* 2 Kings xvii. 6.

Romans xiii. 1.

Proverbs xxiv. 21.

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