{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42331/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42331","id":"gutenberg_42331","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42331","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christianity and law","Church and state -- England -- History -- 19th century","Sedition","Sermons, English -- 19th century"],"text":"Transcriber's Note:\n\n    Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as\n    possible.\n\n    Italic text has been marked with _underscores_.\n\n\n\n\n                    THE DUTY OF SUBMISSION TO CIVIL\n                               AUTHORITY.\n\n                               A SERMON,\n\n           PREACHED IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF BRADFIELD, BERKS,\n\n                                   ON\n\n                       SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1830,\n\n                                   ON\n\n                   OCCASION OF THE LATE DISTURBANCES\n                         IN THAT NEIGHBOURHOOD.\n\n                      BY THE REV. J. F. MOOR, M.A.\n\n                                LONDON:\n                       PUBLISHED BY JAMES NISBET,\n                          21, BERNERS STREET;\n                    AND SOLD BY J. RUSHER, READING.\n                               MDCCCXXX.\n\n   _Should any Profits arise from the Sale of this Sermon, they will\n                  be devoted to Charitable Purposes._\n\n\n\n\nThe following Discourse lays no claim to originality. The Author\nacknowledges his obligation to the excellent Bishop Beveridge for many\nvaluable and leading thoughts contained in it. But having thrown them\ninto a new form, and having had it suggested to him by some members of\nhis congregation, that the publication of them, at the present eventful\ncrisis, might, under the divine blessing, be useful, he has consented\nto let them appear in print. The Author deeply feels the awful\nresponsibility which, in these turbulent times, more especially devolves\nupon every minister of the sanctuary--to withhold nothing from the\npublic which may have a tendency, through the powerful influence of the\nHoly Spirit accompanying it, to strengthen the walls of our spiritual\nZion, and to preserve among us \"that righteousness which\" alone\n\"exalteth a nation.\" It is with the earnest prayer, that the following\npages may in the perusal of them be blest to these ends; and that, if\nthey are, all the glory may redound to Him, to whom alone it is due,\nthat the Author sends them to the press.\n\n\n\n\nA SERMON, &c.\n\n 1 PETER ii. 13, 14.--_Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for\n   the Lord's sake; whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto\n   governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of\n   evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well._\n\n\nOne of the charges brought against the early Christians by their\nenemies, was, that they were rebellious, and despisers of civil\nauthority; and accordingly we find the Apostles, in all their Epistles\nto the different churches they had been instrumental in planting,\nstrongly enforcing the duty of submission to \"the powers that be:\" for,\nbrethren, a more false imputation cannot be thrown upon true\nChristianity, than that which charges it with giving the slightest\ncountenance, either to rebellion or a contempt of authority. True\nreligion will ever make men the best and most loyal subjects, as well\nas most faithful, and upright, and conscientious, in the discharge of\nall the other relative and social duties of life. A man cannot be a\nChristian indeed, who \"despises dominion, and speaketh evil of\ndignities.\"[1] The Apostle Jude, speaking of such, classes them among\nthose that are \"sensual, not having the Spirit.\" But if this be the\ncase, we seem to have fallen upon times wherein, whatever be the\nprofession of religion that prevails, there is little of the reality of\nit left. How few are obedient to the \"powers that be, as ordained of\nGod!\" How general is the indifference shewn to the office and authority\nof the magistrate! How many seem to consider religion altogether a\nseparate thing from the submission due to their rulers; whereas the one\nas necessarily grows out of the other, as the branches do out of the\nstock of the tree. And who, then, that has witnessed the riotous and\ntumultuous proceedings of our misguided people for the last few weeks,\nwhich has led to the issue of the King's Proclamation, now affixed to\nthe door of our church, will not be ready to take up the complaint of\nthe Psalmist, in saying, \"The godly man ceaseth; the faithful fail from\namong the children of men.\"[2]\n\nI purpose, therefore, for the conviction of those who may have partaken\nof the disorderly spirit which has been abroad among us, as well as for\nthe establishment and comfort of the truly pious and submissive\nChristian, to endeavour, in the present discourse, to explain and\nenforce, from the Apostle's words in the text, the duty of SUBMISSION TO\nCIVIL AUTHORITY; and I shall,\n\n    I. Shew the NATURE and EXTENT of the DUTY.\n\n    II. The MOTIVE by which the Christian is to be actuated in the\n    discharge of it.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI. I am to endeavour to shew the nature of the duty enjoined in the\ntext, \"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man.\" We must understand,\nthen, first, _What is meant by every ordinance of man_; and this the\nApostle himself explains to us in the following words: \"Whether to the\nking as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him.\"\nFrom which it is plain, that every ordinance of man, means all that are\nentrusted with the government of the place or country in which we live.\nTo all these the duty enjoined in the text refers. And we should\nobserve, that it refers to them without any allusion to their respective\n_characters_. The command does not say, submit to the king, as _good_,\nand _wise_, and _mild_ in his government; neither does it say, submit to\nthe magistrate as being _equal_ in their administration of justice; but\nit says, submit \"to the king as supreme,\" that is, as deriving his\nauthority not from man, but from God; and, therefore, as responsible to\nGod alone, for the manner in which he exercises it. And again, submit to\nthe magistrates or to governors, as those that are sent by the king, and\ntherefore, as answerable to the king alone, or to those whom he may\nappoint to judge them, either for the right or wrong administration of\njustice. What, then, it may perhaps be asked, is a wicked king, or are\nunjust governors to be submitted to, in the same way that those that are\ngood and just are? Is their character and conduct to make no difference\nin the submission due to them? The Apostle, in the text, makes no\ndifference whatever. It belongs to God to punish a wicked king, because\nit is from God the authority he abuses, by his wickedness, is derived:\n\"By me,\" he says, \"kings reign;\"[3] and it belongs to the king, in a\nsimilar way, to punish unjust magistrates, because \"by him they are sent\nfor the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do\nwell.\" Hence, then, whatever be the character of the king, and of the\ngovernors sent by him, the submission due to them from the people is the\nsame. This, too, is remarkably confirmed by the conduct of the Apostle\nPeter himself, and of the early Christians in general. At the time when\nthe Apostle wrote the Epistle from which the text is taken, one of the\nmost wicked and cruel tyrants that the world perhaps has ever seen, was\nupon the throne of the Roman empire. Not only was he avowedly, in common\nwith the rest of the then known world, (except Judea,) a heathen, but he\nwas one of the worst, and most degraded of them, abandoned to the lowest\nvices, and taking delight in the sufferings of his people. You may judge\na little of his character, when I tell you that he is related to have\nset on fire the capital city of his dominions, and afterwards charged\nthe Christians resident in it with his own crime, and caused as many of\nthem as could be seized, to be put to death. And still later in his\nreign, both St. Peter and St. Paul suffered martyrdom by his orders. And\nyet, brethren, this is \"the king\" to whom, \"as supreme,\" the Apostle\nexhorts Christians, in the text, to submit themselves. This is the king\nto whom, we know, he not only exhorted others to submit, but to whom he\nsubmitted himself, even \"unto bonds, and imprisonment, and death. But if\nthe duty of submission to civil authority extended even to such a\nmonster as this, and to the governors that were sent by him; if the\nGospel gave no sanction to rebellion, even under such a reign as this,\nbut, on the contrary, required of its professors a patient endurance of\nall the cruelties they were exposed to in it; how much more must the\nGospel require submission of him who lives under a just and a righteous\ngovernment. We have not a heathen Nero for a king, but one whose throne\nis established in righteousness, and who is ever ready, when applied to\nthrough the lawful channel, both to defend the oppressed and to relieve\nthe distressed. Well, therefore, may it be said to us, \"Submit\nyourselves,\" &c.\n\nBut it may perhaps be asked, _what is it to submit rightly_ to every\nordinance of man? 1st. _It is to offer no resistance to the powers that\nbe._ This St. Paul shews in Rom. xiii. 1. &c. where, describing the\nsubmission required of Christians, he opposes it to the act of resisting\nthem: \"Let every soul,\" he says, \"be subject to the higher powers;\"\n(and, be it remembered, he is here writing to those, who were living\nunder the government of the cruel Nero;) \"for there is no power but of\nGod; the powers that be are ordained of God; whosoever, therefore,\nresisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God.\" It is plain,\ntherefore, that any open _act of resistance_ to the king, or the\ngovernors sent by him, is a breach of the duty enjoined in the text. Any\n_conversation_, too, that excites others to such resistance, is a breach\nof it. There may be resistance in words, as well as in deeds; and those\nwho excite others to rebellion, though they do not themselves engage in\nthe open act, are nevertheless with them partakers in the guilt.\nCherishing any _principles_ of resistance in our hearts too, is a breach\nof the duty. Such resistance, indeed, is not to be punished, as in other\ncases, by the arm of civil authority. It is not for man to punish for\nprinciples, or for the thoughts and intents of the heart, unless the\nperson holding them, render them mischievous, by communicating them to\nothers; but though they be never made known to others, yet, if they are\ncherished in the heart, they are known to God, and in his judgment, the\nperson holding them is as guilty, though not to the same degree, of\nresistance, as though he had given utterance to them in words, or\nproceeded to any open acts of violence. Clearly then, would we submit to\nevery ordinance of man; we must offer no resistance, either open or\nsecret, either \"to the king as supreme, or to the governors sent by\nhim.\" But it may perhaps occur to some one to inquire, how are we to\nact, if either the king, or the governors sent by him, command us to do\nsomething which is _contrary to the laws of God_? Are we then to offer\nno resistance to them? Here the saints of old are an example for us. How\ndid the three Jewish youths act, when they were commanded to worship the\ngolden image, which the wicked Nebuchadnezzar had caused to be set up in\nthe plains of Dura? Did they offer any resistance \"to the king as\nsupreme?\" Did they endeavour to raise (as it is more than probable they\ncould easily have done, from their rank and influence in the province of\nBabylon) a rebellion against him? No: they would not obey, indeed, the\nimpious command of the king, because it was contrary to the commands of\nGod; but they willingly submitted to the punishment which the king\nordered to be inflicted on them. Here they offered no resistance.\nRemember the noble answer they made to the king, when they knew that the\nfiery furnace was awaiting them; \"O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful\nto answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is\nable to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver\nus out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king,\nthat we will not serve thy gods, neither will we worship the image which\nthou hast set up.\"[4] Similar to this, also, was the conduct of Daniel\nunder the wicked edict of Darius, which forbad him to make prayer and\nsupplication to his God. Daniel did not rebel against the king's\nauthority, though he would not obey him in opposition to God. He\npreferred the lion's den, either to rebellion against his sovereign, or\nto disobedience to his God.[5] And so too the early Christians acted\nunder the persecuting edicts of the Roman Emperors. They never resisted\nthe authority of their governors, though they refused to obey them in\nevery thing contrary to the commands of God. While they were firm in\ntheir adherence to the truth, they were submissive to the power of the\nmagistrate. They \"obeyed God, rather than man;\"[6] but they willingly\nsubmitted to the punishment to which such obedience exposed them. They\npreferred oppression to resistance, persecution and martyrdom to\nsedition and rebellion. And such, brethren, should be the conduct of the\nChristian in every age and country. Even suppose it possible, (which,\nthank God, under our just and mild government, we have no reason to\napprehend, but even suppose it possible,) that we should have a wicked\nking, and unjust governors, who were to impose upon us, commands\ncontrary to the laws of our God, still we must, with the Jewish youths,\nand with Daniel, and with \"the noble army of martyrs,\" rather suffer,\nthan resist. There appears to be no limitation to the command; \"Submit\nyourselves to _every_ ordinance of man.\"\n\nBut further, submitting to every ordinance includes, not only offering\nno resistance to the civil authority, but also _giving it our assistance\nand support_. Those cannot be said to submit to every ordinance of man,\nwho, when a spirit of rebellion is abroad in a land, use no exertions\nto suppress it. Many are apt to think that, if they sit quietly at home,\nand take no part in what is going on amiss, they are free from blame,\nand are fulfilling their duty; and certainly, as far as shewing no\ndisposition to join in any acts of rebellion goes, they are right.\n\"Meddle not,\" says the wise man, \"with them that are given to\nchange.\"[7] But more is required of the Christian, especially in\ntroublous times, than this. \"He that is not with me,\" saith the Saviour,\n\"is against me, and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth\nabroad.\"[8] Those, _i. e._ who stand neuter in the cause of Christ,\nprofessing to take neither one side nor the other, are reckoned as his\nenemies; for by their indifference they add strength to his enemy's\ncause. It is the same, then, with regard to the king, and the governors\nsent by him. Those that are not with them are against them; those that\nrefuse to support their authority, that do not willingly come forward,\nat whatever risk to themselves, to assist them in enforcing the laws,\nare in reality giving countenance and strength to the rebellious. It was\non this very ground that that bitter curse was pronounced against the\ninhabitants of Meroz, which we find recorded in the song of Deborah,\nJudges v. 23. They were quiet, peaceable inhabitants of a little\ntown,[9] on the borders of Canaan, and the only fault that we hear of\nthem, was, that, when the Israelites, the chosen people of God, were\nengaged under his guidance, in destroying the Canaanites, they remained\nat home, without declaring themselves either for or against them: but,\nsaith the angel of the Lord to Deborah, \"Curse ye Meroz, curse ye\nbitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of\nthe Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.\" Whence it is\nevident, that the Lord requires of his people a decision of character\nand conduct suited to the circumstances in which he places them. It is\nnot enough for them \"to cease from doing evil,\" they must \"learn to do\nwell.\"[10] There must be activity toward that which is right, as well as\nan abhorrence for that which is wrong. There must not be a sitting\nstill, like the inhabitants of Meroz, but an avowing ourselves on the\nLord's side. And this applies with as much force to the precept of the\ntext, as to any which the Scriptures contain. Would we submit ourselves\nto every ordinance of man, we must not only stand aloof from those that\noppose themselves, but we must cast in our lot with those that support\nthem: we must be as zealous in the defence of our governors, and as\nready to aid them in the execution of the laws, as others are to weaken\nand destroy their authority; and this leads me to observe, further,\n\nThat the submission required in the text implies also _obedience to the\nlaws the governors give us_. He cannot be said rightly to submit either\nto the king or to the governors sent by him, who refuses to _obey_ the\nlaws they enjoin. Should those laws indeed be contrary to the laws of\nGod; should, for instance, any earthly prince command us to worship any\ngod except our own God, or enact that murder, or theft, or adultery, or\nany other crime forbidden by the word of God was lawful, then we must\nobey God rather than man; then indeed we must act as we have seen the\nsaints of old did--not break out into acts of rebellion, but submit to\nthe punishment of the laws, \"suffer for righteousness sake,\"--\"take\njoyfully the spoiling of our goods,\" and be willing to be led either to\nprison or to death, rather than rebel against the ordinance of man, or\ndisobey the commands of God. But while we have a king whose throne is\nestablished in righteousness; while we have a government which, in all\nthe laws it enacts, is, as to all essential points, of necessity guided\nby the word of God, our submission to our governors must include\nsubmission to their laws. While _they_ are restrained from enacting any\nlaws that are contrary to the laws of God--_those_, it is plain, who\nrefuse to obey _their_ laws, do in fact refuse to obey the laws of God.\nWhile the laws of the land and the laws of God are one, in breaking the\none we break the other, so that if it could be said of the early\nChristians living under a _heathen_ government, \"Whosoever resisteth the\npower, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall\nreceive to themselves damnation,\"[11] with how much more truth may it be\nsaid of us, if, living under a _Christian_ government, we refuse to\n\"render unto all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to\nwhom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour.\"[12] No,\nbrethren, without obedience to the laws there can be no right\nsubmission. Such then is the general outline of the duty enjoined in the\ntest, \"Submit yourselves,\" &c.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI now pass on to show,\n\nII. _The_ MOTIVE _by which the Christian is to be actuated in the\ndischarge of this duty._ Did the Christian look no higher than to his\n_worldly interests_, he would surely in these find a very powerful\nmotive to comply with the exhortation in the text. Who can estimate the\npresent blessing of a quiet and well ordered government? Who can tell\nwhat a privilege it is to be able, to sit, as many of us have done, in\nthis hitherto happy land through a long series of years, \"every one\nunder his vine and under his fig-tree, no one making him afraid!\" And\nwho, on the other hand, can describe the horrors of a turbulent and\ndisordered state of society? I would ask any well-disposed person,\nwhether in the scenes of disorder and confusion which have prevailed\naround us for the last few weeks, he has not heard and seen enough to\nshew him the value of the precept, \"Submit yourselves,\" &c. But these\nare not the grounds on which the submission of the Christian is\nfounded--it is not from any consideration of mere worldly advantage that\nhis motive to submission is drawn--the Christian has a _higher_ and\n_nobler_ motive to submission, and it is this which the apostle urges\nupon him in the text--\"FOR THE LORD'S SAKE.\" _It is the command of him\nwhom the Christian loves_--that he should submit. The Lord, to whom he\nowes his life with all its blessings, enjoins it; the Lord who came down\nfrom heaven, and \"took upon him the form of a servant,\" \"and became\nobedient unto death, even the death of the cross,\" to \"deliver him from\nthe wrath to come,\" and to restore him to everlasting life and\nhappiness, has commanded it; He who ever liveth interceding for him at\nthe right hand of God, and who is continually procuring for him gracious\nsupplies of his Spirit \"to help his infirmities,\" and to enable him to\n\"fight the good fight of faith,\" that he may \"lay hold on eternal life;\"\nHe it is that says to him, \"Submit to every ordinance of man.\" And can\nthe Christian refuse the command of Him who has done, and continues to\ndo, such great things for him? Must not the love he bears his Saviour\nconstrain him to comply with his precepts? Can he think for a moment,\nthat One who gave his life a ransom for him, would ever lay upon him a\nsingle command that was not conducive to his everlasting interests? No,\nbrethren: if he has \"tasted that the Lord is gracious,\" if he has felt\nany thing of his redeeming mercy, in blotting out his transgressions,\nand restoring him to that spiritual life, and that hope of everlasting\nlife, which he had forfeited by the fall, he will no longer deem \"his\ncommandments grievous,\" but will count them \"the joy and the rejoicing\nof his heart;\" and finding this therefore among the number of them, he\nwill be ready, with David, to say, \"I delayed not, but made haste to\nkeep thy commandments.\"[13]\n\nBut further, not only because it is the command of God, does the\nChristian submit, but because _his submission tends to the glory and\nhonour of God_. If he were to _refuse submission_, he would bring\n_disgrace_ upon that holy name whereby he is called. Whenever a\nprofessor of the Gospel becomes instrumental in stirring up sedition, or\nin exciting disorder and confusion in his country, all the evils he\noccasions are immediately charged by the enemies of God upon his\nprinciples; they lay it all to the score of _his religion_, as if that\nhad a tendency to make him rebellious and disobedient, and thus the\nblame of all the mischief he foments is charged indirectly upon God\nhimself, and thereby his name is dishonoured and profaned. But to the\ntrue Christian, brethren, this is matter of deep and unfeigned regret;\nthe name of God is precious to him, His honour is dear to his soul; he\ncannot bear that He should be lightly esteemed, or that any reflection\ninjurious to his character should be cast either on his word or on his\nworks. And therefore, that he may never be instrumental to this, he\nsubmits himself to every ordinance of man.\n\nNor is this all: if the name of God is dishonoured by the Christian's\nrefusing submission, it is _honoured by his yielding it_. When he \"leads\na virtuous and godly life in all quietness and honesty,\" the power of\nthe principles he holds is seen. Men are constrained to admit, that the\nreligion he professes is something more than an empty name. They cannot\ndeny its efficacy in subduing the unruly will, and regulating the sinful\naffections of the heart. Religion then appears what it really is, \"the\npower of God unto salvation:\"[14] and thus honour is brought to God's\nname. Seeing their good works, men glorify God in his people. But this\nis the point at which all the wishes, and prayers, and endeavours of the\nreal Christian are constantly aiming. This is the object of his most\nardent desires; this is the end that he is continually proposing to\nhimself in all his thoughts, and words, and actions, that God, both in\nhim and by him may be glorified; that \"His name\" may be \"great among the\nheathen,\" and hence, therefore, as the apostle well expresses it, \"he\nmust needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience\nsake.\"[15] These then are the grounds on which the submission of the\nChristian is founded; this is the high motive from which it springs; he\nsubmits for _the Lord's sake_.\n\nAnd now, brethren, have I made the duty enjoined in the text plain to\nyou? have I shown you in a scriptural manner its nature and extent, and\nthe motive which is to actuate the Christian in the discharge of it?\n\nSuffer me then, in conclusion, to draw from what has been said, a few\nwords of serious _admonition_ and _exhortation_, suited to the present\ncircumstances of our country. Let me admonish you to _beware of those\nwho, in these disturbed times, would induce you to think lightly of the\nduty we have been considering_. Many such are abroad in our land. Many\nwicked and evil designing men would induce you to believe, that there is\nno connexion between religion and the submission due to the king and to\nthe governors sent by him. But \"to the law and to the testimony!\" You\nwill learn from them, that wherever there is true religion, there will\nof _necessity be submission to civil authority_. A man cannot be a\nfaithful subject to his heavenly King, and at the same time a traitor to\nhis earthly king. If a man \"fears God,\" he will \"honour the king;\"[16]\nand if he fail to honour the king, it may be safely concluded, that he\nhas not at heart \"the fear of the Lord.\"\n\nAre there then any here, who are dissatisfied with the government they\nlive under? who are disposed to listen to those \"that are given to\nchange,\" and that would stir them up to acts of violence and outrage,\nnot only in opposition to the authority of their governors; but to the\ndisturbance of the public peace and tranquillity? The religion of\nsuch men, whatever be their pretensions to it, is _false_, and\n_unscriptural_, and _vain_. You have never yet been taught (if I speak\nto any such) \"the truth as it is in Jesus.\" You have never been brought\nwith the simplicity of children--to listen to the instructions of the\nword of God--you have never been enlightened by the influence of his\nSpirit, to \"behold wondrous things out of his law\"--you have never\nlearnt, under the teaching of his Spirit, \"the excellency of the\nknowledge of Christ.\" If this had been the case with you, if you had\nbeen humbled, enlightened, and sanctified by his Spirit, his\ncommandments would be no longer grievous to you; you would \"esteem all\nhis commandments concerning all things to be right.\"[17] And the precept\nof the text, therefore, would be as dear to you, and as respected by\nyou, as any of the rest.\n\nBut, brethren, unhumbled, unenlightened, unsanctified by the Spirit of\nChrist, reflect upon your condition and prospects! You may resist the\nauthority of man, and may escape for a season the penalties incurred by\nit; but can you resist with similar impunity the AUTHORITY OF GOD? Can\nyour hands be strong, or your hearts endure in the day when he shall\ndeal with you? No! \"Be not deceived, God is not mocked.\"[18] If you are\nnot now humbled under the sceptre of his grace, you will, ere long, be\ncrushed by the rod of his power. If you are not now brought in the\nhumility of faith to the cross of Jesus, and there taught by the\nrenewing of your minds, that the yoke of his commandments is easy, and\nthe burden of them light, when he comes, as he will quickly, \"to\nbe glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that\nbelieve;\"[19] but \"taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey\nnot his Gospel;\"[19] you will be \"punished with everlasting destruction\nfrom his presence, and from the glory of his power.\"[19]--\"Turn ye, turn\nye, then at his reproof, for why will ye die?\" Rest not in an empty\nprofession of the Gospel, that does not bring you into submission to its\nprecepts. Get, while the means are afforded you, a _practical_ knowledge\nof its truth. Receive _Christ_, as He is continually offered to you in\nthe Gospel,--a Prophet to teach, a Priest to atone for you,--a King to\nreign over, and to govern you. And, oh! if you are once brought to such\na reception of Christ as this; vain will be the efforts of evil\ndesigning men to seduce you from the submission due, either \"to the\nKing,\" whom God's providence has set over you as \"supreme,\" or \"to the\ngovernors\" that are \"sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and\nthe praise of them that do well.\" If Christ rules \"in your heart by\nfaith,\" you will certainly be ready, _for His sake_, to tread the same\npath that Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs have trodden before you. You\nwill feel with St. Paul, that \"rulers are not a terror to good works,\nbut to the evil\"--that they \"bear not the sword in vain\"--that they are\n\"the ministers of God to you for good\"--\"avengers to execute wrath upon\nevery soul that doeth evil.\"[20] You will be ready, in a word, as well\nin _civil_, as in spiritual matters, \"to obey them that have the rule\nover you, and to submit yourselves.\"[21]\n\nAnd \"should tribulation arise, because of the word;\" should those days\nbe at hand, which, we are told, _will_ arrive, before the end\ncometh,--when \"there shall be on earth distress of nations with\nperplexity,\" and \"men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking\nafter those things that are coming upon the earth.\"[22] Should these\ndays be at hand, look back for your _direction_ and _encouragement_ upon\nthat cloud of witnesses, who through faith have obtained the promises.\nRecollect, how the Jewish youths walked unhurt, through the presence of\nthe Saviour with them, amid the flames of Nebuchadnezzar's furnace--how\n\"their faith quenched the violence of fire.\"[23] Recollect how the faith\nof Daniel \"stopped the mouths of lions.\"[24] Recollect how the faith of\nthe Apostle Paul enabled him to say, in the face of bonds, and\nimprisonment, and death, \"none of these things move me;\" neither count\nI my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy,\nand the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the\nGospel of the grace of God.\"[25] Recollect how thousands of others, \"of\nwhom the world was not worthy,\" were enabled to go to the cross, to the\nrack, and to the stake--\"rejoicing that they were counted worthy to\nsuffer shame for His name.\"[26] And bear in mind, that the same faith in\na crucified Saviour, which made them \"more than conquerors,\" and secured\nto them, \"through the blood of the Lamb,\" a crown of immortality and\nlife,--if it produce in you similar effects, \"working in you both to\nwill and to do of God's good pleasure, whatsoever is well pleasing in\nhis sight,\" and making you willing \"to suffer the loss of all things,\"\nrather than rebel against any ordinance of man, or disobey any precepts\nof God, is still able to secure for you a similar victory. Never be\ninduced, therefore, by any artifices, or any threatenings of the enemies\nof God's truth, to let go your dependance on the Saviour, or to renounce\nyour allegiance to his laws; but, \"building up yourselves in your most\nholy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of\nGod, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal\nlife;\"[27] and then will the promise at last be yours--\"if we suffer\nwith him, we shall also reign with him.\"[28]\n\n\n                                THE END.\n\n\n               J. Dennett, Printer, Leather Lane, London.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Jude, ver. 8 and 19.\n\n[2] Psal. xii. 1.\n\n[3] Prov. viii. 15.\n\n[4] See Dan. iii. 16, &c.\n\n[5] See Dan. vi.\n\n[6] Acts v. 29.\n\n[7] Prov. xxiv. 21.\n\n[8] Matt. xii. 30.\n\n[9] Its exact situation is unknown, as modern travellers inform us that\nno traces of it now remain.\n\n[10] Isaiah i. 16, 17.\n\n[11] Rom. xiii. 2.\n\n[12] Rom. xiii. 7.\n\n[13] Psal. cxix. 60.\n\n[14] Rom. i. 16.\n\n[15] Rom. xiii. 5.\n\n[16] See 17th verse of chapter whence the text is taken, and Prov. xxiv.\n21.\n\n[17] Ps. cxix. 128.\n\n[18] Gal. vi. 7.\n\n[19] 2 Thess. i. 8, 9, 10.\n\n[20] See Rom. xiii. 3, 4.\n\n[21] Heb. xiii. 17.\n\n[22] See Luke xxi. 25, 26.\n\n[23] Heb. xi. 34.\n\n[24] Heb. xi. 33.\n\n[25] Acts xx. 24.\n\n[26] Acts v. 41.\n\n[27] Jude 20, 21.\n\n[28] 2 Tim. ii. 12.","title":"The Duty of Submission to Civil Authority,: A Sermon Preached in the Parish Church of Bradfield, Berkes, on Sunday, November 28, 1830, on Occasion of the Late Disturbances","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":5601}