An exposition of the dominical epistles and gospels used in our English liturgie throughout the whole yeare together with a reason why the church did chuse the same / by Iohn Boys ... ; the winter part from the first Aduentuall Sunday to Lent.

The Epistle. ROM. 13.1.

Let euery soule submit himselfe, &c.

• THis Epistle consists of three parts; a
  • Proposition: Let euery soule sub∣mit himselfe to the authority of the higher powers.
  • Reason: for there is no power but of God, &c.
  • Conclusion: wherefore yee must needes obey, giuing to euery man his duty; tribute to whom tribute, &c.

The proposition is peremptory, deliuered not narra∣tiuely, reporting what other hold meete; but positiuely, importing what God would haue done, not aduised on∣ly by Paul, but deuised euen by Christ, as a command, in imperatiue termes expresly; Let euery soule bee sub∣iect. In which,

• obserue the quality of this duty, To submit our selues.
• obserue the equality of this duty, Belonging indifferēt∣ly to all; Let euery soule, &c.

First of the last, according to the words order in the text.

Let euery soule] y That is, euery man: putting the princi∣pall part for the whole. So Gen. 46.27. All the soules of the house of Iacob, which came into Egypt, are seuenty: that is, as Moses expounds himselfe, Deut. 10.22. seuenty per∣sons. If any demand, why Paul said not; Let euery body, but euery soule; z Diuines answere fitly, to signifie, that we must obey, not in outward shewes onely, but in truth and in deed: Omnis anima, quoniam ex animo: a Not with eye seruice, but in singlenesse of heart.

This vniuersall note confutes as well the seditious Pa∣pist,

as the tumultuous Anabaptist: The Papist exemp∣ting Clergy men from this obedience to secular powers: a doctrine not heard in the Church a b thousand yeeres after Christ.

c Bernard out of this place reasoneth thus with an Archbishop of France: Let euery soule be subiect: if euery, then yours: I pray, who doth except you Bishops? Si quis tentat excipere, conatur decipere. So Chrysostome, Theodo∣ret, Oecumenius, Theophylact, vpon this text expresly: Clergy men a••e not excepted; Ergo, not exempted.

d Gregory the Great, one of the most learned Popes, alleageth this glosse; Power (saith he) ouer all men is gi∣uen to my Lord Mauritius the Emperour, from heauen: and lest any should imagine Priests exempted, he saith in the same place, to the same Prince; Sacerdotes meos tuae m••nui commisi: and epist. lib. 2. epist. 103. Christ hath ap∣pointed Mauritius to be ruler, not ouer souldiers onely, but ouer Priests also.

e Iustinian, who fauoured the Church, and of all other Emperors inlarged most the priuiledges of Church men, inacted this law; Let no Bishop be brought or presented against his will, before the Captaine or ciuill Iudge, vn∣lesse the Prince shall so command.

Our Sauiour Christ, the best Interpreter of Gods law, doth shew both by precept and practise, that Clergy men owe subiection and loialty to the ciuill Magistrate: so f Bernard writes; Howsoeuer you Bishops hold your selues free, yet Christ, alitèr iussit, aliter gessit. He taught otherwise, Luke 20.25. speaking vnto Priests; Giue to Caesar the things which are Caesars. He wrought otherwise; for being a Priest and a Prophet, he submitted himselfe to the Roman Magistrate, g confessing the Presidents power to be from heauen.

His Apostles did tread in their Masters steps: Acts 25. Paul appealed vnto Caesar, and appeared before Caesar, as his lawfull gouernour. Saint Iude detested them for false Prophets, who despised gouernment, and spake ill of those that

are in authority. h Saint Peter exhorted all men to submit themselues vnto Gods ordinance, whether it be to the King, as to the superior, or vnto gouernours, as vnto them that are sent of him for the punishment of euill doers, and for the praise of them that doe well.

I will not write Iliads after Homer, nor dispute this point after those reuerend fathers of incomparable iudgement and industry, Iewel, Bilson, Andrewes; in dispari genere par laus. Each of thē hath fought the battell of the Lord valiantly: the first with a sword; the two latter haue stabbed the Popes supremacie with a dagger, euen to death.

Secondly, Libertines & Anabaptists are confounded by this vniuersalitie, i who thinke themselues free from all lawes. In Germany they would haue framed a poli∣tike body, like the body of Polyphemus, without his eye; or like the confused Chaos in old time, when height and depth, light and darknes were mingled together. Our Apostle teacheth here, that some must be subiect, other soueraigne; some low, some high; some rule, some obey. Popular equality is the greatest inequalitie, void of all name, nurture, and nature of a common weale.

The ground on k which Anabaptists haue framed their anarchie, is Iames 2.1. My brethren, haue not the faith of our Lord Iesus in respect of persons. If no respect of persons, no distinction; if no distinction, why should there be dif∣ference betweene bond and free, Prince and people? An∣swere is made, that Saint Iames saith not; Haue no respect of persons; but, Haue not the faith of Christ in respect of per∣sons; as he doth interpret himselfe in the verse following; he speakes of grace, not of place. All men are fellowes in regard of the common faith, and spirituall grace: but all men are not fellowes in respect of authority and place; for some be parents, other children; some masters, other seruants; some commoners, other commanders.

Beasts and Diuels obserue order. l Rex vnus est apibus, & dux vnus in gregibus. Among Bees there is one master;

among flockes of sheep, one belwether. The Cranes haue their Captaine; m Quem ordine literato sequuntur. Albeit the Grashopper hath no king, n yet goe they forth all by bands. In hell, which is the kingdome of confusion, there is distinction of persons and order; otherwise o Belzebub could not be chiefe of diuels.

The Libertines haue wrested also that text of Paul, 1. Tim. 1.9. The law is not giuen vnto the iust or righteous man: Ergo, good men are exempted from obedience to lawes. p It is answered aptly, that the iust man doth well, not for feare of punishment, as compelled by law, but of grace and meere loue toward God and goodnesse: Virtu∣tis amore. Iusto lex non est posita, q ne{que} ad condemnationem, ne{que} ad coactionem: Albeit there were no king, nor law to command him, he would be a king and a law to himselfe, obeying higher powers of his owne accord, with all his heart and soule. Thus euery person, as well Christian as heathen, ecclesiasticall as laick, must submit himselfe to superior powers.

Submit himselfe] To be subiect, is to suffer the Princes will to be done, aut à nobis, aut de nobis, either of vs, or on vs: of vs, when he commands for truth; on vs, when he commands against the truth: either we must be patients, or agents: agents, when he is good and godly; patients, when he is tyrannous and wicked. Wee must vse not a sword, but a buckler against a bad Prince. Saint Paul heere doth not say; let euery soule be subiect to Chri∣stian and vertuous gouernours, but r indefinitly to Po∣tentates, in that they bee Potentates; as Saint s Peter expresly; not onely to the good and courteous, but also to the froward.

If Peter and Paul inioined all men in their time, to submit thēselues vnto gouernours, albeit they were wor∣shippers of diuels, and cruell persecuters of Christians; how much more should we now respect and honour re∣ligious kings, which are defenders of the faith, and nur∣sing fathers vnto the Church? as t Caesar Baronius hath

well obserued against the bloody practises of turbulent statizing Iesuites.

I haue read and heard, that the Iesuites are desirous to purge Saint Pauls Epistles, especially this to the Ro∣mans, as being herein more Lutheran then Catholicke. This text of all oth••r, Omnis anima potestatibus subli∣mioribus subdita sit, is so much against their humor and honour, that it is neither read in their Missale, nor ex∣pounded in their Postils. How Pope u Boniface 8. and x other Papists haue wronged this Scripture, both in their precepts and practices, is seene of all Christian peo∣ple, felt of all Protestant Princes.

Higher powers] y Not highest onely, for we must obey the z subordinate magistrate so well as the supreame. So that this proposition hath three large extensions; euery soule, in euery thing, must submit himselfe to euery supe∣riour. Bee wise now therefore, O yee Kings: vnderstand yee that are Iu••ges of the earth, how the Church of Rome doth lessen all this extent.

Clergy men are exempted; Ergo, not euery soule. Cau∣ses ecclesiasticall are excepted; Ergo, not in euery thing. The Pope may depose what higher powers he list; Ergo, not to euery superiour, but only to those whom his Ho∣linesse doth not curse. Thus some Princes only may com∣mand some men onely, in some matters onely: whereas Paul here; Let euery soule submit himselfe to the authority of the higher powers, &c.

For there is no power] The reason is threefold, drawne from the threefold good.

• ...Ab
  • honesto, which Paul shewes, à a bonitate
    • ...ordinantis; there is no power but of God.
    • ...ordinationis; the powers are ordained, or or∣dered.
  • vtili, for, to
    • resist, is euill: malum
      • ...culpae; whosoeuer resisteth power, re∣sisteth the ordi∣nance of God.
      • ...poenae; they that re∣sist, shall receiue to themselues dam∣nation.
    • submit our selues is good, be∣cause the Magistrate is the minister of God for our good, for the good of peace, prote∣ction, iustice, religion, & the like. For this cause we pay tri∣bute, quia ministri Dei sunt in hoc ipsum seruientes.
  • iucundo, wee must obey for conscience: the which vnto the disobedient, is a perpetuall hell; but vnto such as obey Gods ordinance, is a continuall feast.

No power but of God] An argument from the Au∣thor of authority; all higher powers are from the highest power, vnto whom all creatures must be subiect. It hap∣peneth often, that potens, the ruler, is not of God: b Ipsi regnauerunt & non per me: They haue set vp Kings, but not by me; they haue made Princes, and I knew it not. c And the maner of getting kingdomes is not alwaies of God. d Alexander 6. obtained the Popedome by giuing himselfe to the diuell. e Phocas by sedition got his Em∣pire. f Richard 3. came to the crowne of England by but∣chering his Nephewes, and other of the blood Royall;

yet the power it selfe is euer from God: g By me Kings reigne. h Thou couldest haue no power (saith Christ to Pi∣late) except it were giuen thee from aboue.

The powers that be are ordained of God.] i Insinuating that the Magistrate is not from God, after any common manner as all things are, but after a more speciall fashion ordained. The Lord is the God of order, and order is the good of euery creature, with whom it is better not to be, then to be out of order.

Whosoeuer therfore resisteth] If there be no power but of God, and nothing done by God but in order; he that re∣sisteth authoritie, resisteth Gods ordinance. So the Lord himselfe said to k Samuel: They haue not cast thee away, but they hau•• ••ast me away, that I should not reigne ouer them. And hee might haue said of Princes, as hee doth of Preachers, l He that despiseth you, despiseth me. For hee said of both; m Ego dixi, dij estis. As God is a great king, so a king is as it were a little God. He therefore that re∣sisteth the Prince, resisteth him that sent him, almightie God the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords: 1. Tim. 6.15.

• There are n two binders of the conscience:
  • 1. Proper, Gods law.
  • 2. Improper, mans law.

Gods holy word hath absolute and soueraigne power to binde the conscience, for God is Lord of conscience, creating it, and gouerning it, and only knowing it.

The lawes of men improperly binde conscience, not by their owne vertue, but by the power of Gods law, which here and elsewhere commands obedience to prin∣ces. He therefore that willingly with a disloyall minde breakes any wholesome lawes of men, is guiltie of sinne before God: o Non enim habendae sunt pro traditionibus humanis, quandoquidem fundatae sunt in generali mandato, & liquidam habent approbationem, quasi ex ore Christi. So S. p Augustine notably: Hoc iubent imperatores, quod iu∣bet & Christus, quia cum bonum iubent, per illos non iubet nisi Christus.

They that resist shall receiue to themselues damnation] It may be construed q either of temporall punishment, or eternall iudgement. Of temporall, r for the wrath of a King is like the roring of a lion: he that prouoketh him vnto anger, sinneth against his owne soule.

By the s lawes of England a traitor conuicted and at∣tainted, hath his iudgement to be drawne from his pri∣son to the place of execution, as being vnworthie to tread any more vpon mother earth; and that backward with his head downward, for that hee hath been retro∣grade to naturall courses; after hanged vp by the necke betweene heauen and earth, as deemed vnworthie of both: his priuie parts are cut off, as being vnprofitably begotten, and vnfit to leaue any generation after him; his bowels and intrals burned, which inwardly had con∣ceiued and concealed such horrible treason; then his head cut off, which imagined the mischiefe: last of all, his whole bodie quartred and made a prey for the birds of the ayre, as one said of a Romish treacherous Iesuite:

Sic benè pascit aues, qui male pauit oues.

How Rebels haue ruinated vtterly themselues, and their families, all histories are full of t tragicall exam∣ples: acquirunt sibi damnationem, as it is in the vulgar; they doe not only receiue, but pull vpon themselues hea∣uie iudgements.

Againe, this may be construed of eternall damnation, as is manifest in u Chore, Dathan, and the rest of that conspiracie, who went downe quicke to hell. If murther be fitly termed a crying sinne, then treason may well bee called a roring sinne. For as he that robs a scholer, is said to rob many; so the traitor that murthers a Prince, kils many; sometime the whole State, the which assuredly cries aloud to the Lord in such sort, that it awaketh him, and often calles him to speedie iudgement.

He is the minister of God for thy wealth] x If hee be a good Prince, causa est, he is the cause of thy good, tem∣porall and eternall; if an euill Prince, he is an o••casion of

thine eternall good, by thy temporall euill. y Si bonus, nutritor est tuus; si malus, tentator tuus est: If a good king, he is thy nurse, receiue thy nourishment with obe∣dience; if euill, he is thy tempter, receiue thy triall with patience. So there is no resistance, either thou must obey good gouernours willingly, or endure bad tyrants pa∣tiently.

Magistrates are Gods ministers: ergo, subordinate to God. If then higher Powers enioyne things against him, z who is higher then the highest, It is better a to obey God then men. Hic (saith b Augustine) contemne potesta∣tem, timendo potestatem: In that thou fearest Gods po∣wer, feare not mans power: as Iulians souldiers would not worship Idols at his command, yet when he led them against an enemie, they obeyed most readily: Distin∣guebant dominū temporalē à domino aeterno, & tamē subditi erant propter dominum aeternum. As al power is from God, so for God: and therefore when the Prince commands against truth, it is our dutie to be patient, and not agent.

For this cause pay ye tribute] Subsidies are the Kings sti∣pend or pay: for he is the minister of God, and great ser∣uant of the State. So S. Paul expressely, Seruing for the same purpose; not to take his owne ease, c but to wake when other sleepe; taking such care, that al men else may liue without care. Magnaseruitus est magna fortuna: d nam ipsi Caesaricui omnia licent, propter hoc ipsum multa non li∣cent. e Erasmus wittily: Miserosesse principes, si intelligant sua mala, miseriores si non intelligant. A Prince must be like Iob, f eyes to the blinde, and feete to the lame. g Be ye wise therefore, ye Kings, Intellig••te Reges. Intelligere est intus legere; they must not altogether hang vpon the almes basket of their Counsell, but vnderstand of themselues in some measure those things which concerne their places: Erudimini qui, quia indicatis.

Wherefore yee must needs obey] Because all powers are of God; because they bring with them the good of or∣der; because it is a sinne to disobey; because iudgement

temporall and eternall accompanie this sinne; because gouernment is the meane of our weale; because Kings are hired by tribute to serue their seruants, and care for their subiects. It is necessarie wee should obey, both ex necessitate finis & praecepti: for hereby wee shall doe that which is acceptable to God, and profitable to our selues: acceptable to God, enioining obedience; profitable to our selues, enioying the good of gouernment, h that we may le••de a quiet and peaceable life in all godlinesse and ho∣nestie.

Not onely for feàre of vengeance, but also because of con∣science.] Thus all must obey, bad men for feare, good men for loue. The Kings Bench compels the one, for he bea∣reth not the sword in vaine; but the Chancerie moues the other: and therefore the Papists and Schismatikes are not good men, in pretending conscience for their disobe∣dience to the Ciuill Magistrate. For as a learned i father of our Church obserues excellently: Tutâ conscientiâ praestari possunt, quae propter conscientiam praestanda sunt: A man may doe that with a safe conscience, which he must doe for conscience.

Tribute to whom tribute.] Soueraigne Sublimities on earth are Gods among men in respect of their attri∣butes and tributes. k Almightie God himselfe expects and receiues at our hands his immediate rents, as prayer and thanksgiuing; the rest as tithes and tributes hee doth accept, being faithfullie paied vnto his Stewards and Vicegerents. It is very remarkable that our Sauiour ne∣uer did any miracle about honour or money, l except that one for giuing tribute to Caesar. m For ••e must giue to Caesar, the things which appertaine to Caesar, honour to whom honour, tribute to whom tribute: but how much, is not defined by Christ or Paul. They leaue that (as n Bi∣shop Latymer obserues) to Caesars Counsell for to de∣termine. Wherefore let all such as are in Commission for the subsidie, remember that excellent speech of o Saluia∣nus: Ill••d indignius & poenalius, quòd omnium onus non om∣nes

sustinent, imò quòd pauperculos homines tributa diui∣tum premunt, & infirmiores ferunt sarcinas fortiorum, res di••ersissimas dissimilimas{que} patiuntur inuidiam & egesta∣tem; inuidia est enim in solutione, egestas in facultate.

Notes

• y

  Aquin. & Gorran in loc.
• z

  Gualter in loc.
• a

  Colos. 3.22.
• b

  B. Bilson a∣gainst the Iesuites, pag. 128.
• c

  Epist. 42. ad archiepisc. Senon.
• d

  Epist. lib. 2. epist. 100.
• e

  Cod. lib. 1. tit. 3. § Nullus. & in authent. de sanct. ••pisc. § Sed neque pro qua∣libet.
• f

  Vbi suprà,
• g

  Iohn 19 11.
• h

  1. Epist. 2.13.
• i

  Bullinger ad∣uersu•• Ana∣baptist. fol. 95.
• k

  Rhemists an∣not. in Iam. 2.1.
• l

  ••yprian. de vanitat. Idol.
• m

  Hieron. epist. ad Rusticum.
• n

  Prou. 30.27.
• o

  Luke 11.15.
• p

  Theophylact. in 1. Tim. 1.
• q

  Melanct. in 1. Tim. 1.
• r

  Aquin. in loc.
• s

  1. Epist. 2.18.
• t

  Praesat. tom. 11. annal.
• u

  In extraua∣gant. vnam san∣ctam.
• x

  See Peter Martyr in loc.
• y

  Marlorat. ex Hyperio in loc.
• z

  1. Pet. 2.14.
• a

  Gorran. in loc.
• b

  Osea 8.4.
• c

  Aquin. in loc.
• d

  Balaeus in vi∣là Alex. 6.
• e

  Tileman. in loc.
• f

  Polydor. Vir∣gil. hist. A••glic. lib. 25.
• g

  Prou. 8.15.
• h

  Iohn 19.11.
• i

  Marlor. in loc.
• k

  1. Sam 8.7.
• l

  Luke 10.16.
• m

  Psal. 82.6.
• n

  Perkins Treat. of conscience. cap. 2.
• o

  Caluin. in 1. Cor. 14. & In∣stitut. lib. 4. cap. 10. §. 30.
• p

  Epist. 166.
• q

  Aquin. & Gor∣r••n in loc.
• r

  Prou. 20.2.
• s

  Stanford p••eas of the Crown••, lib. 3. cap. 19.
• t

  Consule Tile∣man. & Mar∣tyr. in loc.
• u

  Numb. 16.3••.
• x

  D. Buckeridge ser. vpon the fist verse of this chapter.
• y

  Augustin. ser. 6 de verbis Dom. secundùm Mat.
• z

  Ecclesiast. 5.7.
• a

  Act. 4.19.
• b

  Vbi suprà.
• Augustin. in Psalm. 124.
• c

  Plutarch. com. ad Principem indoctum.
• d

  Seneca conso∣lat. ad Polybiū.
• e

  Manlius in loc. com.
• f

  Iob 29.15.
• g

  Psal. 2.10.
• h

  1. Tim. 2.2.
• i

  Torturâ Torti. pag. 70.
• k

  Customers Al∣phabet by M^r. Thomas Milles.
• l

  Matth. 17.27.
• m

  Matth. 22.21.
• n

  Serm. at Stan∣ford.
• o

  Lib. 5. de gu∣bernat. Dei.