The Wisdom and Duty of Magistrates

THE WISDOM AND DUTY OF MAGISTRATES.

A SERMON, PREACHED AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, MAY 10th, 1804.

BY ZEBULON ELY, A.M.

PASTOR OF A CHURCH IN LEBANON.

HARTFORD: PRINTED BY HUDSON & GOODWIN. 1804.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the State of CONNECTICUT, holden at Hartford, on the second Thursday of May, A. D. 1804—

Ordered, That the Honorable William Hillhouse, and Hezekiah Ripley, Esquires, present the thanks of the General Assembly to the Rev. Zebulon Ely, for his Sermon, delivered at the Election on the 10th instant, and request a copy thereof that it may be printed.

A true copy of Record, Examined by Samuel Wyllys, Secretary.

Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little: blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Happy for us who possess and acknowledge Divine revelation, the sacred volume contains a portion of instruction suited to every occasion. That now read, it is thought, will not be judged unsuitable to the present anniversary. Happy will the speaker be, if, in the view of its great author, he may be enabled to treat it with propriety. And happy will be the hearer who cordially receives the instruction.

The psalm evidently refers to the Messiah. It begins with a description of his treatment by the heathen, together with the vain imaginations of the people in general. It points out the opposition of kings and rulers, their impatience of the restraint the holy religion of Jesus would lay upon their lusts, with their vain and impious attempts to burst in sunder its sacred bands. It paints in lively colors the derision, in which, Jehovah, highly enthroned in heaven, would hold them, and his unalterable decree to uphold his Son as king of Zion. It declares the rich and glorious portion the Father had designed to bestow upon him, and the omnipotent sway he should maintain over his enemies. he should gain over his en. The words of the text are then introduced. They contain an exhortation to kings and great ones of the earth, pointing out their duty with respect both to the Father and the Son, or with respect both to natural and revealed religion. They are exhorted to receive instruction from the Father of lights, to serve the Lord with fear, with sacred awe, with filial reverence of his adorable majesty; and to rejoice in their exalted stations if they do rejoice in them, with trembling, lest through unfaithfulness to their trust, they should fall into the pit. THEY are exhorted to embrace the Son as altogether worthy their regard, but, under the slightest tokens of his displeasure, so mighty is his power, they perish from the way of duty and safety, of holiness and happiness in which they ought to walk. ALL who repose confidence in him are then pronounced blessed, for he is able to save unto the uttermost. The instruction contained in the passage may be summed up in the following observation, viz. IT is the wisdom and duty of kings, judges, and of all in authority among men, how exalted soever their stations may be, to serve the Lord and be the friends of Jesus. IT cannot be the design of the text to point it out as their wisdom and duty exclusively, for it is most manifestly the wisdom and duty of all. All men, of whatever rank, condition or station they may be, are bound to serve the Lord; and so soon as they have opportunity to become acquainted with the gospel, they are bound to embrace the Saviour. Since this is the wisdom and duty of all, so of course it must be the wisdom and duty of kings, &c. It seems to be enjoined on magistrates in the text because they had been particularly brought into view in the context, and because from their high stations, through that pride and folly natural to the human heart in its present corrupt state, they might be in danger of losing sight of their dependance and obligations and so of pleading an exemption from the Divine service. Other reasons for this exhortation may be mentioned in the sequel. Surely nothing but pride and folly can lead men so to mistake their standing, their true interest and happiness, since the most exalted, not only of earthly but of heavenly created potentates, must be entirely dependant on Jehovah and owe themselves wholly to their Maker. To plead an exemption from His service therefore is to lose sight of their dependance and obligation as creatures; and such is the nature of his service, that to desire to be excused from it, is to prefer bondage to liberty. His faithful servants in all ages can testify that in keeping as well as for keeping, his commandments, there is a great reward. In farther attending to the subject I shall endeavor, through Divine assistance, to shew what is implied in serving the Lord and being the friends of Jesus; illustrate this to be the wisdom and duty of all in authority among men; and lastly inquire more particularly why this with similar exhortations in scripture is addressed to magi. I. I am to shew what is implied in serving the Lord and being the friends of Jesus.

I join these together because they are joined in the text, and because, under the light of the gospel, they are in their own nature, necessarily connected. Those who truly serve the Lord, living under the light of the gospel, cannot fail of being Christians. Natural and revealed religion are perfectly harmonious, so that a genuine subject of the former, cannot fail of embracing the latter. It is a deception to suppose that men may be good men, that they may be the willing and acceptable servants of the One living and true God, and at the same time reject the gospel. It is in vain to plead that although they cannot admit the evidence of Divine revelation, yet they may possess good hearts, and so perform their duty as to find acceptance with their Maker and Judge. It is a truth capable of rational demonstration, that "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father," and "that no man speaking by the spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed." As the Son is the brightness of the Father's glory, so revealed religion is perfectly consistent with natural religion, as far as the latter goes. It is hence manifest, that every good man, having the means of knowledge, must be a believer.