The excellency of holy courage in evil times by Jeremiah Burroughs

How can that be? It is true, God gives commission only to command things lawful, yet man may confer ⟨p. 23⟩so much power upon others, as they shall by virtue of that power is given to them by man, command that which is unlawful: I do not say rightly, but their power will work to it: Now if any by the power which is given to them by man, shall command that which is unlawful, though we should not actively obey, yet we must obey passively, or sly: we must not right our selves by way of mutiny, or rebellion. And my ground is this, because it is between governor and Subject, as it is between man and man.

How can that be? It is true, God gives commission only to command things lawful, yet man may confer ⟨p. 23⟩so much power upon others, as they shal by vertue of that power is given to them by man, command that which is unlawful: I do not say rightly, but their power wil work to it: Now if any by the power which is given to them by man, shal command that which is unlawful, though we should not actively obey, yet we must obey passively, or slie: we must not right our selves by way of mutiny, or rebellion. And my ground is this, because it is between governor and Subject, as it is between man and man.

Suppose, another man hath in his possession that which is my right, yet I cannot violently go and take my right from him; I may justly be dealt withal as one that doth wrong, and be proceeded against as a malefactor; I must be content to suffer till such time as I can legally recover my right out of his hands: And so if one in authority hath that in possession given him which he should not have, as to command things that are unlawful, by our forefathers or our own subjecting our selves to him, I must suffer till I can recover my right out of his hand in a legal way by the power that first gave it him.

Suppose, another man hath in his possession that which is my right, yet I cannot violently go and take my right from him; I may justly be dealt withal as one that doth wrong, and be proceeded against as a malefactor; I must be content to suffer til such time as I can legally recover my right out of his hands: And so if one in authority hath that in possession given him which he should not have, as to command things that are unlawful, by our forefathers or our own subjecting our selves to him, I must suffer til I can recover my right out of his hand in a legal way by the power that first gave it him.