N00732:26
The surest way to the greatest honour
The surest way to the greatest honour: discoursed in a sermon, delivered in the audience of His Excellency the Earl of Bellomont, captain general and governor in chief, and the Council, and representatives of the General Assembly of the province of the Massachusetts-Bay, convened at Boston in New-England, May 31st. 1699. Being the day for the election of counsellors in that province. / By Increase Mather.The surest way to the greatest honour: discoursed in a sermon, delivered in the audience of His Excellency the Earl of Bellomont, captain general and governour in chief, and the Council, and representatives of the General Assembly of the province of the Massachusetts-Bay, convened at Boston in New-England, May 31st. 1699. Being the day for the election of counsellors in that province. / By Increase Mather.
Boston: printed by Bartholomew Green for Samuel Phillips, 1699
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Answ. 1. He is one that does yield Universal Obedience to the Commandments of God. They that Honour me (saith the Lord, h. e. they that obey me. When in the Fifth Commandment, Children are required to Honour their Parents, this is a special thing intended, that they should obey all their lawful Commands. The Lord said to the Jews, If I am a Father, where is my Honour? Mal. 1. 6. i. e. the Obedience which is due unto me Kings are Honoured when their Laws are duly observed; so is the God and King Eternal, when his Laws are complied with. There is an Internal Obedience. For we are required to love, and Fear, and Delight, and Trust in God. And there is an External Obedience: When a mans words and outward actions are as to the matter of them such as the Divine Law Enjoins. There may be something of an External Obedience where that which is Internal is wanting▪ Mat. 15. •. This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Whereas if a mans heart is set upon honouring God, that Internal Obedience will discover it self in an Universal Conformity to the Law of God in outward acts of Obedience thereunto. The Commands of God may not any of them be disputed, but ⟨p. 6⟩obeyed without any Reserve or Limitation. Suppose the Commandment to be never so difficult, & never so contrary unto a mans own will and desires, i• he knows that God commands it, and has in him an heart that honours God, he will do the Commandment. When God Commanded Abraham to Sacrifice his only Son, he Rose early to do it. Gen. 22. 3. And by that high act of Obedience did greatly honour God: And so did Joshua. The Lord said to him, Have not I Commanded thee? Josh. 1. 9. And then he did as commanded though to the hazard of his li•e. This Honour of absolute Obedience is due to God alone. Inferiors are to obey their Superiors, but with this Reserve alway▪ […] far as shall consist with Obedience to the Will of God. If the Greatest man on Earth command a thing which God has forbidden, he must not be obeyed. Although Nebuchadnezzar was the Emperor of the World, and perhaps the greatest Monarch that ever lived; yet nevertheless, when he Enjoined that which God had expressly prohibited, the three Princes who were his Captives told him plainly to his face that they would not obey him. Dan 3.