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I. THAT KINGS AND PRINCES HAVE A CERTAIN RIGHT AND DUE PERTAINING TO THEM BY GOD'S APPOINTMENT, WHICH IT IS NOT LAWFUL FOR ANY MAN TO KEEP FROM THEM. This is plain here as if Christ had said: "It is of God, and not without the disposing and ordering of His Providence, that the Roman Emperor hath put in his foot among you, and is now your liege and sovereign: you yourselves have submitted to his government, and have in a manner subscribed unto that which God hath brought upon you; now, certainly, there is a right pertaining to him respectively to his place. This he must have, and it cannot be lawful for you, under any pretext, to take it from him." So that this speech is a plain ground for this. But what is Caesar's due?

1. Prayer for him (1 Timothy 2:1).

(1) That he may be endowed with all needful graces for his place.

(a)  Wisdom.

(b)  Justice.

(c)  Temperance, i.e., sobriety and moderation in diet, in apparel, in delight, etc.

(d)  Zeal and courage in God's matters. This it is which will make kings prosper (1 Kings 2:2, 3).

(2) That he may be delivered from all dangers to which he is subject in his place. Kings are in danger of two sorts of enemies.

(a)  Enemies to their bodies and outward state. Traitors. Conspirators.

(b)  Enemies to their souls. Flatterers.

2. Submission to him. By this I mean "an awful framing and composing of the whole man respectively to his authority."And now here, because I mention the whole man, and man consisteth of two parts; therefore I will declare, first, what is the submission of the inner man due to a king by the Word of God; and then, what is the submission of the outward man.

1. Touching the submission of the inner man, I account the substance of it to be this — "A reverent and dutiful estimation of him in regard of his place." "Fear the Lord and the king," said Solomon. As the "fearing of God" argueth an inward respectiveness to His Divine majesty, so the fearing of the king intends the like, the heart carrieth a kind of reverent awe unto him. And this is that honouring the king which St. Peter giveth charge of (1 Peter 2:17). Honour is properly an inward act, and we honour a superior when our respect is to him according to his dignity. That this reverent estimation of a king, which I term the substance of inward submission, may be the better understood, we must consider touching it two things.

(1) The ground of it is a right understanding of the state and condition of a king's place.

(a)  Its eminence.

(b)  Its usefulness.

(2) Now the companion of this reverent esteem of Caesar is a ready and willing disposition to perform to him and for him any service he may require.

2. I come now to speak of the outward submission, which is that which is for the testification and manifestation of the inward. An outward submissiveness without an inward awfulness were but hypocrisy; to pretend an inward respect without giving outward evidence thereof, were but mockery. This outward submission is either in word or in action. It includes —

(1) Conformity to the laws.

(2) Yielding of the person in time of war.

(3) Furnishing supplies.

II. THAT IT IS NOT LAWFUL FOR ANY MAN TO DEPRIVE ALMIGHTY GOD OF THAT WHICH IS HIS DUE. "You are careful," saith our Saviour, "as it seemeth, to inquire touching Caesar's right, as if you were so tender conscienced that you would not keep ought from him that were his. It becometh you to be, at the least, as careful for God; there is a right also due to Him, look you to it, that you give it Him." Thus is the doctrine raised, God must have His due as well as the king his. Nay, He is to have it much more; "He is the King of kings, and Lord of lords. By Him it is that earthly kings do reign. He beareth rule over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whosoever He will." Let me begin by explaining what is here meant by the Lord's due. The conscionable performance of any good duty is in some sense the Lord's due, because the same is required by Him; and so even that which was spoken of before, by the name of Caesar's due, is God's due, because the law of God binds us to it. When we speak, therefore, of God's due, we intend thereby that which is more properly and more immediately be, longing to Him. For example's sake — in a house, whereof every room and corner is the master's, yet that where he lieth himself is more particularly called his; so whereas all good services, even those which appertain to men, are the Lord's, He being the commander of them, yet those are more precisely and specially termed His which belong to Him more directly. And of the dues of this sort we are now to treat; and these may justly be referred to two general heads. The first I may call His "prerogative," the other His "worship." Under God's" prerogative" I comprehend two things.

1. "That the things which concern Him must have the pre-eminence."

2. "That He must have absolute obedience in all things." And now I come to the next part of His due, "His worship." By His worship is understood that more direct and proper service which we do to God for the declaration of our duty to Him, of our dependence on Him, and of our acknowledgment both to expect and to receive all good and comfort from Him.Here the particulars to be considered of, under this head of worship, are —

1. "That He must be worshipped."

2. "That He must be so worshipped as Himself thinks good."

(S. Hieron.)

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KJV: And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.

WEB: They watched him, and sent out spies, who pretended to be righteous, that they might trap him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the power and authority of the governor.