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Lavater intelligit superiores et inferiores magistratus , non est potestas nisi a deo , Vatablus consiliarios . If , said the emperor , or his lawyers for him , the civil power is from God , as it must be , since non est potestas nisi a Deo , the state stands on . The Pope has never claimed the right to depose a prince till by his own act he has , under the moral law or the constitution of his state , forfeited his power , nor to absolve subjects from their allegiance till their oath , according to its true intent and meaning , has ceased to bind , If the Church has always asserted with the Apostle there is no power but from God non est potestas nisi a Deo she has always through her doctors maintained that it is a trust to be exercised for the public good , and is forfeited when persistently exercised in a contrary sense .