The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1902-07-05

The Text Setting.-The words of GU
text were spoken by Jesus in answe
to a catch question put to Him by tn
Pharisees who sought to "entangl
Him in His talk" They ask whether i
is lawful to give tribute unto Caesa.
or not, believing that loyalty to Hi
nation. of which He claimed to b,
the Compromised Messiah and King
would compel Him to take a stant
against the Romans, who at this tim,
were the rulers and oppressors of tht
Jewish nation. And they reasoned
that if such should be His reply il
would be a ease for the Roman govern.
or to deal with and their base purpose
of causing His downfall would lie &C.
complished On the other hand. if He
counseled the paying of the tribute
money surely He no longer could claim
to be the Deliverer and King Of His ma
ton. In the blindness of their own I'M
believing hearts they thought they had
the Lord "twixt the devil and the deep
sea" and whichever way He turned
they had Him in their power. But, as
at Nazareth when His angry towns
people sought TO dash Him over the
brow Of the hill, and the unseen hand
Of God had stayed their murderous
purpose and He walked out of their
midst uuharmed, so now by the simple
yet infinite wisdom of God He faces
the issue squarely and puts His enc
mics to rout. Render unto Caesar
the things which are Caesars and
unto God the things that are
Gods How simple. vet how pro-
found, In their narrow partisanship
they had not reasoned that Caesarhad
any claim whatever upon them. Ithad
never occurred 10 them before that God
seeks harmony in His universe. and
that even Caesar had rights which God
was bound to respect. And these
words Of Jesus give us the one plank
platform broad enough and long
enough for the tru patriot 10 stand
upon and at the same time give full
scope TO his powers and his devotion
TO his country and his God.
The True Patriots Platform-And
II here in these words Of Jesus we have
the fundamental principles upon which
can be safely and righteously based the
attitude and conduct Of the loval citi.
zen. as well as the devout Christian.
us examine the words more CLOSELY
"a discover their full import and mean
ing. and then seek to find the way in
they can he applied in a practical
manner TO human life. First Of all. |
God las but one standard. and man.,
ability 70 measure up to that stand
art is proportjonate 10 the degree bv
that man is actuated and direct.
'd by the Spirit Of God. Failure TO at
the one standard fixed BY God in
Infinite righteousness and equity
= responsible for all the discord and
in the world to-day. for all the
flashing Of nation with nation. and in
iividual with individual, and individual
With the nation. II the complex rela-
ions Of human life were perfectly ad-
listed according to the will and DUR
'ose Of God, II the things belonginpto
aesar were exactly rendered unto
'aesar, and the things belonging TO
were exactly rendered unto God
Sc should find that friction and discord
would cease and the harmony Of the
nillennial age would break like sweet
ausic upon the ear Of this distracted
Id world.
There are two divisions to text;
80 halves Of one perfect whole:
'aesar's things and Gods things. The
hings Of Caesar cannot belong to
od. neither can the things Of God be.
ing TO Caesar. The spirit and thought
f the text, however, il in no least de.
rec in conflict with the declaration Of
cripture that all things were created
God and that all things belong to
lin. In this n Caesars things and
he things which are not Caesars all
to God and exist because Of God.
Just as you. my dear reader. in the
road, universal sense belong TO God.
nd your houses and your lands. your
ank ccoun and your weekly salary
TO God, still as regards YOUR re-
ltions to others and your responsible
rs and obligations in the world. the
lings which you possess belong TO
90
God through you would admins
# your affairs and your possessions !
such a way as TO observe to a nicetv
le ~admonition Of the text of render.
2 10 the world its due and to God
rat which in a special sense belongs l
) Him. So when Christ, who created
! things and to whom all things he
.ng, spoke these words He gave beau
full recognition TO Gods plans in
aking man a responsible.agentin the ]
ADMINISTRATION Of the affairs Of the {
Between Caesars things and
DDS things there is no conflict or con- /
sion except as nan has failed to I'M !
Gods classification and has .
ndered unto Caesar the things which '
long to God and unto God the things a
lich belong to Caesar.
The Image and Superscription.-And I
w are We always to know which {
ings are Caesars and which are J
DIS? BY the image and superscrip- :
IN. Was it lawful for the Jews to u
y tribute unto Caesar? asked the v
.arisees. Let Him see the tribute I
Behold. the image and super =
of Caesar. Therefore. rem u
III