Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1902-07-02
THE TRUE PATRIOT.
Fourth of July Sermon by High
way and Byway" Preacher.
In the Light OF Gods Word and tn q
Experience of Man, Patriotism
and GodIiness Are Found
Linked Together


Text: Render therefore unto Caesar the
things which are Caesars; and! unto Goo
the things that are God Matt. z2:2l.
The Text Setting -The wor-is of our
text were -pokcn by Jesus in answer
to catch question put 10 Him by the
Pharisees who sought To "entangle
| Him In Hi. talk" They ask whether il
is lawful TO give tribute unto Caesar
or not. believing that loyalty 10 His
own nation. Of which He claimed to be
the long promised Messiah and King
would compel Him to take a stand
against the Romans. who at this time
were the rulers and oppressors of the
Jewish nation. And they reasoned
that If such should be His reply it
would be case for the Roman govern
or to deal with and their base purpose
of causing His downfall would be ac-
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 heart 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 unframed, so now by the simple
yet infinite wisdom of God He faces
the issue squarely and puts His enc
mics ROM ''RpnHpr 1nto
the things which are Caesars and
unto God the things that are
Gods" How simple. yet how pro-
found. In their narrow partisanship
they had not reasoned that Caesar had
any claim whatever upon them. II had
never occurred to them before that God
seeks harmony in His universe. and
that even Caesar had rights which God
was bound 10 respect. And these
words of Jesus give Us the one plank
platform broad enough and long
| enough for the true patriot TO 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
# here in these words of Jesus we have
can be safely and righteously based the
| attitude and conduct of the loyal citi-
zen. as well as the devout Christian.
let us examine the words more closely
to discover their full import and mean
ing. and then seek to find the way in
which they can he applied in practical
manner to human life. First OF all.
God has but one standard, and mans
ability 10 measure up to that stand
ard il proportionate to the degree bV
which that man is actuated and direct
ed by the Spirit Of God. Failure to at
tain the one standard fixed by God i'm
His infinite righteousness and equity
il Sponsible for all the discord and
misery in the world to-day for all the
FLASHING Of nation with nation. and in
dividual with individual and individual
with the nation. If the complex rela-
tions Of human life were perfectly adj
iuSted according 10 the will and pur-
pose Of God. if the things belonging to
Caesar were exactly rendered unto
Caesar. and the things belonging to
God were exactly rendered unto God.
We should find that friction and di~cord
would cease and the harmony Of the
miIlennial age would break like sweet
music upon the ear Of this distracted
old world
There are two divisions to our text:
two halves Of one perfect whole:
| Caesar things and Gods things The
! things 81 Caesar cannot belong to
God. neither can the things Of God be
long 10 Caesar. The spirit and thought
IL