Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-07-19

the atonement OF
Christ, and as members OF his spirit
ual body, are separated in an essen
tial sense from the world. They arc
waiting for his re-appearing, and ex-
pect to be glorified and reign with
him over the millennial earth.
There is a point of view therefore.
in which such people have nothing
to do with civil government because
such government Is a part Of the syx-
TEN of ungodliness represented by
Satan whom the Scriptures call tho
god Of this world. His dominion is to
be destroyed when Christ comes to
set up his kingdom in its place. True
Christians, therefore, are not expect
ing the millennium to be brought
about by moral or political reforms.
but are waiting for his coming to In
troduce and make 1t a possibility
What Caesar Represents.
But while this is true, such Chrih-
tians believe that they have obliSa-
lions to the government under which
they live, privileges to be enjoyed and
a stewardship for which they must
give account of God. Paul claimed
protection because of his Roman citi-
zenship, but no man has a moral
right to ask protection from a govern
ment to which he is Indifferent, and
for which he will not use his fnfiu-
ence to make 1t the best possible
Caesar" represented the civil gov
eminent of Christ's day, and tho
things to be rendered unto him wero
the taxes imposed by the Roman en-
pire. But the Caesar" of the United
States to whom we are to pay tribute
is not an individual or an empire, but
In an important sense 1t is ourselves
If this is government Of the peo-
pie, for the people and by the peo-
pie" we are DIR own Caesar, and to
ourselves we render tribute. Accord
ing to Christ's command therefore,
we are to support this government In
accordance with the laws it has, made
And yet more is implied, for we are
not only Caesar" to whom tribute
must be paid, but Caesar" who pays
the tribute. For what do We demand
this tribute therefore? How much of
the taxes levied by us on our fellow
to whom it does not>belong, because
we are indulging our own con-
venience and letting things alone.
How much of it supports our CON
stabulary and law courts, our aims
houses and jails whose existence n
because of Ubiquitous legislation At
fording license to sin? Are we satin
fed that in these things we can give
account of our stewardship with joy.
How much attention. as Christians.
have we given to these things? How
much do we know. and how much
have we prayed about them? =.
Party or Purity, Whichi :
This brings us to our second obi
cation in relation to civil government.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy
self" OF course. this means that we
shall try to save our neighbor and
bring him with us on the way t.
heaven. But 1t means also that we
can not be Indifferent to the earthly
difficulties OF the way. In other
words, we must not permit Satan to
flaunt his temptations In the way
without an effort to destroy then
There are dram shops, brothels and
gambling dens open for the allure
ment of our young men and women
II our newspapers are to be believed,
law is defied by municipal and state
officers to the generalization OF both
public and private standards OF right
and wrong. Who are responsible for
these things? Will not God hold
those processing Christians to &C
count who, for the sake of party
fealty on the one hand, or lack a
public duty on the other, to have fsil+
ed to overthrow them.
The New Testament says scarcely
anything about the relation of tho
Christian church to civil government
because in the time Of Christ and his
apostles there was no civil govern
ment in the sense In which we Con-
ceive Of it. But the duty of the in
dividual Christian is included never
theless in the second commandment
of the law, Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as myself" for love WORK
eth no evil to his neighbor," either BY
omission or commission.