El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-04-27

1 the sword in vain, for he is the minis
] ter Of God. a revenger TO execute
wrath upon him that doeth evil"
/ All proper governme functions
| such as the making Of laws, punish
I ing the trsusgressors and evil doors
I without which every law would be a
dead letter. have this one purpose,
! namely. 20 hold within bounds the eN-
cesses Of the criminally inclined. so
. that peace. order and prosperity may
not be endangered. In this way good
( citizens are to be protected in their
rights to life, liberty and the pursuit
I Of happiness
This purpose is realized in a gen
eral way even when the official au-
thorities are not perfect, when they
abuse the power given tnen' ana
when charges Of corruption made
against them are not without founda-
tion. They will have 20 answer 10
God for their deliuquencies. but they
cannot Illustrate Gods intentions.
II we were TO recognize only that
government as properly constituted
and divinely ordained which is perfect
and above reproacn in all its branches
and functions. we could recognize
none at all; for there is none such
a Christian should be ready to render
willing obedience to that government
under which ne lives, and which makes
il possible for him 20 lead a quiet and
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honesty, no matter what faults and
shortcomings Il may have. Having
seen from orr text what properly con-
stituted God-ordained government is.
let US now see what should be the
proper, GOd-pleasiug attitude OF the
Christian conscience over against such
government
For Conscience sake.
The apostle says in our text; Where
fore Hrnnf|u he rrrnrnnH nTlN
for wrath but also for conscience
sake" Every child OF God is TO rem
Ter obedience 10 and 20 comply with
the laws Of the civil authorities, which
are ordained OF God lie must do this
not under cOmpulsiou. not from fear
Of wrath and punishment but will
ingly and gladly. promtped by the die
tates Of his conscience. The Christian
conscience is guided also in this mat
ter alone by the viii Of God. as re-
vealed in his word.
A Christian knows that his God,
whom the world does not know, has
ordained the secular powers that be,
and that he executes his VIII through
them He fully understands that with
cut the help OF Cod. civil authority
would be an utter impossi5 ility. that
without the aid OF Gods strong arm
no power on earth could keep in check
the human injustice and wickedness
scibes in the following words Being
filled with all unrighteOusness. forni- [
cation, wickednesE, c0vetousness. ma
liclousness, fun Of envy. murder, de-
bates, deceit, malignity-" He there
fore renders obedience to the civil au-
thorities for God s sake, for conscience
sake He tries his best to follow the Z
command Of God as he finds IL ex-
pressed I'm the first epistle OF St Pc
ter- submit yourselves 10 every or ]
iinance OF man for the Lords sake. 1
whether IL be the king as supreme, [
or unto the governors. as unto them i
that are sent by him for punishment !
Of evil doors. and for the praise OF I
them that do well"
Our text now goes on TO specify the 4
acts whereby we are 10 show and I
prove that we are subject 20 the pow
ars that be. when 70 saws: For this Z
cause pay We tribute also. for they /.
are Gods ministers. attending contin- I
lally upon this very thirE Render.
therefore, to all their dues. tribute 1
TO whom tribute is due. custom 20
whom custom. fear 10 whom fear. hon
lr 10 whom honor"
The conscientious Christian IS very
particular in these matters. He knows I
he functions OF the government can
lot be carried out without his aid.
md therefore he pays his tribute and
custom. or as we say, his just taxes.
promptly and honestly. He does not
allow himself TO be dissuaded from his