The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1921-08-26

can only be enforced by the civil gov
eminent which pertains exclusively to
mans properA relationship with man
concerning his overt acts which are
actual invasions of the rights of man,
but the civil magistrate can not By
right punish any man for invading or
disregarding the claims of God upon.
the soul
Methods Of Divine and Human Gov
eminent DissiniIar
The government of God and the
civil government rest entirely upon
different foundations in their methods
Of operation. Gods government rests
and operates upon the divine ideal OF
the principle of love. while the civil
government functions upon the prin-
ciple of force. Love is the fulfilling
Of the law of God in the divine gov
eminent, while force and the exaction
of stern justice are the requirements
of the civil authority In Gods gov
eminent the offender who acknowl-
edges his .offense and confesses his
guilt TO God obtains mercy and iusti-
fication before God the same as though
he had never sinned, if he trusts in
the atoning blood of Christ for his
salvation.
How often can the offender come
to God and receive mercy? Seven
times?. asked Peter. YEA, seventy
times seven answered Christ. But it
is not SO with the magistrate of the
civil government. He must punish
the criminal for his offense even
though he is sorry and begs for mer-
cy. The more often he commits
offenses the greater will be his punish
ment with the civil magistrate. But
in Gods government and plan. where
sin did abound grace did much more
abound 1t is a serious mistake to
confuse Gods government, which is
heavenly end spiritual, with the gov
ernments of earth.
God ordained the civil government
to protect the equal rights of all men,
but not to deprive any man OF his ma
tural rights, so long as he respects
the equal rights Of his neighbor. The
functions of the state are purely secu-
lar and the functions of the church are.
spiritual, and Christ drew a sharp
line of demarkation between these two
when He said, Render therefore unto
Caesar the things that are Caesars,
and unto God the things which are
Gods Matt. 22:21)
No greater misfortune could pos
sibly happen to the cause of Christ on
earth than for the professed represen-
tatives of the church to seek an al
lance with the state. IF there is one
lesson that the Christian church ought
to learn from the ecclesiastical his
tory Of the past, it is that religio-
political church is predestined for ulti-
mate sorrow and desolation The po-
liticaI church may have her triumphs,
but just as sure as the night follows
the day her carnal and earthly glory
will be turned into retributiye shame
and bitter humiliation
Religious Liberty Boon to the World
Religious liberty is the beacon light
which dispeIed the gloom of the Dark
Ages and emerged men from the despo-
tism of the Middle Ages into the free
dom, progress, and enlightenment of
modern times. Religious freedom has
made America great and prosperous.
Religious liberty is the political hope
Of the world, and if this precious heri-
tage is to perish from the earth this
old world is doomed If this world
turns back to the old times of tyranny
over the souls of men, the God Of
heaven VIII. write "TekeI' on the walls
Of every legislative hall, and He will
arise to average His injured name and
to vindicate His suffering cause. In /
ration of independence possible, and
he name Of those who made the Decla-
wrote the guarantees Of civil and re-
igious liberty into our fundamental
aw, We ask your honorable body not
% pass any religious compulsory sun
lay observance measures that the
great purpose of our Government nay
De maintained to establish justice,
insure domestic tranquility, provide
or the common defense. promote the
general welfare, and secure the bless
ngs Of liberty to ourselves and our
oosterity. :