Montgomery County sentinel., 1944-11-16

No form of government can claim
divine authority, for Gods Word
does not prescribe any special form
of government. But (and this is most
importanD the principles upon
which government should be estab-
lished are clearly given in Gods
Word, and the form of rule which
best fits into the teaching of the
Word necessarily calls for our inter-
est and support.
We find in the Bible the declara-
tion that men are equal in the
sight Of God, that government is to
be ministry for God (see last
weeks lesson), receiving its authori-
ty from Him and serving Him in
exercising that power Men are to
be loyal to the government be-
cause they are loyal to God.
Our lesson carries forward the
teaching of last Sunday. IT tells us
that:
The Christian Citizen Is
]. Subject to Both God and Coun-
try Mark 12:13-17).
His devotion to God and the things
of God is to be expected of the Chris
tian. We almost said that it is taken
for granted, and sometimes that is
so true there is no reality in his
life. But surely if he is follower
of Christ he must be devoted to Him
and to His cause.
But what about his country? That
! relation appears anew in the strilS-
ing story of Christ and those who
came to test Him, yes, to trap Him
with skillfully worded question.
The Pharisees, who hated Rome
for its domination of Palestine, and
the Herodians. who supported Rome
in its control of the land, were enc
mics, but they joined forces to
tempt Christ. They knew that if He
said "Yes" to their question, the
Jews would be angry, and if He said
mo" He could be condemned as
] q u dltOI W ROiIle.
The trap was set, but it caught
only the crafty hunters. Taking their
own pocket money He declared that
if they used Caesars money they
ought to pay taxes to Caesar. The
coin stood for an orderly govern
ment, benefits of which they enjoyed
and which they ought to support.
No real Christian will evade his
duty to his country whether it be to
pay taxes, to take part intelligently
in its government, to defend it, to
pray for it, or otherwise to show his
love. One of the blots on the Chris
tian church is the lack of civic right
eousness on the part of many of its
members,
II. Devoted to Both Brother and
NeighbOr (Rom. 13:8-l0).
The Christian loves his brethren;
indeed that love is one of the tests
by which we may know that a man
is truly born again Il John 3:14.
But that love reaches out beyond
the circle of the brethren and
touches every man who has need of
it. The teachers of the Jewish law
had sought to circumscribe that
word 'neighbor," but the Lord ef-
fectively dealt with that viewpoint
in the story of the Good Samaritan
(Luke 10).
All the commandments concern
ing the vital matter of personal re-
lationship are summed up in the one
admonition. Love thy neighbor as
thyselfs ". 3D., When love controls,
there will be no social dishonesty,
strife or ill-will. There will be no
violence to the person or property
of another. for love worketh no
i'll to his neighbor.'
This is the real "good neigh
Dor policy" Even between nations,
we need more real love and less ef-
fort to impress one another by dip
lomacy and good will expeditions.
Let there be less political manipula-
tion and more loving, and we shall
find our neighbor. both personal
and national, responding in kind.
Love draws out love from another.
III. Submissive to Both the Law Of
God and Man Il Pet. 2:13-lD.
Fear God" ". I'D; that is, be
eager that there is no failure on
your part to please Him by obeying
His law That we expect of the
Christian. But we expect more; he
is to be a law-abiding citizen,
obeying the laws of his country for
the Lords sake" ". 13).
The believer may. by his godly
faithfulness to his government, eff
fectively witness against the ig-
norant criticism of foolish men who
would have us think that being a
Christian makes a man a weakling,
or so other-worldly that he is use
less in this world.
Our freedom in Christ is not an
excuse for careless or wicked liv-
ing Not at adjust the opposite in
fact. We Honor all men," How can
that be done? Only by the grace of
God; but by His blessing we can do
it. That makes for the real appreci-
alton Of man, which is the very foun-
dation of our democracy. II it
means anything, it must have as its
foundation principle the supreme
value of human life and the dignity
| of the souI of man.