The Pilgrim Path---Romans 13: 1 – 7

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

…WHAT GOD HAS APPOINTED

From R. J. Rushdoony: All power is ordained of God, and the state is one such power. Man’s law must be rooted in God’s law; lawlessness in this sense is resistance to God. First of all, civil government is of divine institution. It is ordained of God and is a part of God’s kingdom and government (Rom. 13: 1, 2). Second, civil government is ordained to promote good by providing conditions for its welfare by punishing criminals and preventing crime. Its essential function is thus justice, godly order (Rom. 13: 3, 4). Third, civil government has the approval of Christian conscience. It is an authority, like that of parents and church officers, which is ordained of God, the only rightful source of authority (R. J. Rushdoony, Politics of Guilt and Pity, p. 336).

From John Quincy Adams: Posterity---you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.

From Thomas Payne: What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a price upon its goods, and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated…

From George Washington’s “Inaugural Speech to Both Houses of Congress,” April 30, 1789: Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people pf the United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes…No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and, in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted cannot be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage…We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself had ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps finally, staked on the experiment…

From the Declaration of Independence: For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor…

Please pray for leaders---they need it. When I was a Town Alderman years ago, usually the first 30—45 minutes of those public meetings were “public presentations.” Whoa---the public really presented it to us---and not normally in a positive way either. Ask the LORD’S great grace and mercy for all those in authority---their job is not easy---and “many” are the assaults and condemnations. If most people were able to serve in a leadership position---they would be far less inclined to rush to judgment and “cast down” those in authority…

MY COUNTRY…

My country, ‘tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing:

Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountain side Let freedom ring!

Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom’s song:

Let mortal tongues awake; Let all that breathe partake;

Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong.

Our Father’s God! To Thee, Author of liberty, to thee we sing:

Long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light;

Protect us by Thy might, Great God, our King!

S.F. Smith

Grace and Peace in Jesus, the Only Redeemer of broken and wretched souls, Pastor Jason