The Pilgrim Path---First Timothy 2: 1, 2

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

PRAYERS—INTERCESSIONS—THANKSGIVINGS

We must pray for our political leaders. They are as prone to the attacks of the devil, the follies of the flesh, and the foolish dictates of the world as any souls alive (on occasion they are more violently assaulted by Satan). If they do not have the LORD’S help---the results are disastrous. We pray they will heed God’s Word---and adhere to our Constitution.

Here is an assortment of soul’s providing some “food for thought” concerning civil affairs and the Church of our LORD Jesus Christ. Pray and Ponder:

“What distinguishes biblical dominion religion from satanic power religion is ethics. Is the person who seeks power doing so for the glory of God, and for himself secondarily, and only to the extent that he is God’s lawful and covenantally faithful representative? If so, he will act in terms of God’s ethical standards and in terms of a profession of faith in the God of the Bible. The church has recognized this two-fold requirement historically and has established a dual requirement for membership: profession of faith and a godly life” (Gary North, Moses and Pharaoh: Dominion Religion Versus Power Religion, p. 2).

“The teachings of Scripture are the final court of appeal for ethics. Human reason, church tradition, and the natural and social sciences may aid moral reflection, but divine revelation, found in the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, constitutes the ‘bottom line’ of the decision-making process. Informed ethical reflection will carefully weigh the various words of men, both past and present, but the Word of God must cast the deciding vote. Evangelicals believe that the canonical Scriptures are the very Word of God, the only infallible and inerrant rule of faith and practice, and consequently are the highest authority for both doctrine and morals” (John Jefferson Davis, Evangelical Ethics: Issues Facing the Church Today, p. 9).

“Just as God, the supreme Judge, is no respector of persons (Acts 10: 34; Rom. 2: 11; Eph. 6: 9; Col. 3: 25) and is Himself absolutely righteous, so too those who exercise governmental authority on earth are required to display impartiality towards all without exception---otherwise they show themselves to be betrayers of the power entrusted to them and despisers of the law they administer. Thus the judges of Moses’ time were solemnly charged, ‘You shall not be partial in judgment; you shall hear the small and great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s (Deut. 1: 7) (Philip E. Hughes, Christian Ethics in Secular Society, p. 185).

“That God is vitally concerned with political affairs is quite easy to demonstrate: it is God who ordained governments in the first place (Rom. 13: 1; 2: 21). He is the One who establishes particular kings (Prov. 16: 12; Psa. 119: 46, 47; 82: 1, 2). Therefore, He commands our obedience to rulers (Rom. 13: 1- 3). Rulers are commanded to rule on His terms (Psa. 2: 10 ff.). Even in the New Testament activity of political import is discoverable. Jesus urged payment of taxes to de facto governments (Matt. 22: 15—22). In response to reminders of King Herod’s political threats against Him, Jesus publicly rebuked the king by calling him a vixen (Luke 12: 32). He taught that a judge is unjust if he does not fear God (Luke 12: 2, 6). John the Baptist openly criticized King Herod (Luke 3: 19, 20). Peter refused to obey authorities who commanded him to cease preaching (Acts 5: 29). The Apostle John referred to the Roman Empire as the ‘the beast’ (Rev. 13) (Kenneth Gentry, “The Greatness of the Great Commission,” in The Journal of Christian Reconstruction, Symposium on Evangelism, ed. Gary North, Vol. VII, No. 2 [Winter, 1981], p. 45).

“[Religion] does not so much consummate culture as give culture its foundation and serves as the presupposition of every culture. Even when faith and religious root are openly denied, it is nevertheless tacitly operative as in atheistic Communism. A truly secular (non-religious) culture has never been found, and it is doubtful whether American Materialism can be called secular. Even Communism, like Nazism, has its gods and devils, its sin and salvation, its priests and its liturgies, its paradise of the stateless society of the future. For religious faith always transcends culture and is the integrating principle and power of man’s cultural striving (Henry R. Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, p. 39).

“Those who desire to usher in anarchy object that, although in antiquity kings and judges ruled over ignorant folk, yet that servile kind of government is wholly incompatible today with the perfection which Christ brought with his gospel…But whatever kind of men they may be, the refutation is easy. For where David urges all kings and rulers to kiss the Son of God (Psalm 2: 12), he does not bid them lay aside their authority and retire to private life, but to submit to Christ the power which they have been invested, that he alone may tower over all…But most notable of all is the passage of Paul where, admonishing Timothy that prayers be offered for kings in public assembly, he immediately adds the reason: ‘That we may lead a peaceful life under them with all godliness and honesty [I Tim.. 2: 2] (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book IV, Chapter XX, section 5).

“…He who converts his neighbor has performed the most practical Christian-political act of all” (C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock, Part II, “Meditation on the Third Commandment,” para. 7, p. 199).

“There is no danger in giving up any error, or in embracing any truth. Forsaking truth, and embracing error, angels shrunk into devils. Forsaking error and grasping truth, sinners rise to the dignity of saints, and to the companionship of angels.” William Plummer

HYMN

With one consent we meekly bow

Beneath your chastening hand,

And, pouring forth confession meet,

Mourn with our mourning land.

With pitying eye behold our need,

As thus we lift our prayer;

Correct us with your judgments, LORD,

Then let your mercy spare.

John H. Gurney, 1838

Grace and Peace in Jesus Christ Our Risen LORD, Pastor Jason