The Proper Sphere of the Civil Ruler—Where He May and Where He May Not Operate
By Calvin P. Bollman
With those who believe in an intelligent, personal Creator no argument is needed to establish the thesis that He is the supreme Governor. This is true of every sphere, spiritual, physical, mental, and moral. “There is no power but of God.” Rom. 13:1. This is equally true, also, of political power. “The powers that be are ordained of God.”
The Power for Getting Wealth
A measure of His power the Creator gives to His creatures to be used to His glory. The abuse or misuse of this power constitutes sin. In the wilderness, Moses gave this caution to the people he was leading: “Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God;” and “say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth.” Deut. 8:11, 17, 18.
Man is prone not only to forget the source of his power, but actually to misuse his God-given powers. Hence the charge brought by the Lord against His people in Isa. 43:24, “Thou hast made Me to serve with thy sins.” The power of the arm given of God, in order that man might protect himself against wild beasts, and wrest from the soil, the forest, or the mine a livelihood, may be, and often is, used to destroy his fellow man. In like manner, power given by God to rulers for the purpose of preserving civil order, to the end that men “may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Tim. 2:2), is often used in robbery and oppression.
It is the power, and not the use made of the power, that is ordained of God. He is not the author of sin.
Misuse of Power Is Sin
The fact, which all must admit, that the misuse of any of the powers possessed by man is sin, brings us face to face with another fact; namely, that inasmuch as the Creator is supreme Governor, all human authority is merely delegated power. The legitimate domain of human government is therefore limited. All authority not clearly given to men by Him who is the source of all power, is necessarily retained by the Creator.
The Creator has delegated to man civil authority, and civil authority only; or in other words, the conservation of his own rights. In the domain of morals—that is, of duty toward God—not only is the Creator the supreme Ruler, but He is the sole Ruler, and His word is the supreme arbiter.
Outside the domain of physics, there are but two spheres of government; namely, the moral and the civil. Moral government enforces moral obligation, and civil government enforces civil obligation.
Moral Obligation
Moral obligation is that which is imposed by the Creator Himself. It may be inherent in the very nature of things, as, for instance, the commandments, “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal”; or, like the Sabbath commandment, the obligation may rest wholly upon the revealed will of the Creator.
Civil Obligation
On the other hand, civil obligation is based not upon the revealed will of the Creator, not primarily upon any law that He has promulgated , as He did the Ten Commandments, but upon the nature or rights of man as a social being, and the necessities and custom of civil society.
From time immemorial, peoples without the aid of divine revelation have recognized and more or less adequately protected the right to life and property. The founders of our government set forth as a self-evident truth the proposition “that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” They further declared “that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men.”
Dividing Line Between Civil and Moral
And just here we discover the real dividing line between moral and civil government. Civil government should deal with self-evident things, not with matters of divine revelation. The framers of the Declaration of Independence did not enumerate as self-evident any purely spiritual truth, such as the eternity of God, the plan of salvation, the work of the Holy Spirit, or the necessity of conversion; neither did they include among the legitimate objects of civil government the enforcing of religious duties, such as faith, attendance upon or support of public worship, Sabbath observance, baptism, Bible study, or indeed any duty which men owe to their Creator, and which they may render or not render to Him without injuring in a material way their fellow men.
In including only civil duties within the sphere of the legitimate objects of human government, and in excluding from that sphere religious things, our forefathers either wittingly or unwittingly drew the line between things civil and things spiritual just where the Saviour had drawn it eighteen hundred years before in His words to the Herodians: “Render therefore unto Cesar the things which are Cesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”
The Lord Cannot Do This
The Scriptures tell us there is one thing even the Lord cannot do; “He cannot deny166Himself.” 2 Tim. 2:13. Therefore the Creator has never given any created being any authority whatever over his fellow creature in the domain of moral obligation. Even children are required to obey their parents only “in the Lord.” Eph. 6:1.
Were the Creator to delegate the administration of His law to any man or set of men, that law would at once cease to be perfect and unchangeable. As an academic proposition, “the intent of the lawmaker is the law”; but practically the interpretation put upon the law by its administrators is the law.
Everybody knows that even the law of God is variously construed by different churches, and even by different individuals in the same church. But in the case of the divine law, “the intent of the Lawmaker is the law” both as an academic proposition and in very fact, for the Lawgiver is also the sole Administrator of His own law.
The Supreme and Only One
The Lord is the supreme moral Governor, because He is the sole moral Governor. He by His Spirit is the sole authoritative Interpreter of His own law. He alone has the right to command men under penalty of sin.
The violation of the law of God is sin, and this without any reference to what the civil law may say upon the subject. No human law can by any possibility make moral wrong right. Neither can the civil law make morally wrong that which the divine law has made morally right. It did not become morally wrong for Daniel to pray three times a day when the king’s decree made it a crime—a civil wrong—under the laws of the empire. It was not morally wrong for the disciples to preach Christ when they were forbidden by the civil magistrates to do so. Neither were the soldiers that nailed Christ to the cross innocent because they acted under orders of a Roman governor.
It is true that crime is generally sin, but it is never sin simply because the act is prohibited by the civil law. The martyrs were criminals in the eyes of the civil authorities, but God recognized them as witnesses to His truth.
Subject to the Powers That Be
But it may be asked: Is not civil government ordained of God? And is not submission to “the powers that be” a Christian duty?—“Yes, verily; Christians are exhorted to submit themselves—‘to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake’” (1 Peter 2:13); but this does not mean that we are to disobey God in order to obey men. The apostle himself suffered martyrdom because of loyalty to the divine law when it came into conflict with the Roman law. He had years before enunciated the principle in these words: “We ought to obey God rather than men;” and in due time he died rather than prove untrue to this principle.
Civil government is ordained of God, but not in a sense that makes it superior to God, nor in a sense that its sphere is unlimited, and that it may command men under sin. Neither is it ordained of God in the sense that the particular form or a certain ruler is selected in every case by the Lord, but in the sense that the genius of civil government is ordained by the very act of the Creator in implanting in man those characteristics which inevitably draw him into organized civil society.
Marriage is ordained of God; but ordinarily men and women are left free by the Lord to make their own selection of companions, and also to choose the particular form by which their union shall be consummated. So it is in the matter of civil government; one people choose a king, another people select a president. It is equally true in both cases that “the powers that be are ordained of God.”
To take any other view of this question than this one, would be to make the Creator responsible for all the governmental oppression and wrong that has ever cursed this world, degrade Him from the throne of universal dominion, and put in His seat the man of sin. But this can never be. The Creator is and must ever remain the sole moral Governor, even those men whom He permits to exercise civil authority over their fellow men being always and in every place amenable to His law, which is holy, just, and good, and by which all men shall one day be judged.
In the Sunshine of His Presence
By Carrie K. Butcher
By MRS. CARRIE K. BUTCHER
There is grandeur in the service
Of our blessed, loving Lord.
How my soul delights to honor,
Praise, and magnify His word!
Tell, O, tell me, ye who murmur
At the roughness of the way,
Have you tested His salvation
As a keeping power each day?
There is gladness in the bosom
Of God's truly trusting child;
And mid storm or gloom or sunshine,
Still he's patient, meek, and mild.
Finding peaceful, restful pleasures
In each daily round of care,
Knowing that God weighs and measures
Every burden he must bear.
There is sunshine in the presence
Of our blessed King of kings;
And the heart that truly loves Him,
Of His matchless goodness sings.
Tell, O, tell me, brother pilgrim,
Have you found this blessed way?
Are you dwelling in the sunshine
Of His presence day by day?
Good Friday and Easter
By Arthur L. Manous
Historical Facts Concerning These Church Festivals
By Arthur L. Manous
1. What is said of the name “Good Friday” and its origin?
a. “Good Friday, the name applied by the Church of England to the Friday before Easter, sacred as commemorating the crucifixion of our Lord.”—“The Americana,” article “Good Friday.”
b. “Good Friday, the usual English name for the day observed throughout a great part of Christendom as the anniversary of the passion and death of Christ. . . . The origin of the custom of a yearly commemoration of the crucifixion is involved in some obscurity.”—“Encyclopædia Britannica,” the New Warner edition, 1903, volume 10, page 774, article “Good Friday.”
A FAST DAY
2. What is “Good Friday” said to be?
a. “Good Friday, a fast of the Christian church, in memory of the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ.”—“Buck’s Theological Dictionary,” article “Good Friday.”
b. “At present, in the Greek and Roman Catholic churches, Good Friday is a solemn fast.”—“The Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia,” 1906, volume 3, page 2378, article “Good Friday.”
WHEN OBSERVED
3. When is this “Good Friday” fast observed?
a. “The Friday before Easter, observed in commemoration of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.”—“The Columbian Encyclopedia.”
b. “It is observed on Friday in Passion Week, and is called, by way of eminence, ‘good,’ because of the good effects of our Saviour’s sufferings.”—“Buck’s Theological Dictionary,” article “Good Friday.”
THE DAY OF THE WEEK
4. What day of the week is Friday?
a. “Friday. The sixth day of the week, following Thursday and preceding Saturday.”—Webster’s dictionary, article “Friday.”
b. “Good Friday, the sixth day of the week before Easter, called Good Friday in acknowledgment of the benefit derived from the death of Christ. Among the Saxons it was denominated Long Friday, perhaps in allusion to the length of the fast.”—McClintock and Strong’s “Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature,” volume 3, page 923, article “Good Friday.”
THE PREPARATION DAY
5. What were God’s people anciently instructed to do on the sixth day of the week?
“On the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” Ex. 16:5.
6. For whom was this Bible instruction written?
a. “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Rom. 15:4.
b. “They are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Cor. 10:11.
8. Because it was the preparation and the day before the Sabbath, what did the Jews say?
“And because it was the preparation [that is, Friday, margin], the Jews said: These bodies must not remain all night upon the cross: because the Sabbath was dawning [or, coming on, margin]; and the day of that Sabbath was a great day,” etc. John 19:31; Murdock’s Syriac Translation.
9. When Jesus was crucified on the preparation day, what did His followers do?
“They returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56; Ex. 20:8-11.167
10. What is further said of the sixth day of the week, Friday, as a preparation day?
a. “Preparation, or preparation day, is the term for Friday, because on that day preparation was made and meals cooked for the Sabbath.”—Schaff’s “Bible Dictionary,” article “Preparation.”
b. “Preparation . . . (Greek, paraskeue, making ready), is the term used for Friday, because that on that day preparation was made and meals cooked for the Sabbath.”—“The Popular and Critical Bible Cyclopedia,” article “Preparation.”
c. “Good Friday. The liturgical of Good Friday, especially among the Latins, is ‘day of preparation.’ Among the Jews that was the name of every Friday as the day of preparation for the following Sabbath.”—“The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,” article “Holy Week.”
EASTER SUNDAY
A CHURCH FESTIVAL
11. What is Easter said to be?
a. “It is the chief feast of the whole year, as being the solemnity of our Lord’s resurrection.”—“Catholic Christian Instructed,” page 260.
b. “Easter, the greatest festival of Christendom, observed in commemoration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.”—Elias B. Sanford’s “Cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,” page 269, article “Easter.”
c. “Easter, the annual festival observed throughout Christendom in commemoration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.”—“Encyclopædia Britannica,” the New Warner edition, 1903, volume 7, page 614, article “Easter.”
d. “An annual church festival commemorating Christ’s resurrection, and occurring on Sunday, the second day after Good Friday. It corresponds to Pascha or Passover of the Jews.”—Webster’s International Dictionary, article “Easter.”
THE DAY OF THE RESURRECTION
12. On which day of the week did Christ arise from the dead?
“Now when He [Christ] was risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.” Mark 16:9, A. R. V.
13. What is said of the resurrection day?
“The day of the resurrection assumed more and more the character of the Teutonic and Slavonic spring festival with all its pagan rites and festive symbols.”—“The Jewish Cyclopedia,” volume 5, page 29, article “Easter.”
NO SCRIPTURAL COMMAND
14. Does the New Testament speak of the celebration of an Easter institution?
a. “There is no trace of the celebration of Easter as a Christian festival in the New Testament or in the writings of the apostolic fathers.”—“Encyclopædia Britannica,” the New Warner edition, 1903, volume 7, page 614, article “Easter.”
b. “It was not until after apostolic times that this festival became an instituted observance of the Christian church.”—Elias B. Sanford’s “Cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,” page 269, article “Easter.”
c. “The ecclesiastical historian Socrates (His. Eccl. 5:22) states with perfect truth that neither Christ nor His apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival. ‘The apostles,’ he writes, ‘had no thought of appointing festival days, but of promoting a life of blamelessness and piety;’ and he attributes the introduction of the festival of Easter into the church to the perpetuation of an old usage, ‘just as many other customs have been established.’ This is doubtless the true statement of the case.”—“Encyclopædia Britannica,” the New Warner edition, 1903, volume 7, page 614, article “Easter.”
“And when he [Herod] had apprehended him [Peter], he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter [the Passover, R. V.] to bring him forth to the people.” Acts 12:4.
15. What is said of Easter in this passage?
a. “There never was a more absurd or unhappy translation than this. The original is simply ‘after the Passover.’”—Barnes’s notes on Acts 12:4.
b. “Tyndale, in his translation of the Bible into English in 1526, used this word [Easter] instead of ‘Passover,’ and our English translators in 1611 retained it in their version. But there was no Christian feast called ‘Easter’ in the days of Peter. And the word Pascha, which is here translated ‘Easter,’ means Passover, and should have been so translated.”—Note on Acts 12:4, in the New Testament with notes, issued by the American Tract Society, 1862.
c. “Easter (Eastre, Saxon goddess). The day commemorative of Christ’s resurrection. Wrongly associated with the Saxon Easter festival, and the Jewish Passover feast, but corrected in R. V., Acts 12:4.”—James P. Boyd’s “Bible Dictionary,” article “Easter.”
THE WORD “EASTER”
16. What is said of the origin of the word “Easter”?
a. “‘Easter’ is a word of Saxon origin, and imports a goddess of the East.”—Watson’s “Theological Dictionary,” article “Easter.”
b. “Easter (originally the festival of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eastre), a mistranslation for ‘Passover,’ the Jewish feast. Acts 12:4.”—Schaff’s “Bible Dictionary,” article “Easter.”
c. “The word ‘Easter,’—Anglo-Saxon, Eastre, Easter; German, Ostern,—like the names of the days of the week, is a survival from the old Teutonic mythology.”—“Encyclopædia Britannica,” the New Warner edition, 1903, volume 7, page 613, article “Easter.”
d. “The word ‘Easter’ is of Saxon origin, and is supposed to be derived from Eastre, the goddess of love, or the Venus of the North, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated by our pagan ancestors in the month of April.”—Dr. Barnes’s notes on Acts 12:4.
Now, dear reader, these, in brief, are some of the principal historical facts regarding “Good Friday” and “Easter Sunday”; and they reveal the truth that these festival days were not established either by Christ or His apostles, but that they came into the church from paganism after the apostolic days, as have many other customs now among us. These days, and in fact, as we are told, all “Sundays and holidays all stand upon the same foundation, namely, the ordinance of the [Catholic] church.”—“Catholic Christian Instructed,” page 253.
The Object in Permitting Suffering
By Adelaide D. Wellman
ONE of the tersest writers the world knows, brings up anew a hackneyed subject. Certainly he would not do so if he did not have something unhackneyed to say about it. Here is what he says: “Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end [purpose] of the Lord.” James 5:11.
Doubtless, as James states, “ye have heard of the patience of Job”; but I am not quite sure that the purpose of Job’s suffering has been generally seen. Nor do most people understand why any innocent person should have to suffer, if, as declared in the same scripture, the Lord is very pitiful.
Things look much as if He did not concern Himself about the inhabitants of this world, or else were not the all-powerful Being He is depicted.
A brief statement of the case may enable some to comprehend more clearly the design of the Infinite.
The Creator, in the beginning, defined conditions that were necessary to human welfare—very easy conditions, not in the least168oppressive or irksome. However, as He would not put His creatures on the level with mere machines, He left each one free to choose whether he would comply with these conditions or not.
One individual, out of vanity, chose to rebel. He declared that God was dictatorial in putting His creatures under restrictions; that such a course was an infringement of individual liberty; that the requirements were useless, and moreover, were impossible of fulfilment.
The universe had never before heard a falsehood, and they were bewildered by these. Even the omniscient God was at a disadvantage in trying to refute Satan’s misrepresentation; for while the evil one had recourse to every trick he could devise in order to deceive, the Father could use only straightforward means.
What could He do to convince the inhabitants of all the worlds, that right is right, and wrong is wrong?—Just what He has done—let results demonstrate; let the rebel power carry its evil principles far enough that every intelligent being in all the universe shall see that the Creator’s way is best.
Then all who are in harmony with that perfect way, will rejoice in it evermore; but those who would yield only unwilling acquiescence, will cease to be, for perfunctory submission is incompatible with “the object of the Lord.” ADELAIDE D. WELLMAN.
Exhortation on “Let”
By John Norton Loughborough
“LET Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.” Ps. 130:7. “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.” Lam. 3:40. “Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.” Lam. 3:41. “Let love be without dissimulation.” Rom. 12:9. “Let us walk honestly, as in the day.” Rom. 13:13. “Let us not therefore judge one another any more.” Rom. 14:13. “Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.” Rom. 15:2. “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” Rom. 14:19. “Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Gal. 6:9.
“Let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Gal. 6:10. “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” Phil. 3:15. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised.)” Heb. 10:23. “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” Heb. 10:24. “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.” Heb. 12:1.
“By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” Heb. 13:15. “Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life.” 1 John 2:24, 25.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
True Happiness
By H. E. Sawyer-Hopkins
The Creator formed this world for man's happiness. “The beauty that covers the earth is a token of God's love. We may behold it in the everlasting hills, in the lofty trees, in the opening buds and delicate flowers.” He daily crowns us with blessings. Time and space would not permit us to enumerate all of God's bountiful gifts that He literally showers upon us.
“Rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.” Deut. 26: 11. The apostle James says, “Count them happy which endure.”
There Is Health in It
The wise man says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” “Gratitude, rejoicing, benevolence, trust in God's love and care—these are health's greatest safeguards. To the Israelites they were to be the very keynote of life.”
What is ever gained by murmuring and complaining because of blessings withheld? Our great Benefactor says, “No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” But “happiness is not in things, but in us.”
A life of usefulness is the road that leads to true happiness. “A thousand doors are open before us.” “Often we lament the scanty resources available; but were Christians thoroughly in earnest, they could multiply the resources a thousandfold. It is selfishness, self-indulgence, that bars the way to our usefulness.”
H. E. Sawyer-Hopkins.
Intoxicating Liquor Among English Schoolchildren
It is estimated, says the Alliance News, that there are some two million school children throughout England who are addicted to the use of intoxicating liquor.
Improving Every Moment
“LIFE is an important thing, a sacred trust; and every moment should be wisely improved, for its results will be seen in eternity.”