Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

_'', . ., .citizens."citizenship"., ._Isaac was the heir would be a joy toall ages even down to us.Imagine how happy and joyful Sarahand Abraham must have been when Godfulfilled His promise of a son to be theirheir! Abraham and Sarah learned whatwe all must believe, that God alwayskeeps His promises. It makes no difference how hard the promise is to keep,nothing is too hard for God. Do notforget that God can do all things.God's promises are just as sure today.God loves to have us trust Him andprove His promises. God's love for uswill be forever. Our salvation is forever,If you will accept the Lord Jesus Christas your Savior, God will keep His prom-ise and give you eternal life-John 3:3.Topics for you to discuss:1. Why did Sarah laugh? Is anythingtoo hard for the Lord?SABBATH SCHOOL LESSONSeptember 12, 1954by Rev. Joseph A. Hill(Lessons based an International Sunday SchoolLessons ; the International Bible Lessons foxChristian Teaching, copyrighted by the International Council of Religious Education.''CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP ANDCOOPERATIONLesson material: Acts 6:1-6; Romans12:9-16; 13:1-10; / Corinthians 3:4-9;Galatians 5 :13-15.Pnnted Text: Passages above in Italics.There is no church which carries theimplications of Biblical principles sofar int0 the sPhere of government andP^tical action as does the Covenanter^^^ ur view of Christian civilgovernment and citizenship,includingthe principle of dissent, is just the con-sisutent application of the truth of theBlb1^' nothing or less' However,we do not stand alone in applying the,,,,,,2. Why was Abraham called the Fath- tmth Qf the BiWe to national> politicaler of the Faithful? Rom. 4and dvil sphereg of activity Qne of3. What is the Covenant of Grace? the rich legacies of the Protestant Ref-4. What four great things did God ormation to the Church in general ispromise Abraham?5. Give some reasons why Isaac wasan appropriate name for son of Abrahamindividual duties of citizenship. ChrisandSarah.-T6. Name some other miracle births thethe reaffirmation of the great principlesof national responsibility to God and oftians everywhere acknowledge these.. -i v . +ubasic truths of God's Word. They agree. ,that good citizenshipJ. .means Christiancitizenship. We should rejoice that thereis a general acknowledgement of such. , ,,TFor your Notebook : , . , . , ,Fill in these blanks in your notebook.basic truths m the Church today.There is>however) a basic error that1. Abraham was called a we should try to avoid in our workof God and the of many toward the Christian Amendment. Thatnations.is the fallacy that the unsaved can be"good, Scripture teaches that2 and were"goodis part of the,T"fruitthe mother and father of Isaac. ., ..,,/T. ,, ,of the Spirit and that only the re-3. was the son of promise, generate can be good citizens. One of4. Isaac's name means5. Abraham made a greatthe same day thatweaned.wasthe stumbling-blocks in the way of theChristian Amendment Movement is thenon-Christian. And one of the errors inthe church's work in this field is thatno radical distinction is made between6. Because we are born in sin we the Christian and the non-Christian.are to Satan. What Biblical warrant is there for thenotion that a non-Christian can "devout-, J ,7. God says we must bely recognize the authority and law of8. If we are born again we are no Jesus Christ..."?more slaves to Satan, but we are theTo the leader:The one passage assigned for today'sof God. lesson which deals specifically withFor the flash card, paste a picture ofChristian citizenship is Romans 13:1-10.For an excellent discussion of this pass-age, see "Blue Banner Faith and Life,"a baby. Over it print in large letters JulySeptember, 1952, pp. 140-145;the word, PROMISE, and beneath it October-December, 1952, pp. 174-176,the reference of the memory verse. Forwhere the outline of this passage is asthe review this week, mix the cards and follows :let each junior draw one. Then let each I. The Christian's Civil Obligations, Rogivethe memory verse and tell what the mans 13:1-7story was about. You might omit the 1. Subjection unto the Higherstory telling and let them draw the Powers, 13:1, 2.cards several times so that more 2. The Functions and Powers ofmemory verses would be reviewed by Civil Government, 13: 3, 4each one.3. The Christian's Proper AttitudeToward the Civil Government,13:5-7.II. The Christian's Social Obligations,Romans 13:8-101. Obligations in Human Society tobe Discharged, 13 :82. The Obligation of Love to ourNeighbor, 13:9, 10.A few quotations from the materialreferred to above should be sufficient topromote some class discussion."We are to obey the magistrates, because they derive their authority fromGod.Not only is human governmenta divine institution, but the form inwhich that government exists, and thepersons by whom its functions are exercised, are determined by His providence . . . There is no limitation to theinjunction of this verse (1), so far asthe objects of obedience are concerned,although there is as to the extent of theobedience itself. That is, we are boundto obey all that is in actual authorityover us, whether their authority belegitimate or usurped, whether they arejust or unjust. The actual reigningemperor was to be obeyed by the RomanChristians, whatever they might thinkas to his title to the sceptre. But if hetranscended his authority, and requiredof them to worship idols, they were toobey God rather than man. This is thelimitation to all human authority. Whenever obedience to man is inconsistentwith obedience to God, then disobedience becomes a duty (Charles Hodge)."(p. 141).Verses 3, 4: "Here Paul states anadditional reason for obedience tomagistrates: not only is obedience ourChristian duty, but magistrates are forthe purpose of restraining evil and promoting good. Briefly stated, the func. .tion of civil government as establishedby God is to administer justice in human (p. 142).society""State regulation and control of industry, business, etc., are not necessarilywrong. They are legitimate just to theextent that they are truly necessaryfor the maintaining of justice . . . Butthe tendency for the state to overstepall bounds and take over more and moreof human life is certainly wrong andcontrary to God's plan revealed in theBible"(P. 142)."Paul teaches, also, that the civilmagistrate is authorized to use force forthe restraint of evil and the punishmentof. evildoers(13:4b). The use of thesword implies the death penalty. Thisin turn implies the power of lesserpenalties in the administration of justice. If the state has the God-given authority to punish murder with death, italso has the God-given authority to punish theft, arson or perjury with fine orimprisonment"(p. 143).August 25, 1954 127