Guten Morgen!
Prayers up to the Lord for another day in His service!
This morning as we turn our attention to the next chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith, Ch. 23 On the Civil Magistrate, it is worthwhile to take a second and think about what God intends with politics and the Kingdom of Power.
The basic teaching of Scripture is that our civil government is there to keep people safe in the midst of a fallen and sinful world. They are to stand guard for the blessing of those given under their care and ensure that the citizens of the nation can freely exercise their free liberties and rights in the Lord. They are a necessary gift, and not just a providential work, but something ordered by Christ for our good.
A pertinent Biblical example of where it comes from and why it is there can be found in Exodus 18 where there is a problem: Moses has to figure out how to organize and deal with hundreds of thousands of people as they cross the Wilderness. His father-in-law Jethro has some advice:
Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.” -- Exodus 18:21-23
Notice something about the four-fold requirement for leaders in government:
1) They must be able. In other words, they need to show themselves capable to do the job. See Saul and his donkeys as a major red flag.
2) They must fear God. This is a shorthand way of saying they must bow the knee to Christ and recognize His Divine Right.
3) They must be men of truth. As they rule and as they live their heart interest must be in what is God-ordained and revealed.
4) The must hate covetousness. Here is something that confirms the age old warning about corruption. Men given authority without the other attributes will abuse it.
One of the things that makes this chapter so important for us today is that we do not live in an age where the civil magistrate feels bound to restrict himself to these basic principles. Our government has become a god unto itself, making decrees and enforcing actions not just out of accord with the Bible, but without restraint or common sense. Does it seem like they fit those four requirements given by Jethro?
The Divines placed this into our Confession of Faith because they knew what can happen when the State forgets that they are as much under the authority of Jesus Christ as the Church, and will have to give an account to the Lord at the end of days for how they served Him.
Here is what Ch. 23 in the ARP Westminster Confession says that a Godly mayor, judge, president, etc... should consider his calling while in office:
Magistrates as such, are bound to execute their respective offices in a subserviency [to Christ] thereunto, administering government on Christian principles, and ruling in the fear of God, according to the directions of His Word; as those who shall give an account to the Lord Jesus, whom God hath appointed to be the judge of the world. Hence, magistrates, as such, in a Christian country, are bound to promote the Christian religion, as the most valuable interest of their subjects...
What a blessing it would be if this paragraph was the norm instead of a very rare mercy. One of the things Paul enjoins us to pray for is the civil authorities so that we would live peaceable lives and that the gospel of Jesus Christ would be privileged to be preached with boldness and without fear of State persecution. May we be sure to be praying for this to be the case, and trust that our prayers and our faithful calling out to those in authority over us to remember their responsibility will be honored. It is the case that it will be a fearful thing for presidents and governors who ignore this plea to fall into the hands of Christ in the day of judgment. May their hearts be changed and their desires be moved to seek the praise of the Lord rather than the praise of men.
Today's reading is not a reading at all, but an audio sermon from Gavin Beers on National Religion:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=81312934224
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church