1 Chronicles 29:22 And did eat and drink before the LORD on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time… When Solomon was anointed to be chief governor, and Zadok to be priest, Israel acknowledged dependence upon God and loyalty to God in the two realms of civil and ecclesiastical life. The Hebrew nation was a theocracy, and however it may now be possible to separate between these two realms, it was not possible the. Without entering into any controversy, we may accept from this text the following suggestions: - I. BOTH CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL LIFE ARE FROM GOD. Our Creator has constituted us social beings, and social we are and must be. By this necessity it is established that mutual help and due order and subordination are from God. All attempts to violate these fundamental principles of human nature have issued in disastrous failure. II. THE SAME PERSONS ARE UNITED TO BOTH ORGANIZATIONS ALIKE. A man's being citizen is not inconsistent with his being a member of a Christian Church. So far from there being any incompatibility between the two relations, they are mutually helpful each to the other. III. IN BOTH RELATIONS MEN NEED REPRESENTATivES, LEADERS, ADMINISTRATORS. As in Israel there was king and priest, so in modern Christian society we not only need sovereigns, presidents, judges, legislators, etc., but we need also bishops, pastors, mode-raters, add officers of various kinds. IV. ORGANIZATIONS AND OFFICIALS, BOTH CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL, ARE INTENDED FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD. The end of such institutions and appointments is to be sought, not in private interests, or emolument, or power, but in the well-being of the body politic. V. CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL POWERS MAY BE HELPFUL TO EACH OTHER. States are bound to protect the Churches in the profession and propagation of religious faith with all possible liberty. And Christian Churches are under a sacred obligation to seek the order, welfare, and peace of the community. The relations between spiritual springs and political mechanism will often involve difficulty, but from the relations themselves there can be no escape, for they are divinely ordained. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: And did eat and drink before the LORD on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the LORD to be the chief governor, and Zadok to be priest. |
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