Early Church Sermons – Part 1

THE RIGHTEOUS REMAIN SILENT – ELECTION SERMON

By Reverend Jedidiah Morse -1799

“If the foundations are destroyed, what are the righteous to do?” Psalm 11:3

Our dangers are of two kinds, those that affect our religion, and those which affect our government. They are, however, so closely allied that they cannot, with propriety, be separated. The foundations which support the interest of Christianity, are also necessary to support a free and equal government like our own….

To the kindly interest of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either thru unbelief or the corruption of its doctrine, or the neglect of its institutions; in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom, and approximate the miseries of complete despotism. I hold this to be a truth by experience. If so, it follows, that all efforts made to destroy the foundations of our holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness. Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them.

Source: The American’s Patriot Bible

http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/sandoz-political-sermons-of-the-american-founding-era-vol-2-1789-1805

A SERMON FOR THE DAY OF GENERAL ELECTION

“SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE”

by Reverend David Tappan-1792

Thou leddest thy People like a Flock, the Hands of Moses and Aaron. Psalm 77: 20

“The latter part of the verse, presents the subordinate and united agency of Moses and Aaron,… [the] prime ministers of their civil and ecclesiastical polity…. [W]e will endeavour to mark out the two different provinces of Moses and Aaron, or of the ruler and the priest; the beneficent influence of each upon the public welfare; and the several ways, in which they may and ought to befriend and assist each other in leading the people of God….The discriminating genius of the two departments may be thus defined. The one has for its immediate object, the temporal interest of mankind; the other, their spiritual and everlasting. The one aims to regulate their outward behaviour, so far as to restrain them from injuring one another or the public, and engage their contributions to the common welfare: The other contemplates the due regulation of the heart, as well as the overt-acts which issue from that source…. [Therefore] the same good spirit, which inspired Moses and Aaron,… distinguished the political and religious fathers of Massachusetts. The rulers of the state, were at the same time members and pillars of the church….For this purpose, they readily co-operated with the schemes and endeavours of worthy clergymen… The advice and influence of the priesthood were likewise ever at hand, to aid and succeed the operations of the magistrate, and to promote the civil, as well as religious interests of the people. It is granted, indeed, that our ancestors carried this union of church and state, to an unwarrantable length….[L]et [us] with the most grateful emotions, celebrate that united agency of Moses and Aaron, which, under God, laid such early and noble foundations of freedom and order…”

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CHRISTIAN PATRIOT

Rev. Mellish Irving Motte-1840

“…The good of our country should be provided for, as in the sight of God, and in sacred love to our fellow-men….Men seem to think they may hold what opinions, and belong to what parties they please, without regard to their truth or effects, except as affecting themselves; as if politics were a lawless region,…Politics should be but one form of that charity which is the end of the divine law….For, if political parties with us cannot be Christian parties, then are we a godless nation; there can be few Christians throughout the length and breadth of the land… Therefore, every immoral republican is a traitor and conspirator against his government….If a majority of the citizens were sincere followers of Jesus Christ… the councils of this nation would be wiser and mightier…. Read the constitution by the light of the Gospel.”

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ELECTION SERMON

By the Reverend Daniel Foster – 1790

Proverbs 8:16. By Me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth

“…We have assembled in the House of God… to seek his direction and blessing upon our Political Fathers here present… that the men of God here… may be furnished to every good work…. Civil government, then, is ordained of God in the hands of the Mediator [Christ]… for the existence and happiness of society… For without it, the affairs of mankind would fall into the utmost confusion and disorder. ..If religion is not honored and supported by men in places of public trust, the glory of the Lord will soon depart, and the fire of God be scattered over the city.”

LOVE OF COUNTRY

The Reverend Thomas Skinner –1850

Psalm 137:5-6 “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.”

“…For if the love of country be excluded by the predominance of that heavenly-mindedness which the Gospel inculcates, so are the love of neighborhood, and the love of domestic relations, and all the endearments of friendship, and all local attachments, and the pursuits of business, and labors for a household provision, and whatever else is necessary to the continued existence of man in this world…. therefore, while an enlightened love of country must zealously promote the Education of the People, it must, while pursuing this object, be mainly intent on their Evangelization…

Ministers of the Gospel are not to hold themselves aloof from observing or criticizing the doings of magistrates and politicians. The kingdom of Christ, though not of this world, is over all kings and kingdoms, and governments of whatsoever kind; and of this kingdom the earthly administrators are Ministers of the Gospel; and if they do not appropriately assert the universal supremacy of its Lord and its laws, there is no unfaithfulness so great as that of which they are guilty…. Ministers of Christ “to speak evil of dignities;” they should esteem, and teach all men to esteem civil order… The heart of the nation must be pure, and to this end Christianity must preside in the schools; and educational training, from the beginning and throughout, must be kept under the control and sway of the Word of God….The Union of Virtue and Intelligence In The People. If it prevail in our legislative bodies, and the Bible be banished by law from the Common Schools, then as our legislation will be against the government of God… In conclusion, let us bear in mind, with grateful wonder and praise, that, while as Christians, the love of country is not only allowed, but required of us by our Holy Religion…”

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CHRISTIAN PATRIOT

By Rev. Mellish Irving Motte-1840

“…The good of our country should be provided for, as in the sight of God, and in sacred love to our fellow-men….Men seem to think they may hold what opinions, and belong to what parties they please, without regard to their truth or effects, except as affecting themselves; as if politics were a lawless region,…Politics should be but one form of that charity which is the end of the divine law….For, if political parties with us cannot be Christian parties, then are we a godless nation; there can be few Christians throughout the length and breadth of the land… Therefore, every immoral republican is a traitor and conspirator against his government….If a majority of the citizens were sincere followers of Jesus Christ… the councils of this nation would be wiser and mightier…. Read the constitution by the light of the Gospel.”

http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=153209

PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CHARACTER OF RULERS

Henry Van Dyke – 2//1895

“God ordains the power but He ordains it to fit the people…..[I]n a republic the truth emerges distinct and vivid, so that a child can read it. The rulers are chosen from the people by the people…. But what has all this to do with religion and the Church? Just this: a free church in a free state must exercise a direct and dominant moral influence upon the tone of domestic and political life…. Let the Church shed the light of warning and reproof upon the immoral citizen who enjoys the benefits of citizenship and evades its responsibilities; the dishonest merchant who uses part of his gains to purchase political protection and his good reputation to cover the transaction; the recreant preacher who denounces the corruptions of government “down in Judee” and ignores the same corruptions in the United States…. Above all let the Church shed the light of honor and glory… of the most high God…”

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OUR GOVERNMENT IS NOW IN THE HANDS OF THE WICKED

By the Reverend William Morison – 1792

… “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers; for there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God.” … I say that the fear of God is a protecting and nursing parent for order and good government….Thus,… civil government…is also of divine appointment…. [R]eligious liberty should never be carried to far, as to drop religion altogether from government. To do this is to drop the idea of the existence of God….When God is about to do anything great and good for a people he raises up good and great men to govern in their public counsels; but when he is a bout to punish a people for their crimes, or do disgrace them for their transgressions, he has nothing more to do than to permit the government to fall into the hands of the weak or the wicked, and… the ruin of the nation is inevitable…. Finally, my fathers in government… What pains can we feel or fear of political evils? You are acting upon the firm basis of a constitution founded under God upon the voice of the people… whose moral government you represent.”

http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/sandoz-political-sermons-of-the-american-founding-era-vol-2-1789-1805

THE NECESSITY OF THE BELIEF OF CHRISTIANITY

By Reverend Jonathan Edwards, Jr.-1794

“Yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord” Psalm 144:15

In this passage of sacred scripture, that people is pronounced happy, whose God is the Lord….The Lord was the God of the Israelites, when they complied with the dispensation, under which they lived; and he is our God, when we cordially believe and comply with the gospel….Therefore the subject… is this, the necessity of a belief of Christianity by the citizens of this state, in order to our public and political prosperity….The great foundations of religion and virtue are, the moral perfections of God, his moral government, the rule of our duty…

The reverend pastors of the churches, who are present,… who are employed in the work of the ministry.… We are interested in the prosperity of the state,… [i]t is our business to study and teach Christianity, and thus to promote the political good of the state, as well as the spiritual good of the souls of our hearers….Therefore if we have any love to religion and the souls of men; nay if we have any public spirit and love to our country, let us diligently study the evidences, the nature, the doctrines and duties of Christianity, and inculcate them with all plainness, assiduity and perseverance, giving line upon line and precept upon precept.”

 

http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/sandoz-political-sermons-of-the-american-founding-era-vol-1-1730-1788–5

THE LORD IS THE PILLAR OF GOVERNMENT

Reverend Benjamin Colman-1730

He maketh poor and maketh rich, He bringeth low and lifteth up: He raiseth up the poor out of Dust, and lifteth up the Beggar from the Dunghill; to set them among Princes, and make them inherit the Throne of Glory; For the Pillars of the Earth are the Lord’s, and He hath set the World upon them.  – 1 Samuel 2:8

“Great things are here said of God, and of his government, in the families and kingdoms of men.… The things said of these pillars of the earth are… very great: “They are the Lord’s, and He has set the World upon them.[”] That is to say, The order and happiness of this lower world, the peace and weal of it, depend on the civil government which God has ordained in it….The government is laid on Christ because in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is the wisdom of God and the power of God….

Integrity, uprightness, faithfulness added to knowledge and wisdom, makes men strong and beautiful pillars, whether in church or state….As government is the pillar of the earth, so religion is the pillar of government. Take away the fear of GOD’s government & judgment, and humane rule utterly falls, or corrupts into tyranny. But if religion rule in the hearts and lives of rulers, GOD will have glory, and the people be made happy….

Christ will erect a monumental pillar, that shall stand for ever, in honour of all them who in their station here, be they high or low, faithfully endeavour to uphold his church and kingdom….Infinitely more glory and honour shall be done to him who serves the Lord CHRIST, his kingdom, people and interest, in his life here on earth: When he comes into his temple above he shall have a pillar of celestial glory rear’d to eternize his name; and on it shall be written (O divine honour!) “This was a faithful Servant of his GOD, and Saviour, and of the Church on Earth.[”]

 

http://morallaw.org/resources/political-sermons/

The Relation of Christianity to Civil Government in the United States:

By Reverend. J. Adams 1833

“Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.—“l Peter 3:15. “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.—“Proverbs 14: 34. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever. Revelation” 11:15.

“As Christianity was designed by its Divine Author to subsist until the end of time, it was indispensable, that it should be capable of adapting itself to all states of society, and to every condition of mankind….No nation on earth, is more dependent than our own, for its welfare, on the perservation and general belief and influence of Christianity among us….No power less efficacious than Christianity, can permanently maintain the public tranquillity of the country and the authority of law. We must be a Christian nation, if we wish to continue a free nation. We must make our election;- to be swayed by the gentle reign of moral and Christian principle, or ultimately, if not soon, by the iron rod of arbitrary rule….Again, what has Christianity done for our own nation? The answer is once more; much, very much….

Our regard for the civil inheritance, bequeathed us by our fathers, leads us to guard it with the most jealous vigilance. And shall we permit our religious inheritance, which in their estimation was of still higher value and is of infinitely more enduring interest, to be takes from us without a struggle? Are we not convinced, that if our religion is once undermined, it will be succeeded by a decline of public and private morals, and by the destruction of those high and noble qualities of character, for which as a community we have been so much distinguished. Christianity, in its integrity, will never perish; the gates of Hell, shall never prevail against the Church of God.”

 

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RULERS SHOULD FEAR THE LORD AND SERVE JESUS

ELECTION SERMON

By Reverend Zebulon Ely – 1804

Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little: blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Psalm 2:10-12

The instruction contained in the passage may be summed up in the following observation, viz. It is the wisdom and duty of kings, judges, and of all in authority among men, how exalted soever their stations may be, to serve the Lord and be the friends of Jesus….

Since God hath given us his word to this end, we cannot serve him unless we receive and treat it as a complete rule in these respects….

The rules given us in scripture to regulate our practice, must surely be observed, or our service can never be acceptable….

They point out our duty as men, as rational accountable creatures, which is summarily comprised in loving God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves….

They point out our duty in all our natural, ecclesiastic and civil relations….

Be it then observed, and ever remembered, that the scriptures contain most excellent rules for kings, judges and all in authority among men; and for all their subjects….

That a ruler should be a man of truth…a hater of covetousness is requisite to render him amiable and respectable, a public blessing instead of a scourge….

Good rulers, by their authority and example, will awe and restrain the wicked, reward and encourage the righteous. When such men are in place, integrity is held in repute and the sacred rites of religion are respected….[Therefore] The wisest men and highest potentates on earth can have no better rule than the word of God….

Hence rulers of every description, whether acting in a legislative, judiciary, or executive capacity, will do wisely to consult the sacred oracles. Enacting laws they will never lose sight of the Divine moral law

Kings, judges and all in authority among men, however elevated their rank are accountable to God, under his government, subject to his laws. It must therefore be their wisdom and their duty to serve him. They are officers whom the Supreme Ruler, the King of kings, hath in his providence appointed as his subordinate gents,…

But whatever, dear Christian brethren, may be the fate of our state and nation, of this one thing we rest assured, that as Christ lives the church shall live also.”

 

CHRACTER QUALIFICATIONS FOR OUR RULERS COME FROM GOD

A Sermon delivered by Reverend Jedidiah Morse – July 23, 1812

If America is to endure, God-fearing leaders must be elected who would conform their own behavior and public policies to a standard that would please God and bring His blessings on our nation. Christians must warn our leaders the path of destruction there on, for the Glory of God.

“Rulers are “ministers to God” to the people “for good”; they are “revengers to execute upon him that doeth evil” [Romans 13:4]. They are to be a terror not to good works but to evil [Romans 13:3]. Their laws are to be conformable to the laws of God….Human laws, therefore, in order to be obeyed, must accord with the laws of God; for where they differ, God is to be obeyed rather than man [Acts : 5:29]….How can an infidel, who fears not God nor believes His Word nor regards His law, be a minister of God for good? Would not such a man, if made a ruler, in all probability be a terror to good works and not to evil?…Let us resolutely resolve that we will spare no exertions to elect such rulers as God shall approve. This, believe me, is the only course of relief and safety to our afflicted country. Under rulers of no other character has any Christian nation ever flourished for any length of time. Under rulers of a different stamp, nations have always degenerated and been finally brought to desolation and ruin.”

Source: The Founders Bible

 

ELECTION SERMON

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Election Sermon by Jesse Appleton – 05/25/1814

….”What are the solid foundations of the tranquility and happiness of states?…It depends on the knowledge and fidelity of parents, whether their children shall be seasonably taught the being, perfections, and government of God…Do you believe, that any state, community, or nation can be powerful, tranquil, and permanently happy, if their morals are extensively depraved? Would not the most alarming depravation of morals result from a general disbelief of the Christian religion?…If Christianity is the most powerful guardian of morals, are you not, as Civilians, bound to give it your support and patronage?”

 

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Election Sermon by Reverend Josiah Whitney-1788

“Thou shalt provide out of all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them.”. Exodus 18:21

“Religion is often expressed in the sacred writings, by some eminent grace, or exercise of it, either by faith in God — or by the love of God — or by the fear of God, as in our text and many other places….[R]ulers should fear God, is evident from scripture. — The man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, with an inspired soul tells us, what God said to him.—The God of Israel said, the rock of Israel spake unto me, he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God….Jehoshaphat, a pious king gave the following charge to persons, who were designated to places of trust, Take heed what ye do, for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord; wherefore let the fear of God be before you.—Nehemiah, a devout governor gave Hananiah charge over Jerusalem, because he was a faithful man, and feared God above many. These things which were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we should have our eyes upon men of religion, in the choice of rulers….The religion which rulers should have, and by which their lives and conduct should be governed, is the religion of Jesus, which eminently teaches the fear of God….”

 

REPENTENCE AND REFORMATION FOR AMERICA TODAY

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Election Sermon by Reverend James Cogswell-1771

Jeremiah 18: 7-10.

At what Instant I shall speak concerning a Nation, and concerning a Kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it: If that Nation against whom I have pronounced, turn from their Evil I will repent of the Evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what Instant I shall speak concerning a Nation, and concerning a Kingdom to build and to plant it: If it do Evil in my Sight, that it obey not my Voice, then I will repent of the Good wherewith I said I would Benefit them.

“It is worthy of Observation, that the Declarations made in our Text relative to God’s providential Dispensations, are not confined to the Jews; they are of a general Nature, and published in an indefinite Manner:…Thus God speaks to us now, and surely the Man of Wisdom will hear what God speaketh to the City and to the Country…. That if a People have revolted from God, Repentance and Reformation will be the surest and best Means to prevent their Ruin, and restore them to the Divine Favour….

The prevalence of Irreligion and Wickedness have a dreadful Tendency to the Destruction of a People: As Righteousness exalts a Nation, so Sin is a reproach to any People….“If Magistrates have the Characters of Rulers of Sodom, it may be expected that their Subjects will be the People of Gomorrah.”…

This brings me to the last Observation;…In brief, it appears clearly that Repentance and Reformation are that one Thing needful at this Day, on which our political and temporal Salvation, as well as our eternal depends; and that God justly expects that we, above all others, should be sensible of it, and endeavour to promote them. This then should engross our Thoughts, engage our Solicitude, and employ our Time.”

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=UFstAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA135#v=onepage&q&f=false

We All Are Christian Politicians

The Duty of Christian Freemen to Elect Christian Rulers

By Reverend Ezra Stiles-1827

“Let it be distinctly stated and fearlessly maintained in the first place, that every member of this Christian nation, from the highest to the lowest, ought to serve the Lord with fear, and yield His sincere homage to the Son of God….

God, my hearers, requires a Christian faith, a Christian profession, and a Christian practice of all our public men… Since it is the duty of all rulers to serve the Lord and kiss the Son of God, it must be most manifestly the duty of all our Christian fellow-citizens to honor the Lord Jesus Christ and promote Christianity by electing and supporting public officers the friends of our blessed Savior….

Suffer, my Christian fellow citizens, a word exhortation. Let us all be Christian politicians; and govern ourselves by supreme love to our blessed Master, whether we unite in prayers or in the election of our civil rulers. Let us be conscientiously religious at the polls as in the pulpit, or house of worship…

We are a Christian nation, we have a right to demand that all our rulers in their conduct shall conform to Christian morality….”

 

Reverend Francis Grimke

“Righteousness exalteth a nation”

“If the time ever comes when we shall go to pieces, it will . . . be . . . from inward corruption – from the disregard of right principles . . . from losing sight of the fact that “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but that sin is a reproach to any people” [Proverbs 14:34]. . . .[T]he secession of the Southern States in 1860 was a small matter with the secession of the Union itself from the great principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, in the Golden Rule, in the Ten Commandments, in the Sermon on the Mount. Unless we hold, and hold firmly to these great fundamental principles of righteousness, . . . our Union . . . will be “only a covenant with death and an agreement with hell.”

[Rev. Francis J. Grimke, from “Equality of Right for All Citizens, Black and White, Alike,” March 7, 1909, published in Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence, Alice Moore Dunbar, editor (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2000), pp. 246-247.]

RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION

Fredrick Douglass, a minister of the Gospel and a political leader told citizens: “I have one great political idea….That idea is an old one. It is widely and generally assented to; nevertheless, it is very generally trampled upon and disregarded. The best expression of it, I have found in the Bible. It is in substance, “righteousness exalteth a nation; sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Sir, this constitutes my politics-the negative and the positive of my politics, and the whole of my politics….I feel it my duty to do all in my power to infuse this idea into the public mind, that it may speedily recognized and practiced upon by our people.”

Source: The America Patriot Patriot’s Bible Pg.1061

 

RIGHTEOUSNESS

In 1909, Reverend Francis Grimke delivered a sermon warning America if it ever departed from righteousness: “The stars and stripes- the old flag-will float… over all these states ….If the time ever comes when we shall all go to pieces, it will…[be] from inward corruption-from the disregard of right principles…from losing site of the fact that “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but that sin is a reproach to any people.” The succession of the Southern States in 1860 was a small matter with the succession of the union itself from the great principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, in the golden Rule, in the Ten Commandments, in the Sermon on the Mount. Unless we hold, and hold firmly to these great fundamental principles of righteousness…our union…will be “only a covenant with death and an agreement with hell” [Isaiah 28:18]. If it continues to exist, it will be a curse and not a blessing.”

Source: The Founders Bible

 

THE PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR CORRUPT CONGRESS

 James A. Garfield a Minister and 20th President of the United States warned citizens:

“Now more than ever, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption.  If it be intelligent brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature.”

Citizens need to demand these qualities from our leaders without any expectation of results, but for the Glory of God.”

The early church of America reminded citizens what would happen if God-fearing men were not elected to federal office.

In an 1803 sermon, the Reverend Matthias Burnet explains: “[F]eeble…would be the best form of government…without a sense of religion and the terrors of the world to come….[B]anish a sense of religion and the terrors of the world to come from society, and you…leave every man to do that which is right is his own eyes [Judges 21:25]….But the man who does not believe in the Being and Providence of God, or is not actuated by the fear and awe of Him, has in many cases no bond or restraint upon his conduct and therefore is not fit to be trusted with a nation’s weal [prosperity and happiness], which he will not scruple [hesitate]- whenever he can with impunity-to sacrifice his lust or ambition….Think not that men who acknowledge not the providence of God nor regard His laws will be uncorrupt in office.”

 

CHRIST OR CHAOS

Peter Marshall, the chaplain of the U.S. Senate (1947-1949), issued a call for Americans to honor God:

“The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as American citizens. The time is come-it is now-when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship. America’s future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God’s government.”

Source: American Patriots Bible Pg. 1151

 

STATE CONSTITUTIONS

Dr. James Kennedy, influential pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida, stated:

“In reading over the Constitutions of all fifty of our states, I discovered…there is in all fifty, without exception, an appeal or a prayer to the Almighty God of the universe….Through all fifty state Constitutions, without exception, there runs this same appeal and reference to God who is the Creator of our liberties and the preserver of our freedoms”

Source: American Patriots Bible Pg.1443

 

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Sermon preached before the Governor of Connecticut

By the Reverend John Marsh-1796

“Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.” Nehemiah 5:19

Happy are those rulers, who, like Nehemiah, have the interest of their people at heart…. “He is the minister of God to thee for good. Rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil….Religion, in civil rulers, is of high importance, in respect to the influence they have, in forming the religious and moral character of the people….The good ruler will cheerfully give his assent to laws calculated to promote the education of youth in virtue and knowledge, and the training them up for public usefulness in the Church and State,…[t]his State, blessed be God, has been distinguished with rulers of this character.…

The pastors of the churches, who have the spirit of their station, and feel the power of that benevolent religion, which they preach to others, will be deeply concerned for the welfare of the community, and ready to exert themselves, to their utmost, in their proper spheres, that the great end of civil government may be attained. Though not sharers in the administration, they have an important influence on the object of government….

Christian pastors are workers together, not only with the civil Magistrate, but with the great God himself, for the good of their fellow men. How noble is their work!…

In all our affairs, civil, secular and religious, may we act with a wise reference to that day, when an end shall be put to all civil distinctions- when all earthly kingdoms, states and empires shall be no more:- when Christ who is King in Zion, after he has judged and passed sentence on all men, of every rank and denomination, according to their behavior in the body, shall deliver up the mediatorial kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all.”

A SERMON, PREACHED ON THE DAY OF THE GENERAL ELECTION

By the Reverend Asahel Hooker-1805

[Virtuous and able rulers are “the ministers of God for good.” [Romans 13:4] They are raised up, and designed for a public blessing. In their love of righteousness, and hatred of iniquity, and in the fullness of their regard to God, and the well being of their fellow men,…[2 Samuel 23:4] In the hands of such rulers, civil governments is a blessing, which cannot be told. But in those of opposite character, it is often a scourge, even a whip of scorpions….Again, when men can say, with approving hearts, “The Lord is out Lawgiver, the Lord is our Judge,” [Isaiah 33:22] they will demean themselves accordingly, as citizens, and subjects of civil government. But men, who fear God, and can honestly appeal to him, for the purity of their intentions, will be peace-makers….

It is true religion may exist, and even flourish, without the aid of government; for as God is true, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” [Matthew 16:18]   But, woe to that government, which discards the aid of religion; and woe to that people, who wage war against religion, under pretense of saving it from a destructive alliance with the political interest of their country….

The foundation of civil government, no less than that of religion and morals, which are its main pillars, must be laid, in that domestic government, which God has instituted, and that religious education of children, which is solemnly enjoined in his word….

Remember, therefore, what God hath spoken; “He who ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of the Lord:” [2 Samuel 23:3] and that He hath said again; “Him who honoreth me, I will honor; but he that despiseth me, shall be lightly esteemed;” [1 Samuel 2:30] yea, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous, and sinful generation; of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in he glory of his Father, with the hold angels.” [Luke 9:26]

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Pastor Isaac Beall (1812)

 “Civil government is one of those blessing which a kind of God has seen fit to bestow upon the lapsed family of Adam. In this present imperfect state, a people could not long remain happy, without a civil government…. God has ordained civil government for the good of man…[and] righteousness is the only qualification of a civil ruler mentioned by the inspired penman in our text….As in a good constitution of government there is no absolute power but that of the laws…of Jehovah being a transcript of perfect rectitude, there can be no reasonable objection raised against their being executed….God has ordained rulers to avenge the wrongs of injustice and oppression, and the violation of sedition and rebellion….From our subject collectively, we learn first that the rights and privileges, the liberty and happiness; yea, and the lives also, of the great body of the people, are, under God, entrusted in the hands of their rulers….

That our rulers may be ministers of God to us for good, it is our duty to implore the presence of God with them, his spirit to aid and assist them; and his blessing to crown their administration with success:…”