RESULTS OF A UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE—AN ADULTEROUS ALLIANCE
“So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” —Neh. 8:8.
Lesson VIII.—Sabbath, November 23, 1895.
RESULTS OF A UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE—AN ADULTEROUS ALLIANCE.
1. What did Christ say of his kingdom in its relation to this world?
“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence.” John 18:36.
2. What are the kingdoms over which men rule called?
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.” Rev. 11:15.
3. What general principle is stated in Matt. 19:6?
“Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
4. Must not the converse be as imperative, that what God has separated no man has a right to join together?
5. Has the Lord separated church and state?
“And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at him.” Mark 12:17.
6. What must any union between the two therefore be? Ans.—An adulterous union.
7. What is one of the relations which the Lord represents himself as sustaining to his church?
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Cor. 11:2.
“I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord.” Jer. 31:32. See also Isa. 54:5, first part.
8. How long is a woman bound to her husband?
“For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.” Rom. 7:2.
9. What is she called, and what is she, if she marries another while he lives?
“So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.” Verse 3.
10. What does God say of the kings of the earth and Babylon the Great? Ans.—Babylon has committed fornication with the kings of the earth. Read Rev. 17:1, 2, 5; 18:2, 3.
A DENIAL OF THE POWER OF GOD.
11. What is the Gospel of Christ declared to be?
“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Rom. 1:16.
“Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.” Isa. 40:26.
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Matt. 28:18.
13. How much power, therefore, is there in the Gospel to save men?
14. Could greater power be asked for the accomplishment of any work?
15. Of what, therefore, do men confess their ignorance when they appeal to the power of the state to assist in Gospel work?
16. Of what were the Sadducees ignorant?
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.” Matt. 22:29.
17. What do men deny when they ask the aid of Cæsar in religious things? Ans.—The power of God.
18. When would such a spirit be especially prevalent among professing Christians?
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.” 2 Tim. 3:1–5.
HYPOCRISY AND RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION.
19. What must be the result of making religious tests a qualification for office, and threatening temporal punishments for noncompliance with certain religious customs? Ans.—An increase of hypocrisy. “The utmost that severity can do is to make men hypocrites; it can never make them converts.”—Dr. John Moore.
20. What is the character of hypocrisy? Ans.—
“Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Luke 12:1.
21. Is it a sin for a man to perform a religious act in which he has no faith?
“And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Rom. 14:23.
22. What does law in civil government imply? Ans.—Force. See Dan. 3:15.
23. What is the inevitable result of using force in religion? Ans.—Religious persecution.
Faith can not be forced, neither can the conscience be guided or controlled by an appeal to arms. Any attempt, therefore, to compel men who have the courage of their convictions to do differently from what they believe, must necessarily result in persecution. It can not result otherwise.
RUIN OF BOTH CHURCH AND STATE.
24. When the leaders of the Jewish Church turned from the Lord to Cæsar (John 19:14, 15), what was the result?
“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Matt. 23:38; 21:43. See also Luke 19:41–44.
25. Therefore when civil governments take sides in religious controversies, and become the instruments of persecution, what must invariably be the result?
Like everything else, when church or state is turned from its proper course, it is on the road to destruction. The truth is well stated in the following words:—
“When religion and civil government are legally united, neither derives any benefit from the union; both are seriously damaged by it. The most characteristic feature of such a union is that of a bad religion and a bad government at the same time, each being harmed by the other.”—Samuel T. Spear, D.D., in Religion and the State.
“Injustice and oppression are not made tolerable by being in strict accordance with the law. Nothing is surer, in the end, than the reaction of such a wrong to break down the most perfectly constituted government.”—Fairchild’s Moral Philosophy, p. 186.
“Secular power has proved a Satanic gift to the church, and ecclesiastical power has proved an engine of tyranny in the hands of the state.”—Dr. Philip Schaff.
26. State in brief the results of a union of church and state.
