The Two Realms

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 31, 1895

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 43.

International Sabbath School Lessons

“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 VII.—Sabbath, November 16, 1895.

The Two Realms

1. What is vested in the king of any kingdom? Ans.—The supreme power of that kingdom.

“Where the word of a king is, there is power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?” Eccl. 8:4.

2. Who is supreme in civil affairs?

In 1 Peter 2:13, 14, Peter recognizes the king as “supreme” in the realm of earthly governments. And this realm is confined strictly to this world, to the ordinances of men, and the relations which they sustain to each other as citizens, which are civil. The ordinances of God belong to another realm. In this God is supreme, as Peter and the other apostles very plainly declared. See Acts 4:19; 5:29.

3. Who is supreme in religious matters?

4. What statement of Christ’s shows that he distinctly recognized these two realms?

“They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” Matt. 22:21.

5. When men become Christians, or subjects of God’s kingdom (Rom. 6:22), does God require them to cease to render to Cæsar those things which belong to Cæsar, and render them to him? Ans.—No; the instruction given in Matt. 22:21 and Rom. 13:1-7 forbids this.

6. On the other hand, when men become citizens of another state or civil government, has the government a right to require them to render to it those things which belong to God? Ans.—No; debts can not be discharged in this way, by paying to one what we owe to another.

7. How many are commanded to be subject to the higher powers? Rom. 13:1.

8. Does this include Christians?

9. To whom are we commanded to render tribute? Verse 7.

10. To whom is tribute due? Ans.—Cæsar, or earthly rulers. Why? Matt. 22:17, 21; Rom. 13:4-6.

11. To whom are we to render honor? Rom. 13:7.

12. What is duty toward kings?

“Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” 1 Peter 2:17.

We are commanded not only to “honor the king,” but to pray for kings, and for all “that are in authority.” 1 Tim. 2:1, 2. Acting in their sphere, they are “God’s ministers” (Rom. 13:4, 6), ordained by him to promote peace among men by being a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well, and we are to respect that which God has ordained.

13. To whom are we to pay the vows we have made to the Lord?

“Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High.” “Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God; let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.” Ps. 50:14; 76:11.

14. To whom do the tithes belong? Ans.—The Lord. Lev. 27:30.

15. What infallible rule did the Saviour lay down by which we are to be governed in determining to whom we are to render any service or obligation?

“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.

16. How does Paul state the same principle?

“Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.” Rom. 13:7.

17. In any case, therefore, what is the only question necessary to be decided in order to know to whom an obligation of any kind is to be rendered? Ans.—Whose is it? To whom does it belong? See Matt. 22:20.

18. Although commanded of God, why has not the state a right to compel men to pay tithes?

19. Prayer is likewise a duty enjoined in the Scriptures (Luke 18:1; 1 Thess. 5:17, 18; 1 Tim. 2:1); why has not the state a right to command men to pray?

20. Why not to be baptized, attend church, and partake of the Lord’s Supper?

Baptism is religious. It is for the remission of sin, which is a transgression of God’s law, and hence belongs to God. To him it should be rendered. To attend church is likewise an act of religion, and should therefore be rendered to God. The Lord’s Supper, as its nature indicates, belongs to God, and this determines to whom it should be rendered. Any supper the state might command men to eat would be a state supper, and not the Lord’s Supper at all.

Civil governments have, however, interfered in all these matters. Justinian, in the year 533, issued a decree giving all men within the Roman Empire three months in which to be baptized and embrace Christianity, under pain of the loss of office, property, or the rights of inheritance. Bower’s “History of the Popes,” vol. 2, p. 334.

The Sunday law of Charles II., of England, enacted A.D. 1677, and still in force in England and many of the English colonies, provides that,—

“All the laws enacted and in force [in England] concerning the observation of the Lord’s day and repairing to the church therein be carefully put in execution.”

It further provides:—

“That all and every person and persons whatsoever shall, on every Lord’s day, apply themselves thereon in the duties of piety and true religion publicly and privately.”

This would, of course, include the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, prayer, and all other like duties.

The Sunday law of Massachusetts, passed in 1782, says:—

“That each person being able of body and not otherwise necessarily prevented, who shall for the space of one month together absent him or herself from the public worship of God on the Lord’s day, shall forfeit and pay the sum of ten shillings, provided there be any place of worship in which they can conscientiously and conveniently attend.”

The ancient Sunday law of Virginia, passed in 1610, was still more strict in this respect. It reads as follows:—

“Every man shall repair in the morning to the divine service and sermons preached upon the Sabbath day, and in the afternoon to divine service and catechising, upon pain for the first fault to lose their provision and the allowance for the whole week following; for the second, to lose the said allowance and also to be whipt; and for the third to suffer death.”

21. Why has not the state a right to compel men to observe the Sabbath?

Whose is the Sabbath? To whom does it belong? The settlement of this question must determine to whom the keeping of it is to be rendered, and therefore who alone has the right to command its observance. The fourth commandment does not say the seventh day is the English sabbath, or the Dutch sabbath, or the Puritan sabbath, or the “holy sabbath of America.” It says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Therefore, in accordance with the command of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, to render to God the things that are God’s, we are to render all our Sabbath observance to the Lord our God, to whom the Sabbath belongs. The Sabbath is the Lord’s own day (Ex. 20:10; Isa. 58:13; Mark 2:28; Rev. 1:10), and hence should be rendered to him. Were Sunday the Lord’s day, as many erroneously hold, the principle would apply just the same; the keeping of it should be rendered to the Lord and not to the state. Therefore, the state has no business whatever with the enforcement of any Sabbath-keeping whatever.

22. Why has not the state the right to teach religion or to perform any religious act or ceremony?

Governments were ordained to keep men civil, and not to make them religious. While a thing may be admirably adapted to meet certain ends, it may be wholly unsuited to accomplish certain other ends. Because civil governments, through their laws and schools, do not make Christians is no more an occasion for just complaint than the fact that a bake shop does not make pianos instead of loaves of bread. They were not established for that purpose.