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minister of God to thee for good." We are commanded to be "subject for conscience' sake." Magistrates "are God's ministers."―What could be plainer?―This is religion: not politics, but religion. Human government is "ordained of God." Magistrates are "ministers of God," to whom men are commanded to be "subject for conscience' sake."
This, therefore, settles the principle of which obedience to human government is the religious duty of men. There may be a point where that obedience may justly stop,(a matter which we shall consider soon;) but the greater principle before us now is an important one, namely, that human government and Law are things which exist by the will og God, and men are bound to submit to them on that high ground. This is the general rule. This is a religious duty; whatever exceptions we may be able to find sometimes, among the diversities of human Law and human condition under it,―or when human Law would interfere with the first class of our duties, which God does not allow it to do. "The powers that be, are ordained of God."
Let it, therefore, be carefully noticed, that no man or body of men has any right to say, that they will be without government, without Law, or that religion has nothing to do with the question of their civil obedience to Law. Such obedience must be a part of their religion, or they cannot be Christians. It is a part of the will and ordinance of God.
Among politicians and statesmen, the idea of what they call the "social compact" is a very familiar idea, and sometimes figures largely. They mean by this, that there exists
