If salvation were only economic relief, if religion were only to give bread to hungry stomachs then dogs would be invited to its banquet, No! Man has a higher principle than that of a beasts and a higher life than that of the body. We come into the world not just to sit and rest, to work and play, to eat and drink. Hence, that religion which would make the securing of bread its chief object in life and would seek no divine food will starve with hunger in the midst of plenty. There must come dark hours when God must be trusted even in hunger. There must even come moments in starvation when bread must be refused if it means the sacrificing of a principle that endangers the soul.

It is no justification to say we must live because bodily life in itself is not necessarily the best thing for us. It is better for us not to live if we cannot live without sin. For it is never right for us to starve our spiritual nature to get bread for our bodies. Sometimes the best thing that we can do with our life is to lose it; and the best thing we can do with our body is not to fear those who would kill it but rather to fear those who would cast our soul into hell. Religion need not neglect sociology; the priest at the communion rail need not forget the bread lines; the minister in the sanctuary need not forget the playgrounds. The earthly, the human and the social, are part of religion but not the primary part as Satan would have us believe. Rather, in searching for higher things, do we find the lower; "First seek the Kingdom and the will of God and all those things will be given to you besides". - Matt. 6:33 -

Satan next tempted Our Lord to make religion political by exchanging the Kingdom of God for the kingdoms of earth[world]. "Then [the Devil]... showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant of time. And he said to Him: "I can give you all this power and glory because it has been given to me and to whomever I want to give them. So, if you'll worship me, it will all be yours". And in the answer Jesus said to him: "it is written: The Lord your God shall you worship and Him alone shall you adore". Luke 4:5-8 - By this answer Our Lord declared to all future ages that religion is not politics, that patriotism is not the highest virtue, that nationalism is not the highest worship, that the State is not the highest good. Devotion to the State there must be; loyalties to the kingdoms of earth there must be; tribute to Caesar there must be.

Man is social and living in society he must govern and be governed; he must be patriot not only by supporting the just policies of those who rule but even to the extent of laying down his life in just warfare for the common good. These things are self-evident. But Satan would have Christ adore the kingdoms of earth, convert the pulpit into a platform and the Gospel into a national anthem. Our Lord would have us know that earthly kingdoms are but scaffolding to the Kingdom of Heaven, that patriotism towards country is but the nursery to the adoration of God and that it profits us nothing if we gain the whole world and lose our immortal soul.

Politics and religion are related something like the body and the soul. Both have their rights and their duties but one is superior to the other. The primary concern of religion is not the rehabilitation of the kingdoms of the earth or the support of economic policies, for Our Lord came not to restore the politics of the world but to make a new Kingdom which needs neither armies nor navies, soldiers nor monies, slaves nor judges but only renewed and living souls.

He did not say religion must not be concerned with social injustice or indifference to political graft. Our Lord loved His own country so deeply and warmly that, as the first Christian patriot, He wept over it. "But He also loved the Kingdom of Heavens so much more that He was willing to be put to death by the very country that He loved". While time endures, Satan will always tempt religion to be wholly political but until the end of time the due order must be preserved: "Render, therefore, to Caesar, the things that are Caesar's; and to God, the things that are God's". - Matt. 22:21 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -