"Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the Word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet."

Robert Winthrop

One element of the American philosophy of life is that everyone has rights, so much so that we have gone bonkers over the belief that everyone has certain inalienable rights.  Yes, God grants to men certain rights, but the Creator and granter of human rights is far more interested in our understanding of righteousness than rights.  Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the Almighty to allow His only begotten son to be unjustly crucified at the hands of wicked men.

Freedom belongs only to people who are morally responsible.  It is not possible for a people to be corrupt and conniving liars, cheaters, and thieves, stealing from one another, and still remain free.  To have a good country we have to build a nation of good people.

If we as a nation do not soon return our official public policy to the Christian consensus of our Founding Fathers and the Biblical principles of law that have provided the freedoms we've enjoyed for over two hundred years, it is just a matter of time before we lose those freedoms.

The Word of God requires the mature citizen and Christian to comprehend and understand authority.  The purpose of all righteous authority is limited in its ability and its realm of governing if it is to remain righteous.  To have and to maintain a permanent, legal, lawful and righteous authority requires that citizens be submissive and moral in their deportment towards authority.

"Then Jesus went with them.  And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.  For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.  When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Isreal."  LUKE 7:6-9

Jesus marveled at the Centurion's comprehension of authority and coupled it to faith because the Centurion simply understood that the authority of the universe has the right and power to command, enforce laws, and exact obedience.  Simply put, if Jesus were truly God then He need only speak the word and all nature would obey His voice.  You see, the Centurion simply understood who Jesus Christ was and that it was only necessary for Him to speak the word and heal his servant because He was God manifested in the flesh.

In the confusion of today's countless messiahs, we know and understand that Jesus Christ, as the true Messiah of mankind, was who He professed to be because no other man has or will arise to whom the universe is obedient and subject.

"And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?  Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.  But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!"  MATT. 8:26-27

Is it not pathetic in the light of 9/11; Waco Texas; Jonestown; the Inquisitions of the Dark Ages and history's countless and endless list of tragedies, that  ignorant men should still slander the infallible truth of God's sacred word.  Studying the Bible did not cause the mentioned tragedies as some in the news media would imply.  On the contrary, failure to truthfully study the Bible caused those and all human tragedies.

The mature citizen and Christian understands that absolute authority belongs only unto Him who rules the heavens and nations.

"Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.  Selah.  Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to bee laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.  Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.  God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.  Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work."  Ps 62: 8-12

Therefore James Madison wrote: "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it.  We have staked the future of all of our political institutions... upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God!"

The word of God commands and instructs the true Christian to submit himself or herself to authority in three major spheres of influence.

            1.    The government: "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well."  1 Peter 2:13-14.

            2.    The home:  "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body.  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."  Eph 5:22-24

            3.    The Church:  "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." Heb 13:17

The failure of many to comprehend what is a divinely appointed authority and the unwillingness or the lack of wisdom to submit to those authorities that are ordained of God has in the last several decades severely undermined the social structur4e of our nation and place us in grave peril.

When a fight for rights takes place in a society, the inevitable result is lawlessness.  When people fight for their rights, they act selfishly, and when too many people are acting selfishly at once, they will invariably treat on each other.  In their selfishness, people will push the law in the background, thus causing anarchy to reign.  Inevitably, a dictator will arise who will subdue the chaos if given the power.

The true mature Christian will willingly submit himself or herself to God's ordained Authority in the government, the home and the church, with an open mind and ready heart because he or she understand the inevitable consequences of failure.

We all know people who hold positions of authority in our lives.  Some appear to be acceptable to us because we favor them, while others are not accepted by us because we have found some reason to reject them.  The true test of Christian character is not submitting ourselves only to those who we find worthy in our eyes.  The mature Christian will submit to all lawful, legal, God ordained authority because it is morally right to do so.

To do this is very difficult for the selfish, self-centered, self-seeking special rights seeker of today's modern society.  "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?  Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."  Jer. 13:23

But with God and his spirit al things are possible.  "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.  Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves therefore under the might hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time:  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."  1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)

The mature Christian will learn of a spirit of reverence from the study of God's word.  This will then give them the wisdom necessary to separate the person from the position and the message from the messenger.  "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:"  Heb 12:28 (KJV)

This is what David did when he was pursued by Saul, a jealous demented Monarch that was trying to kill him simply because David had been a courageous loyal patriot.

"And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee.  Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily.  And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.  And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.  So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise up against Saul.  but Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way."  1 Sam 24:4-7

Character like David's is extremely rare in history, but it is God's radiant example to show us how noble righteous men should live.  Wise men understand that the destruction of morality renders the power of government invalid.  A righteous ruler can not obtain the power to rule through insurrection and sedition.  Saul had been chosen by the people and anointed by God.  David would wait for God to remove Saul from his position.

The mature Christian will develop a thankful spirit towards God for his goodness toward the children of men and then commit their expectation to God.  "How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?  ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.  They only consult to cast him down from his excellency:  they delight in lies:  they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.  My soul, wait thou only upon God: for my expectation is from him."  Psalm 62:3-5

The mature Christian understands the need and sees the blessing in making their authority successful as Joseph did.  "And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord make all that he did to proper in his hand.  And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.  And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, an in the field.  And he left all that had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not aught he had, save the bread which he did eat.  And Joseph was a goodly person, and wee favoured."  Gen 39:2-6

Finally the mature Christian posses a meek and quiet spirit.  "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God a great price." 1Peter 3:4  This is possible and easy because the mature Christian has clearly defined their responsibilities from those in authority over them and have set clear defining parameters to avoid the conflict that arises from differences of opinions that will arise in free, intelligent, open minds.

This can be done by the standards of God's sacred word.  "And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.  And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.

Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite the, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be mitten contrary to the law?  And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest?  Then said Pal, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of they people."  Acts 23:1-5

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion... Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."  John Adams