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Loyalty to Government. 
 
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 SERMON 
 
 
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 Rev. J. P. LuNDY, -^ 
 
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 PREACHED AT 
 
 
 
 EMA^-UEL CHURCH, 
 
 
 
 HOLMESBURG, 
 
 
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 Sunday, April. 21, 1861. 
 
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 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
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 LINDSAY k BLAKISTON. 
 
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SUBMISSION TO CIVIL AUTHORITY. 
 
 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's 
 sake, whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto gov- 
 ernors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punish- 
 ment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. — 
 1 Peter ii. 13 and U. 
 
 The Family, the State and the Church, stand in 
 mutual relation to one another, as God's ordinances, 
 for the good of man in society. The family, coeval 
 with the creation of the human race, is a divine in- 
 stitution for the preservation of our species in the 
 earth, and is the foundation of both State and Church. 
 Its office, furthermore, is to guard, protect, and 
 train the race during the period of helpless infancy 
 and youth, in order that it may be fitted for the du- 
 ties of that manhood which is to be spent in the 
 vservice of State and Church. Moreover, it is the 
 home of the affections, sympathies, kindness, and 
 all the tender attributes of our nature, where all 
 these are developed and nurtured. The State is 
 but the expansion of the Family, in the sense of 
 
being a social compact for the common good. Its 
 office is to protect its subjects in life, property and 
 reputation, as well from internal rebellion as from 
 external oppression. It is, therefore, the safeguard 
 of the church, and loyalty to the State is not only 
 a Christian duty, but a matter of the highest inte- 
 rest. Inasmuch as all government is from God for 
 the good of the governed, so it is plain that sub- 
 mission to the lawful authority of the land is a mat- 
 ter which concerns the conscience and the welfare 
 of every citizen. National existence depends just 
 as much for its continuance upon the principles of 
 equity and justice on the part of rulers, and of sub- 
 mission and obedience on the part of the people, as 
 individual existence does on an observance of the 
 laws of life and health. The State, therefore, has a 
 life peculiar to itself, which must be protected from 
 assault, either on the part of external enemies or 
 of internal traitors. The Church, as the Family, 
 deriving outward protection from the State, is that 
 spiritual compact instituted for the honor of God, 
 in which communities and individuals are trained 
 for another state of being. Its office is to minister 
 to spiritual necessities, and to protect our spiritual 
 interests. The Family welcomes our new existence 
 into the world, and cares for its necessitous help- 
 
lessness ; the State secures the welfare of our social 
 life; and the Church prepares for eternal life here- 
 after, while it also ministers to the good of the 
 life that now is. And submission to every ordi- 
 nance of man, in the Family, in the State, and in 
 the Church, is a duty prescribed by the Christian 
 religion, and enjoined upon all children, all citi- 
 zens, and all baptized persons — a duty to parents 
 and guardians, to rulers, to bishops and pastors. 
 Neglect of this duty on the part of children is diso- 
 bedience ; on the part of citizens, treason and crime; 
 on the part of church members, it is sin and wick- 
 edness, heresy and schism. As it is characteristic 
 of good children to observe the laws of the house- 
 hold and of the school, so it is characteristic of good 
 citizens to observe the laws of the State, and of 
 good christians to maintain their loyalty to Christ 
 and the church. 
 
 The service of this day, in its Epistle, calls upon 
 us more especially to consider the duty which Chris- 
 tians owe to the State or nation of which they form 
 a part. And in times of such popular tumult and 
 excitement as the present; when this great nation is 
 divided in its allegiance to the general government 
 under which we live, and thousands are on the one 
 side preparing for its defence, and on the other for 
 
its destruction, it is of the utmost importance that 
 every American Christian should know and do his 
 duty. Forms of government and administrations 
 of government are matters of choice } but govern- 
 ment itself is of God, and cannot be disannulled or 
 destroyed by men. It is no more a matter of choice 
 than the divine institution of the family; and 
 hence it is the duty of Gcd's people to be true and 
 loyal to whatever government it is that gives them 
 protection, and under which they live. 
 
 When St. Peter wrote his Epistle to his fellow 
 Christians scattered througout the Roman empire ; 
 Nero, the worst of tyrants and the basest of men, 
 was on the throne, by whose order St. Paul was 
 beheaded at Rome (A. D. 66), and who, to enjoy 
 the spectacle of a great fire, set Rome in a blaze, 
 and then charged his own diabolical act upon the 
 Christians, as a pretext for a general persecution 
 against them. His governors were in the distant 
 provinces where those Christians were to whom St. 
 Peter sent his first Epistle, enjoining upon them 
 submission to this iniquitous Emperor and his re- 
 presentatives. A prejudice airainst Christians then 
 existed in the public mind of the heathen that they 
 were opposed to the Roman government, simply 
 because they took no part in idolatrous spectacles 
 
and games. Refusing to pay divine honours to the 
 images of the Emperor was construed into treason ; 
 and the necessity of holding their religious assem- 
 blages at night, and in secret places, was perverted 
 into a design to form plots and conspiracies against 
 the government. If they never appeared in the 
 amphitheatre to witness the cruel sport of gladia- 
 tors killing one another, and fighting with wild 
 beasts, for the amusement of the populace, it was 
 charged upon them that they were morose and sin- 
 liular, and despised the generous policy of the gov- 
 ernment in providing these delightful spectacles. 
 The Nazarene Pretender, whom they called their 
 Lord and King, had been hung on a cross in Jeru- 
 salem, for treason, under Pontius Pilate; Paul and 
 Silas were mobbed in Thessalonica at the instiga- 
 tion of the envious Jews, who brought against these 
 servants of the Lord Jesus the accusation that they 
 and their fellow Christians " all did contrary to the 
 decrees of Ctesar, saying, that there is another king, 
 one Jesus" (Acts xvii., 7); an accusation of con- 
 spiracy against the government so plausible, yet so 
 groundless, that the rulers of the city were alarmed 
 and the people agitated, so that the brethren of 
 Paul and Silas sent them away by night, to avoid 
 danger and tumult; nay, it was a common preju- 
 
6 
 
 dice in those times that all Christians were traitors, 
 and hence the exhortation of submission and loy- 
 alty to established government so frequently given 
 in the Apostolic writings. ^' Let every soul be sub- 
 ject to the higher powers. For there is no power 
 but of God : the powers that be are ordained of God. 
 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth 
 the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall 
 receive to themselves damnation" (Rom. xiii., 1). 
 ^'Put them in mind to be subject to principalities 
 and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to 
 every good work (Titus iii., 1). ''Submit your- 
 selves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's 
 sake.'' " Render unto Caesar the things that are 
 Cfcsar's." All this Christian duty of submission 
 to the constituted authority of the land — all this 
 duty of loyalty to the government under which we 
 live, is too plain for argument. It was urged upon 
 Christians in Apostolic times, so as to disarm the 
 groundless prejudice that existed against their reli- 
 gion and themselves, and so as to spare them in its 
 observance from needless persecution and death. 
 There can be no question now as to the obligation 
 resting upon every Christian to observe the laws 
 and to respect the authority of his country. It is 
 equally binding now as in Apostolic times. It is a 
 
duty equally imperative under President Lincoln 
 as under the Emperor Nero. To neglect it is not 
 only treason against the U. S. government, but re- 
 bellion against Grod. The only questions that can 
 arise as to this important duty are, what is the 
 reason of it, and what is the extent of it ? or, in 
 other words, why ought we to obey the civil author- 
 ity, and how far ought we to obey it ? 
 
 The answer to the first question, why submission 
 is due to civil government, is mainly because Grod 
 so wills and orders it. This He does in the plainest 
 language, and in the most direct manner. None, 
 but a fool or a madman would presume to question 
 it for a moment. As government in society at 
 large is but the expansion of government in the 
 family, so the fifth commandment of the Decalogue, 
 enjoining obedience to parents, also implies obe- 
 dience to magistrates and all in authority, civil and 
 ecclesiastical. And as government on earth is but 
 the imperfect exponent of government in Heaven ; 
 as men in authority are the representatives of the 
 King eternal, immortal and invisible, so obedience 
 to lawful government is obedience to God, without 
 which no creature can prosper and no order can be 
 maintained. Without it society dissolves into a 
 wild chaos, and all institutions for the good of men 
 
8 
 
 perish. It is therefore God's will that Christians 
 submit to the constituted, recognized and lawful 
 authority of the land in which they live. Usurpa- 
 tion of power for ambitious purposes ; treasonable 
 attempts to overthrow government are to be rebuked, 
 resisted, in obedience to the will of God. Kings 
 may be tyrants, like Nero, or administrations of 
 government may not be in accordance with the 
 wishes and opinions of many, and yet the duty is 
 plain that no Christian may raise hand or voice, or 
 use his influence against the government itself. It 
 is high time that as a people we began to under- 
 stand that God is sovereign, and not ourselves. 
 Political leaders and orators have so long sought 
 place and power through the delusive flattery of the 
 dear sovereign people, that they have come to be- 
 neve that authority in governmental matters really 
 does rest with them ; whereas the plain truth is, 
 that all authority and power in the state, as in the 
 church, are of God. We are taught in our Bibles 
 that " Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor 
 from the west, nor from the south. (!) But God is 
 Judge : He putteth down one, and setteth up an- 
 other (Ps. Ixxv, 6 and 7). ^' The Most High 
 ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to 
 whomsoever He will" (Dan. iv., 25). Jesus said 
 
9 
 
 to Pilate, " Thou couldest have no power at all 
 against me, except it were given thee from above" 
 (John xix.j 11). And if submission even unto 
 death on the part of the Lord Jesus to that Roman 
 jurisdiction in Palestine, which Almighty God 
 established for wise purposes, was characteristic of 
 His most holy life, surely insubordination to the 
 supreme authority of this or any land can not be 
 the characteristic of His people. Obedience to gov- 
 ernment is obedience to God, due from all people. 
 
 But again, in this connection it may be remarked, 
 that tlie will of God is not arbitrary in establishing 
 government, and requiring submission to it God 
 has established all government for human good. 
 and it is the interest as well as the duty of the 
 people to submit to it. They thereby are enabled 
 to lead quiet and peaceable lives, and to enjoy the 
 varied good for which government was instituted. 
 Disaffection and disobedience somewhere, have now 
 set this nation in a blaze of civil war; and the peo- 
 ple of this land, long blessed with peace and pros- 
 perity, but forgetful alike of their own interest and 
 of their duty to God, are now rushing to arms, that 
 havoc, slaughter and desolation may teach them 
 and their posterity, the one absolute necessity of 
 submission to every ordinance of man for the 
 Lord's sake. 
 
10 
 
 The other question as to how far this obedience is 
 to go. or what is its extent, is easily answered. To 
 God the submission is absolute. To the State it is 
 limited and regulated by the law of God. To man 
 as His representative in authority, it is conditional 
 upon a faithful representation and defence of those 
 eternal principles of equity and justice, on which 
 all governments are founded. It is not a question 
 as to which form of government is best, whether mo- 
 narchical or republican ; for as to the best forms of 
 government men will differ, and the form of govern- 
 ment best adapted to one country, may not be suit- 
 able in another; but it is a question as to whether 
 the government under which we now live is to be 
 maintained, and to what extent. Men adapt the 
 principles of government to their circumstances in 
 republics and monarchies, as guided in their choice 
 by the wisdom from above; but men do not and 
 cannot disannul the principles themselves, because 
 they are of God. The extent, therefore, to which 
 submission is due to forms of government or admin- 
 istrations of the same, is the full extent of their 
 maintenance of the principles which underlie go- 
 vernment, and to the full extent in which they se- 
 cure the object for which government was insti- 
 tuted, viz., the general good of the governed. To 
 
11 
 
 administer any government in such a way as that 
 all shall be satisfied of the equity and justice of it^ 
 is no easy task. To rule in such a manner as that 
 all shall experience an equal amount of good, is an 
 impossibility. Must government be destroyed, then, 
 when a portion of the people are dissatisfied ? No. 
 Let them petition for a redress of grievances. Is 
 revolution justifiable when a small faction dislike 
 chosen and lawfully constituted authority? No. 
 Let them patiently wait for a change, or by lawful 
 means seek to make one. Pvcvolution is the last 
 dreadful alternative of efi"ecting a change of govern- 
 ment, when government ceases utterly to answer the 
 ends for which it was instituted, when it disregards 
 all justice and equity, and its ministry is only that 
 of evil. Is rebellion ever justifiable ? No. For 
 there are other and better ways of securing the good 
 for which governments exist. It is never lawful to 
 do evil that good may come. It is too easy and 
 common a thing to abuse and denounce those in au- 
 thority ; but let such as are given to this, remember 
 the difiiculty of the position, and that if they them- 
 selves occupied it, they would probably do no better. 
 If those in power would rule in the fear of God, 
 remembering that, like as mountains are elevated 
 above the surrounding country only that they may 
 
12 
 
 purify the air and condense the vapors, so as to give 
 health and refreshment to the vallies below, so they 
 are exalted to dispense good to those under them ; 
 and if the governed would only learn to practise 
 the duty of obedience and submission in a meek and 
 quiet spirit, there would be no wars and rumors of 
 wars to disturb society as now; there would be as 
 now no disruption of States to shake the fabric of 
 society to its centre as with the shock of an earth- 
 (juake. When these mutual relations of rulers and 
 people are disturbed, then the State is set on a blaze 
 of war, like that of Abim.elech's conspiracy, when 
 fire came out from Abimelech, and devoured the 
 men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and 
 when fire came out from the men of Shechem, and 
 from the house of Millo, and devoured Abimelech. 
 Two hostile parties arrayed in deadly civil strife, 
 would destroy each other, until God decided the 
 contest. If I be asked to what extent the govern- 
 ment under which we live is to be obeyed and main- 
 tained, I answer for myself, after some Httle obser- 
 vation of governments in the Old World, it must be 
 obeyed by all with heart and soul, cheerfully and 
 loyally; and it must be maintained to the last dollar 
 of the purse, and to the last drop of blood in the 
 veins of the last man capable of defending it. 
 
13 
 
 When amid the dangers and hardships of travel in 
 foreign lands, where barbarous Turk and wily Arab 
 make you tremble at the insecurity of life, you feel 
 as never before, under God, what safety there is in 
 a government whose power extends thus far for 
 your protection. With tearful joy do you hail the 
 flag of freedom floating over the houses of your 
 country's ministers and consuls in Alexandria, in 
 Jerusalem, in Beyrout, in Constantinople, every- 
 where j and you feel on those distant shores that to 
 be an American citizen is no empty boast, and that 
 the ensign of the nation's power, and glory and 
 greatness, is something that must be kept waving 
 round the world forever. And now, and here at 
 home, has this flag a meaning and a significance that 
 it has never had in our eyes before. That men, 
 calling themselves American citizens, should any- 
 where on this soil wet by the blood of the Revolu- 
 tion, fire upon that flag, and tear it down from its 
 place in heaven, is a thing so monstrous, as to be 
 beyond the possibility of comprehending it. Sub- 
 mit to the domain and the douiiniou which it shel- 
 ters, for the Lord's sake. If not for the sake of 
 the government itself as now administered, yet for 
 the Lord's sake — for the sake of the oppressed hu- 
 manity that He came to make free — for the sake of 
 
14 
 
 posterity and the good of His cliurcli, submit to it, 
 even in its call to arms for its defence. It is worth 
 preserving. It is worth fighting for. God calls us 
 to its rescue from rebellion. The Lord speed the 
 conflict to a righteous issue. If our submission 
 must be unto death, as the Lord's was to the Roman 
 government, so be it. Life is dearly bought by 
 treachery The path of glory is the path of con- 
 flict in a good cause. 
 
 The governmeiit must be maintained, because 
 God so wills it, and because it is our dearest inte- 
 rest to do so. The government has not ceased its 
 good to our people, nor is it without some justice 
 and equity in its administration ; therefore, it must 
 not yet be revolutionized and changed. If in 
 tears, poverty, toil, privation, and in the din of 
 battle, and the blood of the slain, any of us must 
 submit to it for the Lord's sake, let us accept the 
 sacrifice like men going to a holy sacrament, so- 
 lemnly, determinedly, and in a spirit of heroic love. 
 
 weo 
 
TRAITOR, SPARE THAT FLAG. 
 
 Adaptation of " Woodman^ spare that Tree^ 
 
 Traitor ! spare that flag I 
 
 Touch not a single star ! 
 Its shell'ring glory now, 
 
 Still blazes near and far. 
 'Twas our forefather's hand 
 
 That placed it o'er our head ; 
 And thou shall let it stand 
 
 Or perish with the dead. 
 
 That dear old precious flag, 
 
 Whose glory and renown 
 Are spread o'er land and sea, 
 
 And would'st thou tear it down? 
 Traitor, forbear thy touch ! 
 
 Cut not its heart-bound ties I 
 Oh, spare that glorious flag, 
 
 Still streaming through the skies! 
 
 When 1 was yet a boy, 
 
 I gloried in the sight, 
 And raised my voice in joy 
 
 To greet its folds of light ; 
 For it my home is dear, 
 
 Dear is my native land ; 
 Forgive this foolish tear. 
 
 But let that old Flag stand. 
 
 My heart strings round thee cling, 
 
 Close as thy stripes old friend ; 
 Thy glory men shall sing. 
 
 Till time itself shall end; 
 Old flag, th' storm still brave, 
 
 And traitor, leave the spot. 
 While I've a hsind to save, 
 
 Thy touch shall harm it not. 
 
 J P L. 
 

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