Titus 3:1, 2 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,… Society has reached no ideal perfection in government, nor has God himself laid down any outward form as an ideal. All nations are justified in variety of choice. There has been government by judges, and governments monarchical, republican, autocratic, and constitutional. All that we need to notice is that society needs to be governed. Lawlessness always ends in anarchy, misery, and desolation. I. LEARN SUBJECTION TO THE STATE. This is beautiful. Restraint is better than the liberty of licentiousness. Compare a river that keeps its bounds to one that overflows its banks. Men are justified in resisting tyrannies, whether of autocrats or mobs; but they must not forget that all well-ordered societies exist only by subjection. II. LEARN SELF-CONQUEST IN YOURSELVES. Controlling the tongue, avoiding all bitterness and "brawling," and showing that there is a magistracy of the heart as well as a magistracy of the state. - W.M.S. Parallel Verses KJV: Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, |
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