“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." —Psalm 146:3
“The world has a moral problem. We have witnessed a breakdown in the moral life of the world; yea, even in our own country. The moral standards of men in public and political life probably never were as low as they are at this present moment. Men are willing to do almost anything to gain their point, to get control, to possess power. They become politicians instead of statesmen. If those in public life would bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ and lay bare their heart and conscience in the presence of God, our whole problem of government and peace would be solved. Righteousness exalts a nation. What is true of the nation and the public servant is equally true of the individual.”*
One might think the above quotation was written yesterday. In fact, it was aired (and later rendered in print) in 1938 by a Christian business man and bible student in his comments on Psalm six. One wonders what he would say if he could come back for a season today! Today’s world only proves the writer’s insight.
Recently I lost the fellowship of a good friend for having made a negative comment about a certain politician and the political party my friend supports. Given the bible’s assessment of man, as in our text for today, it is hard to believe that Christians can be so emotionally involved with and confident in the political process that it can affect their relationship with other believers, but it happens. Even a cursory study of scripture will reinforce David’s exhortation.
Consider some of those references. First and foremost is man’s fundamental spiritual condition. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Underscore the word “all”. And again, “There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good , and sinneth not [Eccl. 7:20].” And, “There is none righteous, no not one [Rom. 3:10].” Whenever we are dealing with man we are dealing with a creature inherently bent in the wrong direction. The natural man, and even the believer who is not fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit is incapable of true righteousness. The apostle says, “For I know that in me (that is in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do [Rom. 7:18-19].”
Additionally, if men, however sincere, seek to govern without submission to the word of God, they cannot understand how to govern aright. Through the prophet Isaiah the Spirit of God says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them [Isa. 8:20].” Observe that He does not say little light, but no light! This is confirmed and expanded upon in the New Testament; scripture declares that the “Gentiles (i.e. the unsaved) walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness [Eph. 4:17b-19].” Intellectual darkness, spiritual blindness, emotional paralysis, moral perversion and insatiable greed are the basic components in man without the Lordship of Christ. This is the fundamental condition of the vast majority of those involved in what we so naively call the “political process,” and fully explains why there is no solution to our problems from human government or education. Man has a heart condition (to say nothing of an intellectual one) which makes it impossible for him to infuse healing into society. In man “there is no help.”
Few Christians, unfortunately, believe that man is really that captive to sin, but either it is so, or the Bible is in error. Upon the conviction that the Bible is true and trustworthy, it is immediately evident that man cannot bring to the human scene that which is true, wise and suited to ideal government. The picture drawn is such that if a truly good man were to emerge and come to power, other men would presently draw him down or destroy him. (Calvary is proof of that!)
Before the flood of Noah’s day, “God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted His way upon the earth [Gen. 6:12].” Aside from his own family, not one soul joined Noah in the ark. The Lord Jesus Christ said, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be [Mat. 24:37].” The trend is ever downward, and no amount of electioneering will change it; prophecy will not be altered at the ballot box!
Am I then suggesting that Christians abandon the political scene? Not necessarily; but they must remember that they can never thereby accomplish more than a “stay of execution.” As Noah preached righteousness to his unresponsive generation, so the Christian’s real calling is to get the gospel out in prayerful hope that a “chosen few” will heed the alarm and get in the Ark of Safety before it is forever too late.
“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” - Ps. 118:8
“There are none so deaf as those who will not hear”,
"Pastor" Frasier
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