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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadWilliam Burkitt Notes and Observations - Romans 13:4 - 13:4
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Here the apostle subjoins a reason, why a magistrate is not to be unduly dreaded and feared by his subjects who live well, for he is by his institution the minister of God to thee for good, if thou beest a doer of that which is good.
Learn hence, that the magistrate is the minister of God for the good of them over which he is set, especially of them that are virtuous and good: he is a shield to the godly, a husband to the widow, a father to the orphan, a patron to the poor, and a refuge to the oppressed.
Observe farther, How the magistrate is set forth with the ensign of terror to evil-doers: he has a sword put into his hand by God himself, a sword to wound; not a wooden dagger to scare offenders barely; and a sword, not rusting in the scabbard, but drawn and whetted; he must show it, and strike with it upon a just occasion, and make those feel it who are not awed with the sight of it: He beareth not the sword in vain.
Observe again, Though the magistrate is said to bear a sword, yet he is never called a sword, but a shield often; a shield is for defence, a sword for destruction; intimating, that the magistrate's power is protection, not destruction; magistrates have swords, but they are shields, and not swords: they have a sword to cut off evil-doers; God help them to draw it upon atheism and blasphemy, upon vice and immorality. One hearty stroke of the magistrate's sword would stun error and vice more than a thousand sermons.
Observe lastly, The magistrate is said not to snatch or take the sword, but to bear the sword. He doth not wrest it out of the hand of another, but it is put into his hand by God himself: the commission to bear the sword is from God; the magistrate doth not hold his authority by virtue of the sword, but he holds his sword by virtue of his authority. When he draweth the sword, it is not merely backed with an arm of flesh, but with a warrant and commission signed by God himself: He beareth the sword.