" Marching to Zion: Joining the Royal Procession", by Michael S. Horton

Here's a couple excerpts from an excellent article by Michael Horton from his magazine: Modern Reformation.

"Obviously, a cure for AIDS would grab the front-page headline for weeks on end. We would all dance in the streets. Right now, there are Christians working alongside non-Christians in labs and on the field to try to achieve that success. In our common callings, we are not ushering in Christ's kingdom of glory and power, but sharing with non-Christians in temporal blessings and woes and loving our neighbors through the gifts we have been given by God's common and saving grace."

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"As a minister, I am called regularly by God to make a political speech--a deeply partisan political speech. However, it is not to rally the troops in defense of Christendom against the infidels of various sorts. It divides not between Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, but between Christ and Antichrist. As heralds and ambassadors of the age to come, we are given the commission to go into all the world with the announcement that Jesus Christ is Lord and King, the only Sovereign who holds the keys of death and hell--who opens and no one can shut, who shuts and no one can open. It is he alone who will rid the world of evil by his wisdom and might, subduing chaos, and leading his own into the place that even now he is preparing for them.

In this covenantal gathering, the cross is raised, not as a cultural symbol but as the proclamation of Christ crucified for sinners. Our role is not to represent Western civilization, democracy, or the free world, nor to oppose these systems, but to announce and to exhibit--however imperfectly--the triumph of Christ's weak kingdom over the powerful kingdoms of this age. For now, we pray for secular rulers, pay our taxes, and fulfill our callings together with our non-Christian neighbors and citizens. As Calvin pointed out, the distinction between the "two kingdoms" does not mean that Christ is not king already, but that for now he rules both kingdoms in different ways. The kingdom of God advances by Word and Spirit, while the kingdoms of this age progress or decline according to the light of God's moral law inscribed on the conscience in creation and the Spirit's work in common grace. The cities of this age rise to the heavens in pride, but the City of God--the New Jerusalem that is coming down out of heaven as a bride prepared for her husband--alone promises and gives true liberty to its sons and daughters beyond the ultimate triumph of death and hell. We witness to the ascended King who will return again to judge the living and the dead and to reign forever."

Here's link to article: http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var1=ArtRead&var2=1095&var3=issuedisplay&var4=IssRead&var5=109