Our Responsibility To Authority
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
Now, it’s been a couple weeks since we’ve been in this study, so let’s go back up verse 11 and read there:
11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Ok, so, in a nutshell, we’ve been told that we, as children of God, ought to live as strangers and pilgrims on this earth, we are just visiting this planet and are on a journey home, and because of this, we are to live in a way that when people speak evil against us (and they will), our testimonies, our good works, will outshine what’s been said, and what actually happens here, is that when people speak evil of the Christian, the result of the observed conduct of Christians would be to lead those around them to honor him by giving up their hearts to Him.
In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Who you are speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
So, we are going to dive deeper into this thought here, about how Christians are to live, and we are going to see some more detail on how we are to behave while visiting this planet.
In verses 13-16, for our study tonight, we are going to look at “Our Responsibility To Authority”
Now, as far as this flesh goes, we don’t like rules, but almost every aspect of life requires authority and compliance.
In verses 13-16, God specifically targets the institution of government and our response to that authority.
So, what exactly does the Bible say about how we should respond to government? Let me show you three things tonight…First of all, we are to have:
1-A Patriotic Allegiance Toward Government
1-A Patriotic Allegiance Toward Government
13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
Those who are in authority over us are watching our lives or our behavior. Yet, those who are under our authority are also watching how we respond to our authorities.
Peter issues a command, “Submit yourselves.”
As Christians we should be good citizens, submitting to government. This was very different from those zealous Jews in Peter’s day who recognized no king but God and paid taxes to no one except God.
We still have people today with those beliefs, but they are opposite of what the Bible teaches.
Now, I don’t suppose that anyone completely “agrees” with everything his government stands for or does.
We definitely disagree with certain laws or taxes or people in leadership, but God doesn’t put any conditions on His command here.
Elijah had some problems with the leadership of King Ahab. I don’t suppose that the Apostle Paul agreed with Nero on much of anything. There were Jews who certainly had issues with Hitler. And we will have our disagreements today with those in authority. But we must pray for God’s grace when government acts in an anti-God fashion.
Submission to the government does not mean that we never stand against the government and go against the laws of the land.
Here’s the rule on this: We are to obey the laws of the land as long as the laws of the land do not conflict with the laws of the Lord.
• Warren Wiersbe wrote, “It is important that we respect the office even though we cannot respect the man or woman in the office. As much as possible, we should seek to cooperate with the government and obey the law; but we must never allow the law to make us violate our conscience or disobey God’s Word.”
Let me give you some examples from the Bible:
When we look at the lives of Daniel and the three Hebrew boys, they refused to obey the diet regulations of the king, but they demonstrated they honored the king in the manner they handled themselves. They were not rebellious. They took every precaution to not embarrass the authorities that were in charge of them and not get them into trouble. These men brought honor to the Lord, and at the same time, they honored the king.
Peter went through this same type of situation after the day of Pentecost. He was commanded by the Jewish council to not preach in the name of Jesus anymore. Peter did not cause a riot, revolution, or revolt. He and his friends respected the council, but submitted to a higher authority in their lives. They showed respect to their leaders, even though these men were opposed to the Gospel.
William Barclay said in his commentary on 1 Peter, “There may be times, therefore, when Christians will fulfill their highest duty to the state by refusing to obey it and by insisting on obeying God. By so doing, at least they will witness to the truth, and at best they may lead the state to take the Christian way.”
Think of the context of when Peter was writing this…Nero was in power...He was a wicked man. When Nero was a teenager, at the age of seventeen, he came to power. Fourteen years later, this man committed suicide. During his life, he had his own mother put to death, he killed his first wife, and allegedly has his second one killed. It’s been written that he was responsible for setting the city of Rome on fire, purposefully letting it burn to the ground and then blamed it on Christians, and used it to fuel his persecution of the Christians. It was during the reign of Nero that Peter was martyred for Christ. As awful as this man was, Peter states that we are to submit to the king.
Now, if you think submission to the government is hard, we also see that we are to have:
2-A Positive Attitude Toward The Grievous
2-A Positive Attitude Toward The Grievous
15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
He’s going back to the subject of verse 12 here.
Peter wasn’t making this stuff up! This wasn’t the will of Peter, but of the Lord God! In verse 15 Peter declares the purpose of God’s plan. Whenever we read about the will of God in the word of God we have no room for discussion or debate or denial. It is the revealed will of God! There may be some things that we are not clear on or that we’re really seeking the Lord about, but when we read “For this is the will of God” we do not have to think twice about it!
What’s the will of God here? That we would have a good testimony...
Our testimony bears great influence when we respond positively in negative situations. It is during the fiery trials that our lights shine the brightest and have the greatest impact.
I mentioned Peter being martyred under the same government that he’s speaking of here…We read of those martyrs with great interest…We are greatly encouraged by their courage and tenacity during endless torture and finally death. Their influence still lives today, and we are reminded that when persecution comes, we must respond positively if we want our lives to have that same impact.
Peter encourages the church with the fact that our doing good will be effective in silencing those who are against the church.
Some have forgotten that:
We don’t muzzle those who oppose us by force, but by our faith.
We don’t put to silence the foolish by debating the word but by displaying our works.
We don’t shut up those who are critical by being hard. but by being humble.
Peter tells the church that those who oppose the church show their foolishness and ignorance. It is foolish to oppose and persecute the church of God! Those who persecute and oppose God’s church oppose God!
One of the most stunning accounts in Scripture is when Jesus addresses Judas Iscariot as “friend” as he approached Him to plant the betrayal kiss upon his cheek. Jesus knew exactly who Judas was and why he was there, but His salutation and attitude toward him is a great example to us when we face similar adversity from people or governments.
So, as Christians, we are to have a patriotic allegiance toward government, we are to have a positive attitude toward the grievous, and lastly, we see:
3-A Parallel Application Toward God
3-A Parallel Application Toward God
16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
Peter tells the church that they will silence the critics by being sincere in their conduct. He tells the church that it is God’s will for us to be real; to be genuine; to be authentic. Peter exhorts the church to live their lives in light of who they are in Christ Jesus.
If we struggle with obeying in our human relationships, we will struggle toward God’s authority as well.
Children who do not obey their parents rarely grow up obeying God.
Those people who have problems with their bosses at work usually have a problem with their pastors at church.
These patterns however carry over into our relationship with God. Resisting the one who holds your existence in His hand is never wise.
Verse 16 says, “…not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness...”
We are warned against taking the liberty we have in Jesus as an excuse for sin. Instead we use our liberty in Jesus to show the kind of love and respect that Peter calls for.
Warren Wiersbe wrote, “A true Christian submits himself to authority because he is first of all submitted to Christ. He uses his freedom as a tool to build with and not as a weapon to fight with.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
Peter closes this section in verse 17 with:
17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
The expression of a godly life is seen in how we relate to those around us...
John MacArthur wrote, “Christians are not to discriminate against any class of people because of race, nationality, or economic status. That does not mean they ignore different levels of authority and social structure or that they engage in a mindless tolerance for everyone’s conduct, but it does mean they show proper respect for everyone as individuals made in the image of God.”
We are to keep honoring all people, we are to constantly be loving the brotherhood, we are to constantly be fearing God, and we are constantly be honoring the king. The purpose of God’s plan is revealed to us and demonstrated by us as we live godly lives before a watching world.
Are we demonstrating godly lives by our conduct in the world and to the world?
Do we honor all people?
Do we love the brotherhood?
Do we fear the Lord?
Do we honor the king?
God is calling for the church to submit to Him first and then submit to the governing authorities!