Our Relationship In Associations
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. 17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. 18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
We are working our way through this section of Scripture which is showing us, as Christians, that we have “A Friendly Pursuit” - We are to be kind, even in difficult situations. The theme of this series, and the book of 1 Peter is how to respond when walking through the fire.
9 A man’s heart deviseth his way:
But the Lord directeth his steps.
The only way we can expect to do the right thing in life is if we are allowing the Lord to direct our steps, and we receive that direction through His Word...
Last week, I spoke about “Our Response To Authority” from verses 14-16, and ended with verse 17. Last week was all about how Christians are to respond to government and I mentioned how we would expand on verse 17 later, and that is what we will do tonight as we look at “Our Relationship In Associations.”
17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
Because every human being has value to God, He should therefore be valuable to us. God did not create certain people better than others. Regardless of background, skin color, economic status, or ability, we are all made by God and should strive for harmony among ourselves.
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
The concept of race is nothing but a social construct; it’s a constructed idea…the concept of race is not a Biblical concept.
In the culture of Paul’s day, the Greeks thought they were a master race and all others were “barbarians” to them. It’s amazing; we’ve seen groups come and go that thought they were a better race than anyone else, but the Bible tells us that all races have a common origin; all trace their descent from Adam.
With this in mind, I’m talking about associations tonight…How we are to relate to those around us...
Obviously, some relationships are more general while others take on greater significance. Thus, Peter gives some straightforward advice.
1-Respect All
1-Respect All
1 Peter 2:17 (KJV 1900)
17 Honour all men...
Every Christian is commanded to give honor to all people. God saw fit to love the entire world and make salvation available to all. Thus we should value the lives of all human beings.
The word honour means, “to prize, for example, fix a valuation upon; by implication to revere, honor, value.” We are commanded to value every person because every person in the world was made in the image and likeness of God Almighty! He created them, He loves them, He sent Jesus to die on the cross for them, and we are to honor them as a valued person!
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
We are to honor all men. This means we are to have respect for all men, considering them to be valuable and important.
This was important because the 60,000 slaves in the Roman empire were not considered to be important at all. God said they were important and should be treated that way. People are not to be treated as things, as just a number, they are people.
10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Going back to what I closed the message with last week; while the Church isn’t to look down on anyone, some people live in such a way that we cannot honor their lifestyles.
We are not to honor their practice, but their person. If we do not value every person then we will look down on them, will not stoop to help them, we’ll set ourselves above them, and we will dishonor God by doing so.
Man always gets into trouble when he tries to play the role of the Creator instead of the creature. The lust for power over others is the cause of many problems in our world today.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is called the Golden Rule and society would be wise to consider it and live by such a principle.
We are to respect all men, secondly, we are to...
2-Rejoice In Assembly
2-Rejoice In Assembly
1 Peter 2:17 (KJV 1900)
17 ...Love the brotherhood...
While we are to treat everyone properly because they are made in the image of God, we have a particular responsibility toward those who are saved because we are family!
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
The Lord commands that we love one another in the Lord! There was so much hatred toward the church from the world that Peter emphasizes the command and need for Christians to love one another.
The local church provides a great opportunity to display the love of Christ. We have common ground with our fellow-believers and should go out of our way to fellowship with them and assist them through prayer, encouragement, and assistance. God blesses those who serve others.
10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
It’s sad when God’s family does not get along one with another. Whenever you find revival in the Bible, you will find people in one accord with each other. It is an sign of authentic Christianity.
Strife and division are not from above but “is earthly, sensual, devilish” (James 3:15b).
We are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Love should characterize the local church. It should be a place of blessing, not battling.
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
We are to respect all men, rejoice in assembly, and thirdly, we are to...
3-Reverence The Almighty
3-Reverence The Almighty
1 Peter 2:17 (KJV 1900)
17 ...Fear God...
This is interesting in context; Peter is telling Christians to fear God. You’d think that would be a given, but it isn’t.
The use of “fear” in the Bible often indicates awe or reverence. To fear God is to express loyalty to Him and faithfulness to His covenant. Those who fear God exhibit trust in Him and obedience to His commandments, not because they are afraid, but because they know Who God is, and who they are...
I remember a while back when R.C. Sproul was doing a Q & A in a Church, someone asked him this question, “Since God is slow to anger and patient, then why when man first sinned was his wrath and punishment so severe and long-lasting?” This question coming from a Christian by the way… Mr. Sproul answered by saying, “This creature from the dirt defied the everlasting holy God after that God had said the day that you shall eat of it, you shall surely die and instead of dying (instantly) that day, he lived another day and was clothed in his nakedness by pure grace and had the consequences of a curse applied for quite some time, but the worst curse would come upon the one who seduced him whose head would be crushed by the seed of the woman and the punishment was too severe!? What’s wrong with you people? This is what’s wrong with the Christian church today, we don’t know who God is, and we don’t know who we are…The right question to ask would be why wasn’t the punishment infinitely more severe? If we have any understanding of our sin and any understanding of who God is, that’s the question.”
We know by living that it is easy to lose focus on the Lord and fear for the Lord. We live by faith and not by sight and yet our faith should encompass a reverential fear for God.
He is our eternal King and we will stand before the Lord one day so we ought to live each day in the fear of the Lord.
Proverbs 24:21 (KJV 1900)
21 My son, fear thou the Lord and the king:
Proverbs 1:7 (KJV 1900)
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge:
It is the simple fact of life that we will never reverence men until we reverence God. It is only when God is given His proper place at the center of our lives, that all other things take their proper place.
We are to respect all men, rejoice in assembly, reverence the Almighty, and lastly, we are to...
4-Recognize Authority
4-Recognize Authority
1 Peter 2:17 (KJV 1900)
17 ...Honour the king.
I’m not going to spend long here since last week’s entire sermon was about our response to authority, but I will say, God has placed authority in our lives for a reason. Responding properly to that authority is a proper response to God. Our human, sinful nature wants to be in control of everything, but there is great safety and protection in submitting to the authorities in our lives. That submission starts with God, but includes our parents, our pastor, the government, our employer, etc.
1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
We are not to revere the earthly king in the same way we are to revere the Eternal King. We are to worship and praise, and serve the eternal King. We are to value and respect, and revere the earthly king. He has a position that has been given to him by the Lord and he will be accountable to the Lord. We are to seek to honor the king or ruler by the way we live.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In verse 17 Peter instructs the church to honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor 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?