Civil Obedience for the Sake of the Lord
Notes
Transcript
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
Peter has addressed our need to abstain from the passions of the flesh...
The peace that God has intended our souls to enjoy through the reconciling atonement of JC...
And the righteous standing we gain through the covenant between God and man kept perfectly on our behalf by JC for His people...
Abstaining from sinful passions...
Resisting temptation...
Fighting with all of our might against sin in our life...
Is what actually brings peace, comfort, and happiness to our souls.
Unbelievers are always observing us to see if there is something they can use to justify their sin...
And, hypocrisy, unrepentant sin, is the ammo they use.
So, pursuing to live a life that accords with the doctrine we profess...
Has a missionary affect on the unbelieving world.
This morning we’re going to transition with the Apostle Peter on how Christian living is expressed, in godliness, within specific relationships.
A key word, which is a behavior, is introduced here...
But, is replete throughout the Bible for the people of God...
It is used here as a command from God to His people...
It is a word/behavior that is very important to the remainder of this epistle.
Interestingly enough, it is a behavior that the world finds repulsive...
It is a behavior that the unregenerate scathe at...
And, unbelievers find any proponent of this behavior as loathsome.
Subject Your Self to Authority as God Commands
Subject Your Self to Authority as God Commands
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
This behavior that is commanded by God for His people to obey is...
to subject your self...to be submissive…
Which means to actively place yourself under the authority of.
Every person that is born is immediately engaged in a battle to get out from under authority...
The desire of getting out from any/every authority...
Is often accompanied by a desire for the individual to be the only authority in their own life...
And, somehow we find it acceptable for authority to exist as long as we are that authority...
Or that we agree with the authority, which is no different than being the authority our self...
Because submission can never be expressed until you disagree with your authority’s decision.
When your authority is doing what you want, there’s nothing really to submit to.
Because it’s as if, you’re making the decision, as well.
It’s when you disagree with your authority that your submission is tested.
Our culture is extremely anti-authority right now, especially in creed.
Just do what feels right to you is a common saying of our day.
Don’t let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do is another.
As Christians, we not only disagree with these statements...
But, we recognize that they are the anti-thesis of how God calls us to behave/live.
It’s not a different path to take...
It’s a path that leads you in the opposite direction as God would have you go.
It is a complete rejection of what God commands of His creation.
This has been going on since the Fall in the Garden of Eden...
And, I want us to get a glimpse of what happened there...
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Here’s what Satan wanted Adam & Eve to think...
He wanted them to feel that they would somehow have less value...
They would somehow have less dignity if they needed authority in their life.
And, so he tempts them to think that eating the fruit will give them autonomy from God...
And, hence all authority…So that they would be their own authority...
And, they can be the judge of what is good or evil and not God.
So, they could Just do what feels right to them.
So, they Wouldn’t have anyone tell them what they can or cannot do.
The same message of the world today was the message of the serpent in the beginning of creation.
The result was immediate guilt and shame that caused horrific & tragic results in their life.
They immediately felt that the gracious God who had blessed them with life and dominion over creation...
And, immediately blessed them with an intimate relationship with Himself...
Is now Someone who should be hidden from.
The tragic entrance of sin into their own life and into the world.
Because they rejected the authority of God.
In contrast, Peter tells us here in v.13...
We, as God’s chosen people, are to be a people who are characterized by a submissive attitude towards God-ordained authorities in our life.
We recognize that submitting to authority is not giving up/losing one’s dignity...
Rather it is recognizing authority that God has ordained and instituted.
It is recognizing that God has a created order for society...
And, that following God’s ordained created order is not only His will...
But, it is beneficial for society.
That is not to say that it cannot be abused by sinful mankind...
It has been abused and always will...
However, if God’s pattern is followed by all parties it is a blessing to society.
And, as Christians, we do not profess a conditional obedience to God.
IOW, we do not affirm that we will obey God if the other party obeys, as well.
The other party obeying is between them and God.
We can only be responsible for our behavior...
And, our behavior is supposed to be obedience to God...
And God commands us to be subject/to submit to every human institution...
What does Peter mean every human institution?
He means governmental structures.
There are monarchies, oligarchies, socialist governments, communist governments, government by democracy, and we are a Constitutional Republic.
Human forms of government are God’s idea...
They have been ordained by God to serve and protect the rights of the citizens...
And, maintain Law & Order for the peace and goodwill of the citizens.
And, that is precisely what Peter has in mind here in these verses.
In the time that Peter wrote this letter, Christians were persecuted because they were being accused (slandered) of breaking the law...
Or not giving into the customary religions of the Roman culture.
It was fine that Christians had their own beliefs...
It was quite a different story that they did not accept or practice the other religion’s beliefs.
For instance, most new religions were allowed and tolerated because they would sacrifice to the established gods of the culture.
Christians would not...and also proclaimed that there is only one true God.
Additionally, Christians refused to worship the Emperor.
This caused them to be accused of treason...
Even though they were a peaceful, law abiding group of people.
Also, the fact that Christians gathered together and excluded non-Christians from certain rights...
Such as partaking of the Lord’s Supper.
This raised suspicions and Christians started becoming accused of being possible traitors.
Misunderstandings of the Lord’s Supper turned into accusations of cannibalism.
In this sort of context, Peter writes and says God commands us to be subject to the governing authorities.
Be Christians, but do not break the laws of your government.
Is there ever a time to break the laws of the government?
Yes, when they ask us to break God’s laws.
Then the commands of the Superior Authority are to be obeyed.
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
No human has the right, nor the authority to remove or lessen a command of God.
But, until that happens…the overstepping of the human authority...
We must submit our self to the institutions of authority that God has ordained.
Paul says the same as Peter...
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
God gives authority and He takes it away.
When authorities step outside of their God-given structures of authority...
Or when they overstep the authority prescribed by God...
Then there becomes a situation in which God must be obeyed instead of man.
But, here Peter is speaking in the general terms of government and the laws that are meant to protect the law keepers and prosecute the law breakers.
God’s Purposes for Human Government
God’s Purposes for Human Government
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
You have the Law makers and the Law enforcers.
They are instituted to punish those who do evil...
And, be kind and honor those who obey the laws...
And clear the name of those who are falsely accused...
And, declare that they are not law breakers, but in fact are law keepers.
This is what God has set them in place to do.
And, if it is functioning correctly...
Law keepers will not find themselves in trouble with the law.
That’s what Peter means in...
15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
The false accusations of people who don’t really know...
They just speculate and slander due to anger, hatred and misunderstanding...
They will be silenced by your innocence being proven as Law-keepers...
If you are keeping the laws like God commands you to do.
If you are not, even though their accusations towards us as Christians are false...
They will believe them, nonetheless, based on your proven law-breaking of laws.
And, this is what God wants us to avoid.
Don’t be a stumbling block for the gospel towards others...
By not being a peacable, law-abiding, humble Christian citizen...
Be a person that wants peace, wants Law & Order, wants the good of people...
And live in such a way that adds credibility to the goodness of Christianity...
Not in a way that would add fuel to the fire of hostility...
Or even apprehension towards the gospel.
Now, Peter goes on and shows a way in which we can use our freedom in Christ as a means of dishonoring God...
Why Have We Been Given Freedom in Christ?
Why Have We Been Given Freedom in Christ?
16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
Some Christians use their Christianity as a reason to rebel.
We can convince our self that we don’t have to listen to the government because we have a higher authority...
And, they say this in categories in which the government actually has authority from God to exercise authority.
Something like…“they can’t tell me what to do I only answer to God.”
The fact is, however, that God tells us to submit to the governing authorities in many cases.
So many times when we rebel against the governing authorities...
We are actually rebelling against God.
It may be inadvertently, but it is rebellion against God, nonetheless.
Peter is saying to be careful and not use your freedom in Christ...
And, Christ as your Lord to go against God’s prescription to obey human governing authorities.
Our first response to our authorities should be praying for them.
Not slandering, castigating, gossiping...
But, prayer for their soul and for their leadership.
Now, let me close with showing you...
The Privilege of Subjecting One Self
The Privilege of Subjecting One Self
I want to close by pointing out something that is remarkable and, in my opinion, jumps off the page...
Its something that I skipped on purpose because I think it exemplifies the reason we want to obey this command to subject our self to governing authorities...
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,
Be subject for the Lord’s sake
That just jumps off the page at me
Be subject. Why?
for the Lord’s sake
We are to subject our self...
Because Christ, the eternal Son of God subjected Himself...
And, He subjected Himself to the very authorities that He created, as Creator of all things.
He submitted Himsefl to authorities that would march Him to the Cross...
Because of accusations that were not true, unsubstantiated...
And, in the face of death…He gave them no reason to believe the testimony of those who slandered Him.
We subject ourself and follow in the footsteps of Christ, our Lord.
We subject ourself for the glory of the gospel of JC.
We submit to show that our hopes are not in this world going the way we want...
But, the way God has ordained.
We have the chance to be a people that obey for the sake of our Lord...
Who gave all…So, we could have all!
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Lord’s Supper
Lord’s Supper
Explain the cup process.
Matthew 26:26-28 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Her in Matthew 26, Jesus instituted the New Covenant to/for all who believe upon Him.
It is open to all who are in the New Covenant, by faith in JC.
We do not limit the Lord’s Supper to just our church members.
If you have put your faith for salvation in JC, alone…
We welcome you to participate in the Lord’s Supper with us today.
As we participate in the Lord’s Supper, we’re instructed to do so, as often as we do it, in remembrance of Him.
So, we remember Jesus.
We remember His gracious, loving incarnation.
We remember His perfect, covenant keeping life.
We remember His reconciling, atoning death.
We remember His death conquering resurrection.
We remember His gravity defying ascension.
And, we not only look to what all of those truths have done for us…
But, we look forward to the promises of what is still yet to come.
So, let me pray before we take the bread.
Jesus said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” —1 Cor 11:24
Let’s pray before we take the cup.
Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” —1 Cor 11:25