Rules For The Christian Citizen In A Foreign Country
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Jonathan Mayhew delivered this sermon--one of the most influential in American history--on the anniversary of the execution of Charles I. In it, he explored the idea that Christians were obliged to suffer under an oppressive ruler, as some Anglicans argued. Mayhew asserted that resistance to a tyrant was a "glorious" Christian duty. In offering moral sanction for political and military resistance, Mayhew anticipated the position that most ministers took during the conflict with Britain.
The Maryland Convention voted on May 25, 1776, "that every Prayer and Petition for the King's Majesty, in the book of Common Prayer . . . be henceforth omitted in all Churches and Chapels in this Province." The rector of Christ Church (then called Chaptico Church) in St. Mary's County, Maryland, placed over the offending passages strips of paper showing prayers composed for the Continental Congress. The petition that God "keep and strengthen in the true worshipping of thee, in righteousness and holiness of life, thy servant GEORGE, our most gracious King and Governour" was changed to a plea that "it might please thee to bless the honorable Congress with Wisdom to discern and Integrity to pursue the true Interest of the United States."
The independence of the United States stimulated American Methodists, as it did their brethren in the Church of England, with whom the Methodists had considered themselves "in communion," to organize themselves as an independent, American church. This happened at the Christmas Conference in Baltimore in 1784, where Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke were elected as superintendents of the new Methodist Episcopal Church.
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,
Submit. Submissiveness. Subject yourself to the divinely willed order of society.
“to every human institution” means to every human form of government.
Christians should not seek their own interests but assume a voluntary ordination of ones self to others.
This is not SUB ordination. No one (human) is better or less than you are, made in God’s image. There are those who get on my nerves, but they are imagi deo.....
Why? Fir the Lord’s sake.
emperor- sovereign ruler of a kingdom.
14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
governors- one who rules or commands.
one who punishes the evil people who do evil things or who praises those who do morally correct things.
15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
This is the will of God = this is the mind of God
Note, Peter is speaking of ordinary situations.... not times of persecution. Times of persecution are different, and Peter speaks to that later in the letter.
by doing good =to do good for another person, or behave/act in a good, proper, satisfactory manner
put to silence = muzzle
the ignorance of foolish people = people who have no wisdom/good sound judgment and ho are spreading out of their ignorance a false understanding, especiallyone that is being spread verbally.
It is God’s will for Christians by their submission to state authorities to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (Foolish people is a common biblical reference to obstinate sinners.)
16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
people who are free = independent, no longer under the ownership or authority of another.
cover-up = cover (sense is concealment that attempts to prevent something from becoming public).
using = present active participle plural nominative masculine… sense is “to have”
evil = badness
freedom = freedom or liberty
using evil together gives the meaning of not using your freedom to cover up something bad that you are doing.
servants of God not using yoru servanthood to cover up your evil.
Christians are free because serving God is Freedom Remember John 8.32
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Doing evil things in expectation of God and human forgiveness because you are a Christian is not christianity, it is hypocrisy.
Our freedom is from sin, satan, selfishness. We can’t invoke freedom as a covering for wickedness. Jesus said that everyone who sins is a slave to sin… but being a servant of Christ releases the Christian into the perfect freedom that is found in Christ.
17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
everyone = everyone
honor = honor, revere
Recognize the value of each person as a creature of God.
brotherhood = the believers in your circle and in the world
love = to have the greatest affection andcare for and loyalty towards
Special love is offered to the fellowship of believers as one would offer special love to one in a family.
fear God = reverence and respect, hallow and exalt God above all else
emperor
honor = honor,
Note: God is to be feared, but the emperor was only to be honored.
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Normally , conflict does not occur between government and God.... but sometimes it does.
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
When there are irreconcilable or unlivable consequences with the government, God is our higher loyalty.
29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
It is importnat to see how Peter saw Christians in society: 1 Peter 2:9 says,
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Peter saw Christians in society as advertisers of God’s virtues and ways. So.....
This submission we talk of today is to the authority that is vested in the human government, not necessarily to every individual law. It’s possible to submit to the institution and still disobey its laws. Hitler/Bonhoeffer. REsistance movements.
For example, when Daniel and his three friends refused to obey the king’s dietary regulations, they disobeyed the law; but the way that they did it proved that they honored the king and respected the authorities (Dan. 1). They were not rebels; they were careful not to embarrass the official in charge or get him into trouble; and yet they stood their ground. They glorified God and, at the same time, honored the authority of the king.
One of the big misnomers of our day is our Supreme Court in the current times. The striking down of Roe v. Wade has unleashed protestors on the homes of Supreme Court justices- which is illegal both at the state and federal levels (in Virginia). But people are protesting at their homes. People should be protesting at the Supreme Court or at the Capital or at the White house or in their public squares- it is legal and encouraged in our Constitution. But it is illegal at the home of a Supreme Court Justice.
Peter and the other Apostles faced a similar challenge shortly after Pentecost (Acts 4–5). The Jewish council commanded them to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, but Peter and his associates refused to obey (see Acts 4:19; 5:29). They did not cause a rebellion or in any way question or deny the authority of the council. They submitted to the institution but they refused to stop preaching. They showed respect to their leaders even though these men were opposed to the Gospel.
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. Unfortunately, some zealous but ignorant Christians use these differences as opportunities for conflict. and loud sermons about “freedom” and “separation of church and state.”
Respect the office even when you can’t respect the officer.
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.
If we are sincerely submitted to authority “for the Lord’s sake,” then we will show honor to all who deserve it. We may not agree with their politics or their practices, but we must respect their position (see Rom. 13). We will also “love the brotherhood,” meaning, of course, the people of God in the church. This is a recurring theme in this letter (1 Peter 1:22; 3:8; 4:8; 5:14). One way we show love to the brethren is by submitting to the authority of the “powers that be,” for we are bound together with one another in our Christian witness.
Respecting Everyone Gives Authority To The Only ONE
Respecting Everyone Gives Authority To The Only ONE
If You claim to be a Christian, You are a walking billboard for Jesus.
What you say, how you act, is on display.
One of the downfalls for me, of being a pastor, is I actually prefer privacy. Living as a pastor places you in a fishbowl. Like it or not. We have a goldfish bowl at home, and Easton runs to iteverytime he comes. at any angle, the fish are visible. I recently changed their water, and didn’tgive the water time to dechlorinate.... I told Janice, I hope they are alive when we get back. She said, “You could probably get new ones. “ No, I can’t, he knows their details.
Christian. What you say, what you do, how you act and react- is on display. And every word, every action, every reaction- is a reflection of what you think of Jesus. Because you represent Him.
And when you do wht you do- whatever that is..... you reflect who you’ve ultimately submitted to in the way you submit to others around you.
In the town square. In church. In citizenship. On Facebook. In every aspect of your living, your relationship to Christ is reflected in your relationship to everyone else.
1 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—
2 then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends.
3 Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.
4 Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.
6 He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what.
7 Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!
8 Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever,
10 so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ,
11 and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.