Quieting the Critics, Part 2b

The mandate, verse number 13, submit yourselves, for the Lord's sake, to every human institution. That's the mandate. When you read through the Gospels, you must understand something. What was foremost in the mind of Christ, what was foremost in the mind of the apostles in the book of Acts, was obedience to God. It wasn't, it wasn't making a scene or even trying to make a point. It wasn't trying to gain headlines in the Jerusalem Post. It wasn't about getting on CNN so everybody sees you. That was not important to them.

Obedience to God was the most important thing to them. And therefore, they always obeyed their God when it came to submitting to those the authority over them. Note this. When you read through the Gospels, you realize that Christ never sought to overturn the Roman authorities in their governmental system. He never sought to rewrite the laws of Rome. He never sought to rewrite the laws of Rome. of the Jews he came to fulfill the law Christ never demonstrated against Roman slavery and slavery was wrong but he never got us men together said you know we got to go down to the temple and we got to you know get our science together we got to you know get up a chant thing you know and and you know just part banging our poles up and down the streets there at Jerusalem so people know that we're against what's going on here in Rome and and and the slavery and it's abuse it's wrong we just got to come out against that.

Christ wasn't into political and social reform. He was into fulfilling the father's call upon his life. And that was to preach the gospel. That's what he was about. To come and preach the gospel. And if that's your goal and that's what you want to do, you don't want to make a scene, you're not there to gather a crowd, to rally the troops, you're there to preach the gospel. And that's what Jesus did. Submit, Peter says. Submit to what? Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake. It's for the Lord. Remember we talked about last week the principles of a godly life.

And that is you got a desire to satisfy the Lord. You got a desire to please the Lord. Peter says, you know, you submit for the Lord's sake. You don't do it for your sake. You do it for God's sake. For him. And then he says, to every human institution. You move from the mandate to the measure. How far is this submission to go? He says to every human institution. Now, that's interesting. Because when you read the Bible, the emphasis here is on every human institution. Why? Because God is sovereign over them all.

Listen, because God has created them all. The word institution comes from a word cittesis, which is to create. Every human institution, institution was created by God. In fact, that's what it said in Romans chapter 13, verse number one, when Paul said, let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

He wasn't just talking about in those days, because God's word is living and powerful. It applies to every age. So every institution was created by God. The word that's used of institution is always used in the Bible in reference to God's creative activity. It's used of the creation of a new heart in 2nd Corinthians 517. It's used in the creation of the world in Romans chapter 1. That is, God ordained them. Every one of them. and therefore, if God creates all the foundations of a pagan society, we need to submit to them.

And it's important to note when he says human institution, he's not talking about its origin, he's talking about its function in the sphere in which it exists. He's talking about those institutions that are in operation now on earth, run by humans. And you can read about them in Ephesians chapter 6 when Paul would say these words. Ephesians chapter 6, verse number 5, slaves be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ, not by way of I service as then pleasers, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God.

from the heart. He talks about it in reference to the family in Ephesians 521 down through Ephesians chapter 6, verse number 2, because God ordained the family institution, God ordained the work institution, God ordained the governmental institutions. God ordained them. And therefore, we have a mandate to submit. The command does not excurs. exclude, listen, it does not exclude authorities who are corrupt and who are bad. We tend to think that, well, because that institution is bad and run by bad people, we don't have to submit to them.

No, that's not true. You need to because God said so. The Bible acknowledges over and over again corrupt institutions because they're run by corrupt people. You can read about them in the book of Isaiah, the book of Micah, the book of Daniel. And yet, just because they are bad and corrupt doesn't mean you have the freedom to disobey and rebel. We tend to think that we can do that, but you can't. You need to obey the Lord, right? You need to obey God no matter what. And if the government says, if you do this, this will be your punishment, then whatever will be is going to be.

But you can't disobey God to obey the government. You must obey God. And in obeying God, it might go against the government. Therefore, you submit to whatever that punishment of the government may be. Now, we happen to live in America. Lucky us, I guess. But we happen to live in America where we're able to have the, quote, freedom of religion. to preach where we want to preach, to go to church, where we want to go to church. Some people don't have that luxury. Some people aren't able to do that. They face all kinds of negative consequences because of their commitment to following the Lord.

But Paul says, or Peter says, that we are to submit to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. government is set up to punish those who do evil. It's designed for a purpose, and we are to be in subjection to it. And then comes the motive in verse number 15, for such is the will of God that by doing the right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. What's the motive?

This is God's will. This is what God wants you to do. People are always asking me about what the will of God is. God's will is that you submit to the governing authorities. That's God's will. That's what God wants you to do. So the reason we submit, number one, is because it magnifies God, and number two, because it muzzles your enemy.

It says that you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Famao is a word that means to muzzle. When you put a muzzle on a dog that yipes, it shuts its mouth. He can no longer do what he would like to do. And that's what happens when you do the will of God. I told you last week, when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes what? Even his enemies to be at peace with him. You see, we tend to get caught up. in so many extra things instead of being caught up in the one thing we are to do, and that is the will of God, to be subject to the governing authorities because that's what God has said.

We might not agree with the laws. We might not even like the laws. But the Bible says we are to submit to the laws of the land.

Unless, of course, the law of the land keeps you fulfilling what? The law of God. The law of God, of course, is the priority, right? and so you you follow the law of God and in so doing you might have to reap some of the negative consequences of the law of the land because you follow the law of the Lord but yet we are to do what God has said we are to do the will of the Lord you know a lot of times we have a hard time in our relationship with the Lord because we don't do the will of the Lord You know, we've told you so many times that God's will is that you be submissive.

You know, Paul, Peter's going to tell you here in verse number 19 in chapter 4 that it's the will of God that you suffer for his name's sake. Did you know that? Sure, 1. Peter 419. Therefore let those also suffer according to the will of God and trust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right. If you are suffering for the sake of righteousness, if you are suffering for God's sake, it's because it is God's will. and what are you to do? You are to entrust yourself to a faithful creator and keep doing the right thing.

Don't stop what you're doing. Keep doing the same thing. Because this is the will of God. The will of God is that a man be born again, right? Sure it is. Verse 72, verse number four, says that God is willing for all men to be saved. And God's deepest desire is for man to be saved. God's deepest desire is for man to be saved. God's deepest desire is for his people to submit to the governing authorities. God's deepest desire is that we live for him and suffer for his namesake. God's deepest desire is that we give thanks to God in every situation.

First, Thessalonians 518, right? For this is the will of God that you give thanks at all things. It's the will of God that we live sexually pure lives. First Thessalonians 4, verse number three.

This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual morality. That's the will of God. This is God's desire for your life. This is what God wants to see happen in your life. And when we are doing what God has asked us to do, then God begins to work in great and mighty ways in and through our lives. Because we've become that clean, pure vessel that he can effectively use to reach lost people with the gospel. And those people need to hear the truth. Lastly, the mission. Peter says, act as free men and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil but use it as bond slaves of God.

You have a mission and that mission is to be a slave of God. Do you know, we talked about this in our last study in chapter 2 verses 3 to 10 about the privileges of the believer that we are God's special people, right? We are a chosen nation. We are a holy priesthood. We are a special people of God. In chapter 1, Peter talks about the fact that we are a saved people. In chapter two, he talks about the fact that we are a special people. Now he says we are a servant people. Our identity is wrapped up in several things.

Number one, we're a saved people. Number two, we are a special people. Number three, we are a servant people.

Number four, we are a supernatural people. We are the kind of people that honor God. Peter will say in first Peter chapter four, verse 10, we are a spiritually gifted people.

That's our identity. That's who we are. And so Peter's calling them to live out their identity in Christ. This is who you are. You're saved. Live like it. Your special, act like it. Your servants, submit like it. Act as bond slaves. Because your servants of God, right? You know, we are free men. What are we free from? We are free from. We are free from from sins condemnation. That's what we're free from. We are free from Satan's bondage. We are free from the law's penalty. We are free from the world's control.

We are free from death's power. That's what we're free from. But our freedom has allowed us to become slaves of God. See, we don't have to talk about being slaves. But boy, let me taste it.

That's a high point of your identity. Christ was a slave. He was a servant. He came not to be served, but to serve. And to give his life away. He came to serve man. We become partakers of the divine nature, right? So therefore, we become partakers of the servant nature because the ultimate servant, as Paul would say in Philippians chapter 2, was Jesus Christ himself. So the high part of our identity is that because, we're saved, we're special people, and we're so special that now we can be the servants of God, and we can serve him with our whole heart, glorifying his name.

That's what Peter says. He says, your bond slaves of God, serve him, adore him, magnify him, live for him. How are you going to do that? Four ways. He gives four ringing imperatives. He says, number one, honor all men.

Do you know the history tells us that there were 60 at least 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire at this time? 60 million. Not 60,000, 60 million. That's a lot of slaves, man. I don't care where you're from. Because the Romans believed that they should never have to. to work. And so therefore, they would conquer the world. And in conquering the world, they would take all their captives and make them slaves so they could be free from doing what they wanted to do. Peter says, you know what you need to do?

Need to honor all men. There are a lot of people out there that have absolutely no identity whatsoever. Their identities have been stripped from them because they're slaves and therefore as as as as as as slaves of God this what you do you honor all men respect all men treat all men with dignity and honor think about that we don't do that do we we like to honor certain people and dishonor most people you know next time you're you're you're in the traffic and you're going to work you know and you're you're and you feel road rage coming on.

You ever felt that? Come on, be honest. Don't be pious. You know, you feel the road rage thing coming on, you know? Ask yourself, am I honoring this guy? How can I honor this guy? You just cut me off, you know? It doesn't mean going up next to him and rolling on you in and say, Jesus loves you. That's not the point. The point is, is that, you know, we want to seek revenge. We wouldn't need to honor all men. You see, Paul would say it, this way over in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 therefore for now on we recognize no man according to the flesh even though we have known Christ according to flesh yet now we know him thus no longer he says we don't look at man on the outside we look at him from the inside and that's how we need to look at people.

We want to pass judgment by what they look like on the outside, and we want to draw conclusions from that. If that's the case, you're not going to honor all men. But if you look at him as made in the image of God, that's what gives man dignity, by the way.

He's made in God's image. He needs to be recreated in that image so that he can live a pure and holy life, and that comes through salvation, but we are to honor all men. Peter says, listen, if you're a bond slave of God, if you're a servant of God, everybody's above you, and you're below everybody else. See, you don't have to think that we're above everybody else. And somebody's below us. Somebody's got to serve us. But if you act as a free man, that is a bond slave of God, then you realize that you're low man on the totem pole.

You're the bottom rung. You're below the pole. You're not even on the pole. You're on the ground. You're on the ground. You're on the and holding up the pole and now you can honor all men and you can honor everybody above you because everybody's above you anyway see we don't honor people because we think they're below us we're better than they are prettier stronger more wonderful more glorious they're wretched we're not but that's not true to honor all men let me tell you something if christ died for them they're worthy of honor.

And Peter says, honor all men. He says this, love the brotherhood. Love the brotherhood. It's a cement that holds everything together. You've got to love one another. We told you before that every chapter says something about loving one another. Chapter 1 verse number 22, chapter 3 verse number 8, chapter 4 verse number 8, after 5 verse number 14, and then of course here in chapter 2, love the brotherhood. You got to love them. You got to love your fellow man. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another.

How are we going to give off a sweet, fragrant aroma if we hate one another? If we can't get along with one another. If we seek to divide one another. He says, love one another. He says over in verse 22, chapter one, love one another fervently. Chapter 4, verse number 8, above all, keep fervent in your love from one another. He keeps reminded of Make sure you're fervent and your love. Make sure you're energetic in your love. Love the brotherhood. If you're a slave of all men, you'll honor them. If you're a slave, you'll love your brother.

If you don't see yourself as a slave, you'll demand your brother loves you. But if you see yourself as a slave, give me your life away, it's no big deal. Right? And then he says, fear God. fear God honor all men love the brotherhood fear God Peter knows that the basis of their security comes from fearing God the book of Proverbs says this in chapter 14 verse number 26 in the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence and his children will have refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life that one may avoid the snares of death.

There are strong confidence in the fear of the Lord. When you fear God, you fear nothing else, right? These people need to understand that they didn't need to fear the government. They needed to fear God. Because he is the one who gives them confidence. He is their strong tower. He is their place of refuge. He is their strength. He is their stability. He is their sustenance. He is their salvation. He is everything to them. Fear God. And they says, honor the king. Who's the king? Nero. Honor Nero?

Talk about a pagan. Talk about a worthless individual. Talk about so many. he should be taken out and shot, it's Nero! Honor the king! He says, yeah, by the way, you got to honor Nero too. Even though he's wrapping some of you guys up and pitch and setting you on fire to light his gardens, and even though he's wrapping some of you up in animal skins and throwing you to his wild dogs and you're beating alive, even though all those things are happening, honor the king. Honor the king. That's like talking to somebody in, in Iraq and say in honor Saddam Hussein when he was in power.

What? You've got to be kidding me. It says, respect the king. Fear God. Don't fear the king. Fear God and honor the king. God's the one you worship. the king is the one you are to to respect and honor don't you think that if Peter could urge the Christians in his day to honor a pagan king such as Nero that least we could do would be to honor those who reign in our government right you'd ask yourself if the only impression of Christ the world ever got was you, what kind of Christ would they see? Right?

This is what silences this coffer. A life of godliness, pure and holy before God. That's one mission is to do what God says.

And that is to honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God. What do the writer of ecclesiatsy say? The sum it all up, here's what man's life is all about. Fear God, keep the commandments. That's it. Fear him and do what he says. That's the sum of man. And Peter says, you want to quiet the critics? This is what you need to do. this is how you need to live in the back of his mind what does he have he has the memory of Jesus and we'll get to that in a few weeks when Jesus was brought before the temple police and he was beaten he was treated unjustly they never said anything did he if anybody had to write to say something because he was perfectly sinless and perfectly holy and perfectly right It was Christ.

But he never said a word. He was treated unjustly. He was abused unjustly. He was treated wrong. Nothing about what they did but Jesus was right. Nothing, but what did he do? He says the text in 1st Peter, he kept entrusting himself to the one who judges what? Right? Righteously. That's all. And the next time we find ourselves being treated unjustly, wronged, abused, entrust ourselves to the one who deals with man justly, righteously, and watch and see what he does. Thanks