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Weimar University

Thoughts on 1 Peter

Don Mackintosh

Submitting to the Government: Thoughts on 1 Peter 2:13-17

Well, we've been talking in our series here about 1 Peter, and it ends up being quite a relevant book because 1 Peter was written really to talk about how to deal in a hostile world, a world that's hostile to Christianity.

And 2 Peter was written to deal with hostility within the church.

Let me think, both of these might be relevant.

So we're in 1 Peter, and we're actually in chapter 2 if you'd like to turn there.

1 Peter chapter will be on verse 13 through 17.

First Peter chapter 2, verse 13 through 17.

Now just by way of introduction, as I've mentioned before, Christians during this time were seen and characterized by the government and increasingly by society is what were called evil doers.

And that word evil doer really literally means a lawbreaker.

They were actually called atheists because they would not worship the gods of the emperor or the Roman pantheon of gods.

So back then, it would have been actually probably a good thing to say that you're an atheist, you might say.

Because in that sense, they did not believe in the pantheon of gods of Rome.

They were seen as cannibals because of a superficial reading, or maybe not reading, but a hearing about what Christ had said in John 6.

If you do not eat my flesh or drink my blood, you'll have no part with me.

I said, it's obvious that these are cannibals.

They were seen as incestuous because they were talking about love feasts and they were talking about brothers and sisters had a love feast and of course they said, well that means they must be having incestuous relationships.

They were seen as breakers of families because they, the teaching was that if you accept Christ, you need to defy father and mother or husband or whoever and follow Christ, so they said they're breaking up the families.

They were seen as tearing down the slave trade because they were saying things like there's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, and say that obviously they're tearing down the slave trade.

So they were threatening the economy, they were threatening the family, they were threatening the religion, they were threatening the monarchy, and so they were seen as evil doers and lawbreakers.

And they were severely punished by the emperor because of this.

He was maybe a kind guy, the kind you don't need, Nero.

And Nero was increasingly corrupt himself.

And he was severely punishing Christians and the emperor as well as many around him would ultimately turn on Peter himself and Peter would be killed.

So how was it that they were supposed to respond?

We talked about this a little bit last week.

First Peter chapter 2 and verse 11, beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

Don't give any reason for them to say that you're immoral because they're already saying that.

Verse 12, Having your conduct Honorable among the Gentiles when they speak of you as what did they call them lawbreakers or evildoers?

They may by your good works what they observed observed glorify God in the day of visitation.

And then our text for today, verse 13 through 17, But let's look at verse 15 first here.

For this is the will of God, that by doing good, you may do what?

Put to silence, or literally muzzle, the ignorance of foolish men.

So by doing good works, by being morally pure, you can actually silence the ignorance of foolish men.

They don't have anything credible to stand on.

Now it's in this setting that Peter moves on to well how do we relate to a government that obviously has some malfactors in it.

Therefore, submit yourselves to every ordinance of men for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to the governors as to those who are sent by him for punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good." What?

We're the ones calling us atheists, cannibals, accusing us of breaking up families and doing away with the economy, and we're supposed to submit?

First of all, let's think about that word submit.

It's kind of a word that many people today are not really happy to hear and it's something that maybe as American individualists we react against in some ways.

The word submit, of course, is assuming that you're doing this as a free act of your own will.

And submission in this particular verse is coming out of, you can see in the passage itself, it's coming out of freedom, verse 16, as free, yet not using your liberty as a cloak for vice.

So Peter is saying, he says, you're free, you're free in Christ, you've been born again, you have a living hope, you have the hope of the resurrection, even if people kill you, you don't have to worry about it.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man.

This word ordinance actually means creation of man.

They create laws, they create institutions.

Submit yourself to every creation, every law they come up with.

Whenever we can comply with the law of the land without putting ourselves in a false position, we should do so.

I looked up some of the laws in California Because there's some crazy laws in California or at least people might think they're crazy I don't want to be disrespectful in a sermon saying submit to the government but California laws, did you know It is illegal for women to drive vehicles while wearing a housecoat How many of you knew that ladies watch out?

How many think that's possible to submit to that law without perjuring yourself?

Secondly homeowners who have Christmas lights on in San Diego past February 2 are subject to a $250 fine.

All right, how many of you say that's a crazy rule?

Los Angeles, it's illegal to pour salt on the highway in Hermosa Beach.

Long Beach, you can't have anything other than a car in your garage.

So if our garage had looked like it did a week ago, I probably would be in jail at this point.

In Downey, you cannot wash your vehicle in the street.

In your yard, yes, but not in the street.

You cannot wash your neighbor's car unless you have written permission as well.

So I don't know what's going on there, but people were just randomly washing other people's car and they said, this must come to a stop.

How many think, amen, praise the Lord, cowboy boots.

So submit to the laws, every ordinance of man, every creation, I mean, it only gets more interesting.

In Palm Springs it's illegal, you might want to write this down just in case you're tempted, it's illegal to walk a camel down Palm Canyon Drive.

So if you were thinking of other streets, that's fine, but not Palm Canyon.

And speaking of animals, peacocks have the right of way in Weimar.

No, I think it should say that, because how many of you heard those peacocks over there by the By the post office But actually this is a law in Arcadia peacocks have the right-of-way in Arcadia in all roadways and even the driveway so don't mess With the peacocks And then flying a kite higher than 10 feet off the ground is prohibited in Walnut, California.

I mean, how could you fly a kite at 9 feet off the ground?

The Battle for the Soul

I want to add my welcome this morning on this cool day, great day to be in God's house, amen?

And we've been in a series looking at 1 Peter together.

And so let's just ask God's blessing to be with us before we open his Word.

Father in heaven, we're thankful today that we can again study in your Word today, which you've said is spirit and life.

So bring us life, bring us your Holy Spirit into our lives today as we study.

Now we're told that the average person has about 60, 000 thoughts a day.

I don't know how they determine that, but that's quite a few thoughts.

And the unfortunate thing is that 90% of these thoughts are repetitive.

So they're just repeat thoughts again and again, and unfortunately, 80% of them are negative.

So that's probably 1 of the reasons it's good to come to church, right?

So that we can think some positive thoughts.

Have praise and different things to refocus our minds and our attention.

And each person in scripture and each person in this room has a problem with negative thoughts.

I remember Peter, who wrote this epistle, when he was at Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus asked him, who do men say that I am?

The art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jesus said, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

How many of you have ever had thoughts from heaven?

You just know they were divinely inspired, thoughts from heaven.

Not as many as I thought here in this group.

How many of you can raise your hands to see?

How many of you have some good thoughts, thoughts from God you believe?

Okay, but that wasn't the end of the day.

About 10 minutes later, Jesus began to describe what he was going to do to save the world.

He was going to be taken away by the scribes and Pharisees, and he was going to be persecuted, tortured, and then he would die on a cross.

And Peter said, forbid it, Lord, that this should happen to you.

Jesus turned around, and what did he say?

Get thee behind me, Satan, For you're not mindful of the things of God.

Now how many of you have ever had thoughts from hell?

So each of us have thoughts from heaven, and each of us have thoughts from hell.

We have good thoughts, we have bad thoughts.

And the struggle in our life is continually getting rid of those negative thoughts, negative behaviors, and filling our mind with good thoughts.

There are thoughts and feelings suggested and aroused by Satan that annoy even the best of men.

Look at that man next to you, or that woman next to you, and say, even you are annoyed with these thoughts.

In fact, even Christ himself, it says he was tempted in all points like as we are.

So In that setting we look at our passage for today in 1 Peter 2, verse 11 and 12.

11 I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

So we're going to learn several things from our passage today.

The first 1 is, remember that every day when you wake up, you're in a war.

And the war is not necessarily out in the culture, although it is there, it's in your own head.

You don't have to go anywhere to be in a war.

You just wake up and you have what, 90% of your thoughts are repeat and they're negative and you're battling all day about those intrusive thoughts that are suggested by the devil.

Sometimes they might be suggested by your relatives too, or people at work.

Every day you wake up, remember you're in a war.

Now how many think it does help you to remember that you're in a war?

Are you a little bit more careful if you know you're on enemy territory?

Remember, first of all, that you're in a war.

Number 2, know what the battlefields are, the minefields in this war are.

In our text, it talked about fleshly lusts, things of the flesh.

Fleshly lusts are things that war against the what?

We go to 1 Peter 4, verse 3 and 4 to discover.

For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles.

Will is a technical word for the law, the law of the country.

Of course in the verse before in verse 2 it talks about the will of God.

David says, I delight to thy will, thy law is written in my heart.

So in that day there not only were negative thoughts, there were not only lustful thoughts, they were a part of the law of the Gentile world.

And I think we're coming to a time in our country where there are going to be laws that are just like that, if we're not already there.

We spend enough time of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelries, drinking, parties, and abominable idolatries.

Regard to these, they think it's strange that you do not run with them.

And the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.

So in the culture of the New Testament, there was rampant lust, immorality, and all this list, and everybody was doing it, and they were saying, why aren't you doing it?

Of course, the ruler of the world at that time and the emperor who would in fact bring an end to Paul's life and Peter's life was Nero.

And Nero modeled the debauchery of the mind, the lust of the mind, in the culture from his position as emperor.

Nero, he and his mother were known for their immorality, and he could never get enough immorality.

He would have immorality during the day, and then at night he would go out and run the streets, accosting people dressed up in various guises.

He wanted something new, something novel, something that would spike his dopamine.

So he went out and he would do this every night.

He killed his mother and he killed his wife and he was really sad that he killed his wife, and so he publicly married a young boy named Sporus, who he thought looked like his wife.

He had Sporus made into a woman, married him with all the usual ceremonies, including a dowry and a bridal veil, and took him to his home, attended by a great throng, and treated him as his wife.

This was the ruler of the kingdom at that time.

But it wasn't just at the top of society these things were happening.

A typical banquet in Peter's time would consist of this.

Be held in a banqueting room, connected with 1 of the temples where meat was offered to idols and became the great delicacy.

After the meal, the women of the family, having been dismissed, came to a drinking party and entertainment.

The latter commonly consisted of flute girls or companions, they were called.

Sexual relations with these women or with boys would then end the evening.

And this was the culture of the New Testament.

Throughout the New Testament, in all of the epistles written, we have lists talking about this very thing throughout that time period.

The Bible and Submission to Mean Masters: Thoughts on 1 Peter 2:18-25

And of course, through the kids themselves for singing.

And actually, it goes right along with our text today, right?

And in that setting, of course, slavery in the New Testament time period was pervasive.

There was about 50 million people in the Roman Empire.

I just looked up this morning, and Even today in our society, there's about 50 million people in the world today that would be in a slave-type environment, would be considered slaves.

And in that Roman world, there was many different ways you could be forced into slavery, which included children born into slavery, people captured in war, individuals who were sold or self-sold into slavery.

Some people would sell themselves into slavery.

Infants who were abandoned at birth many times became Slaves.

Less common were children sold by their parents.

I don't know if you've ever been tempted in this way, but this happened in the Roman Empire.

And people being enslaved for debts, maybe some of you are enslaved today because of that.

Punishment for crimes and people who were victims of kidnapping and piracy.

And so Roman law enslaved people had no personal rights.

They were regarded as the property of their masters.

They could be bought and sold and mistreated at will and they were unable Unable to own property or enter into contract or get married.

So those of you here for the wedding It's a good sign This means the 2 are not enslaved.

So they're able to enter into matrimony, which is a great freedom, right?

Brother Stephan, smiling brightly, as also is his wife.

So let's pray together before we get started then in our message today.

Father in heaven, what a wonderful song we just heard.

Amazing grace by that slave trader who saw that he needed to have freedom in his own life and be a person that was promoting freedom.

And today we ask that you would, in fact, come and free our hearts and minds to be able to understand and hear your word for us individually in Christ's name.

Back in the Roman time, slaves for the first several centuries and during the time of Christ were often tattooed.

They would have a tattoo on their foreheads to keep track of them.

In the fourth century, they would start to wear these types of tags that were placed around their neck and they could not get them off.

This particular slave must have been known to try to escape, as you can tell here from this Latin phrase, hold me lest I flee and return me to my master.

So evidently he had tried to escape before, And this would help know where to take him when returning him.

And we've been in a series here on 1 Peter.

We took a little break to look at Israel in Bible prophecy, and we looked at Gaza in Bible prophecy.

And last night we looked at the prophecy that is being fulfilled in front of our eyes as we listen and see things on the news.

But today we're back to our series on 1 Peter, the conduct of a Christian in an alien culture, such as we've just been describing.

And as we've looked at our last few sermons, there was a personal conduct, a call to abstain from fleshly lusts, so that silence, this would silence the criticism that Christians are just like anybody else, they're evil doers.

It was a call to submit yourselves to self-control that was given by the Holy Spirit.

You can't control yourself, but the Spirit can.

It's not something you knuckle yourself through.

It's something that's a gift of the Holy Spirit that you allow to come into your life.

Conduct concerning the government, again a choice, submit to the government officials in obedience to even their laws that might seem crazy.

We went through some of those when we looked at that passage.

And this will silence the criticism of foolish men.

And it's also, again, a call to submit and then the conduct of servants with their masters or with harsh slave masters, as we heard in our scripture reading is the subject today.

This will not only silence the voice of people concerning who you are, but it might give voice to Christianity to those who were in fact the slave owners and others within the culture.

So let's look then at our passage today, the Bible and submission to mean masters or slave owners.

The Bible talks about slavery very freely and has been misused through the years and through the centuries many times to promote slavery.

I believe it's a misreading of the scriptures, but there are certainly scriptures that could be easily misread to promote slavery and were misread to promote slavery.

And this particular passage, 1 Peter 2, verse 18 through 25, is assuming slavery is the norm of the day.

And not assuming that slavery is necessarily a good thing.

Servants be submissive to your masters is the text under consideration today.

Slaves were being converted and they were becoming members of the church.

And as they came in, they needed directions on how to relate to their masters.

And they were being called to submit, that is to be under obedience.

They were not being called to run away from their slave owners or come out of the social structure, but they were being asked to submit.

You say, well, why didn't they just try and stop that immediately?

Well, we'll look at a couple of texts about that during the message, but submit to the masters, just as they were called to submit to government officials as we looked in our last message together.

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