1 Peter chapter two and beginning in verse 13,
we read, submit to every human authority because
of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme
authority or to governors as those sent by him
to punish those who do what is evil and to praise
those who do what is good. For it is God's will
that you silence the ignorance of foolish people
by doing good. Submit as free people. not using
your freedom as a cover up for evil, but as God's
slaves. Honor everyone, love the brothers and
sisters, fear God, honor the emperor. Household
slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence,
not only to the good and gentle ones, but also
to the cruel. For it brings favor if because
of a consciousness of God someone endures grief
with suffering unjustly For what credit is there
if when you do wrong and are beaten you endure
it? But when you do what is good and suffer if
you endure it this brings favor with God For
you were called to this because Christ also suffered
for you, leaving you an example that you would
follow in his steps. He did not commit sin and
no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was
insulted, he did not insult in return, and when
he suffered, he did not threaten, but entrusted
himself to the one who judges justly. He himself
bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that
having died to sin, we might live for righteousness.
By his wounds, you have been healed. For you
were like sheep going astray, but you have now
returned to the shepherd and overseer of your
souls. This is God's word. So at an annual meeting
of the American Psychological Association. Union
College psychologist, Dr. Jack Lipton, he unveiled
this kind of tongue -in -cheek survey where he
went to 11 major American symphony orchestras
and he surveyed them, all the instrumentalists,
and he asked the musicians to list the first
adjective that came to mind for each instrumental
section. So each section, percussionist, strings,
bass, horns, woodwinds, right? For each of them,
he said, hey, What's the first adjective to describe
that section? And the results were actually kind
of brutal and a little bit funny. So, you ready?
Percussionists. We have a few percussionists
in here, right? Anyone want to admit it before
I say the adjectives? No, okay. Percussionists.
These were the adjectives. Insensitive, unintelligent,
hard of hearing, but fun -loving. We have some
fun -loving percussionists in here. Yeah, so
these are other musicians talking about the other
section in their own orchestra, and they're saying,
yeah, unintelligent, hard of hearing, but fun
-loving. They missed their part, man. They were
supposed to come in on that one part, and they
missed it. For the string players, the adjectives
to describe the string players, arrogant, stuffy,
and then I love this one, unathletic. Like, burn.
On the string players, wow. Now, the brass. The
brass had this unanimous word. Like, it came
up over and over again in all the studies. It
was the clear winner. One word adjective for
the brass section was loud. If you've ever stood
in front of a trumpet, you know. Like, loud,
the brass section, right? And then finally, the
woodwinds. They were regarded as well, with the
most kind adjectives. They were regarded as quiet
and meticulous, but a little egotistical, you
know, those woodwind players. They got a little
bit of an ego. Well, Dr. Jack Lipton, he noted
that if you looked at all these stereotypes,
what each section thought of the other sections,
you'd wonder how an orchestra could ever play
a single bar together and produce anything of
worth, right? Yet every night these same musicians
lay aside their self -interest They lay aside
their bias and their prejudice against the other
sections and they come together and they fix
their eyes on one conductor Following a sheet
of music and they produce what? breathtaking
music breathtaking Songs as long as they are
submitted all of them to the one conductor using
the one baton to lead them. The people of God
are meant to produce, in keeping with this kind
of metaphor, the music of the kingdom of God,
the present and future reality of the rulership
of Jesus over all things. We are exiles and strangers.
We are passing through this world. But while
we're passing through this world, we are called
to live in such a way that our lives and conduct
communicate the joyful hope that we have in our
King Jesus. That's our life in the faith. And
so if you're taking notes, I'll have you write
down the one point that I'll put everything under.
in heaven and on earth and under the earth. The
one point, holy submission. Holy submission.
Now we love our freedom, like we cherish deeply
our autonomy. How many guys have ever said this
in your own head or out loud? Who are you to
tell me what to do? Anyone? Anyone today? Anyone
right now? By the end of this, for sure, there'll
be a few of you. Who are you to tell me what
to do? I remember once being in the living room
and one of my boys came in and one of my boys
had a job that he was supposed to do. I don't
remember what it was, taking out something or
cleaning something or feeding something. We've
got lots of animals to feed around the place,
so it was probably one of those things, it's
a safe bet. But he was supposed to do it and
he knew he was supposed to do it and he was going
to do it. So he knew he was supposed to do it,
he was going to do it, and he had no problem
doing it. He just so happened to make the mistake
of passing through the living room when I was
in there. And so I told him to do it. And he
stopped in his tracks and he looked at me and
he said, Dad, he put his hands on his hips, he's
like, Dad, I was going to do it. I had no problem
doing it, but the moment you said that, I don't
wanna do it anymore. Don't know what that is
and he looked at me really he's like dad. What
is that? Because I don't know I was totally fine
doing it but the moment you said go do it I don't
want to do it anymore And I said you sinner Go
to your room. No What is that what is that thing
it's that dirty word We don't like submission
Submission So let's define that term just a little
bit. The really base meaning of submission is
to obey. To obey. There's also added to that
a kind of a military definition you might think
of which is to fall in line. Fall in line. Get
in line, submit. And submission in scripture
now. is voluntarily alignment or voluntary alignment
under God's appointed authority for the Lord's
glory and for others good. I'll say that again.
A submission in scripture is voluntary alignment
under God appointed authority for the Lord's
glory and for others good. The submission itself
isn't the loss of choice, at least as scripture
understands, the submission isn't. the loss of
choice, it's the deliberate use of our freedom
to place ourselves under God -given authority
for His glory and for the good of others. And
we're gonna flesh this out a little bit as we
go along, especially the idea of not a loss of
choice. But if it's to place ourselves under
God -given authorities for His glory and the
good, what are these God -given authorities that
we are called to submit to in the word? Well,
these authorities operate within at least four
God -ordained and God -established institutions.
Spheres of life that God has instituted through
his word and have come down to us. And that is
these four. If you're taking notes, you're welcome
to write these down. The family, the church,
work, and the state. The family, the church,
work, or marketplace, and the state, or you might
say government. These four institutions exist
to reflect the character and nature of God, to
restrain evil and promote human flourishing,
to cultivate relationships, and to reveal God's
redemptive plan in this world. I'll give you
a really quick description and a purpose for
each one of those very quickly. Family. Family
is the foundational unit of society. It was established
by God back in Genesis chapter two and continued
to affirm throughout scripture. The foundational
unit of society established by God between one
woman and one man in a covenantal relationship
for the purpose of love, procreation, nurture,
and discipleship. and its purpose to raise children
in the knowledge of God, to cultivate loving
order, and reflect God's fatherly care and his
covenantal love to this world. The family institution
has a purpose. The church. The church is the
gathered people of God called out from the world
to worship, to grow in holiness, to proclaim
the gospel and live as Christ's body here on
this earth, as his visible presence on the earth.
That's the church. That's a description of the
institution of the church and its purpose as
laid out throughout scripture in Matthew 16,
Acts 2, as well as Ephesians 4. Its purpose is
to glorify God through worship, through teaching
and discipleship and missions. equipping believers
for works of service and building up the body
until we all reach unity in the faith. That's
its purpose. And you can already start to see,
I'll cover the last two in just a second, but
you can already start to see that what God has
instituted has order, and when there's order
or complex order or things to get done, you always
need leadership. You always need some level of
authority, and any time you have authority, you
have the dirty word submission. In order to get
those things done, someone has to take charge.
Someone has to see it through. Number three.
work or the marketplace. It is the realm of labor,
the vocation or stewardship of this world where
individuals reflect God's image through creativity
and responsibility. and productivity. It is the
creative mandates, the mandate of work that came
in Genesis 2 to go and to organize, to cultivate
the world, to bring order out of chaos and to
exercise dominion over it, as Psalm 8 says. And
this is to provide for human needs. to express
dominion over creation, to serve others, and
to glorify God through diligent and honest work.
And then the final institution is the institution
of the state, the government. That civil authority
is instituted by God to promote justice, to restrain
evil through laws and regulations, and to preserve
order in a fallen world as we anticipate and
wait for a new kingdom, a new heavens and new
earth that is not fallen. It's important to note
that work, family, church, the people, they all
may play a part in the new heavens and the new
earth, meaning the people of God gathered up,
the family of God. and its purposes and however
God ordains that in the future and the work that
we don't necessarily cease to work, work is not
a result of sin, work was a mandate before sin
entered the world. And so our eternal life with
God may involve all kinds of creative endeavors
and responsibilities that we can't imagine. But
civil authorities here on earth, these are provisional,
these are temporary. And we'll look at the other
ones that we talked about, family, church, work,
in the future as we come across those scriptures.
But today we're gonna begin with just the state
and civic government. And that's where the passage
in verse 13 comes into play. Submit to every
human authority because of the Lord, whether
to the emperor as the supreme authority or to
governors as those sent out by him to punish
those who do what is evil and to praise those
who do what is good. Now we already know lots
of people submit to civic authority. There are
many rule keepers in our world who will submit
to every rule and regulation that has presented
them, even the speed limit, which is annoying,
right, at times, to get behind someone who's
driving the speed limit. You're like, we don't
do that here. So we have to ask the question,
if people already submit to civic authority and
this is a command of the Lord, then what? What
kind of submission is distinctly Christian submission?
What kind of submission is distinctly Christian
submission? The kind of submission that we are
ordered or we are commanded to do or we are called
to do in Christ. And so let's kind of unpack
that. We submit, as it says in verse 13, submit
to every human authority. Why? Because of the
Lord. Other translations will say for the Lord's
sake. Christians submit for the exaltation of
Christ. That's why we submit. We submit that
Christ might be exalted in a greater measure
through our submission. And so we aim to do that.
See, believers are born of the spirit where our
citizenship has been moved from this world and
its systems and powers to a kingdom whose dominion
and reign knows no human boundaries and to a
king who reigns above it all. We're just saying
that, amen? In other words, our allegiance and
submission is owed only to our king who is supreme
over any ruler of this world. Our king and our
citizenship has been moved. Our allegiance has
been moved to a new king, a king who reigns above
it all. So does that mean then that we don't
have to submit to human authorities anymore?
Because we are submitted to our king, to our
ruler, Jesus who rules above all other authorities.
We must not have to submit anymore. And the answer
biblically is no. We submit now to human authorities
because the Lord has sent us to be subject to
every human authority. We submit to the Lord
who has sent us to be subject to every human
authority. Now you say that's a little confusing
and I say just stick with me a little bit. We're
not done. You don't have to go out confused.
By the end if you're still confused talk to me
afterwards because I did a poor job. But right
now, if you're confused, just stick here. Verse
16 of 1 Peter 2. Verse, it says that we're free.
We are free from the kingdoms and the rulers
of this world. Christ has set us free. We have
been transferred into the kingdom of light from
the kingdom of darkness. We have a new citizenship
and a greater king. And verse 16 says, submit
as free people. not using your freedom as a cover
-up for evil, but as God's slaves. We are free
from the rule of the governor because we are
slaves of God, but we are subject to the governor
because as slaves of God, he has sent us to be
subject to the government. And so our allegiance
is to God wherever God might send us, and guess
where he has sent us while we are here? To send,
to submit. to the governmental rule. What are
the implications of this? Well, it means that
we are not submitting to the civic authorities
because of their intrinsic respectability, because
of their worth or their merit. We are free from
that kind of submission in Christ Jesus. We don't
have to submit to someone who has to live up
to a certain standard of respectability anymore.
We're free from that. In Christ, we are free
to submit to Christ, in Christ alone. And we
don't have to judge based upon respectability,
worth, or merit. No, we submit because we are
servants of a higher authority who has sent us
to be subject for a time, provisional, to earthly
rulers. And why has he done that? Why has he
done that? And I think we get a little bit of
instruction. in an interaction that Peter had
earlier in his life, a teaching moment that Jesus
took advantage of in Matthew chapter 17. In Matthew
17 and 24, it says, when they came to Capernaum,
those who collected the temple tax approached
Peter and said, doesn't your teacher pay the
temple tax? Yes, he said. And when Peter went
into the house, Jesus spoke to him first. What
do you think, Simon? Simon is just another name
for Peter. What do you think, Simon? From whom
do earthly kings collect tariffs and taxes? From
their sons or from strangers? From strangers,
Peter said. Then the sons are free, Jesus told
him. But. So we won't offend them. Go to the
sea, cast in a fish hook, and take the first
fish that you catch. When you open its mouth,
you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to them
for me and you. Pay the temple tax. So Peter
is asking, Peter has asked if Jesus pays the
temple tax. Does your master pay the temple tax?
He's like, yes he does. And then he goes into
the house, right? And then Jesus uses this as
a teaching moment. to use this analogy of earthly
kingdoms to clarify this reality. Kings impose
taxes on their subjects, but not on their own
family. Members of the royal family are exempt
from the obligations imposed upon common citizens.
Well, the temple tax was what? Well, the temple
tax was something that was instituted back in
Exodus chapter 13. It was basically an annual
mandatory tax, a contribution that was collected
from every Jewish man in order to maintain the
operations and support of the Jewish temple.
or the Jerusalem temple, the one in Jerusalem.
So they would go out into the countryside, they
would go all the way up into Galilee, and they
would even go off into the countries where the
Jewish people had kind of been scattered across
the nations, and they had tax collectors who
would go out and collect the temple tax to continue
to maintain the operations of the temple back
in Jerusalem. That was the temple tax that Jesus
is talking about here. What was the temple commonly
understood to be? The temple in Jerusalem was
commonly understood to be the house of, who?
God. The temple was the house of God. So the
point that Jesus is illustrating is that as the
son of God, he was not obligated to pay the tax
for the house of God. As the son of God, he's
not obligated to pay the tax for the house of
God. He is inherently exempt. He's a son. And
the disciples as his bros are like adopted sons
and they're in the family too and we're free
from that. We don't have to pay the temple tax
because we're a part of the household. We're
in the family. But then Jesus says, the reason
why we are still going to submit, the reason
why we're still going to pay the tax is what?
So we don't offend them. So we don't offend them.
But back in 1 Peter 2, in verse 15, the reason
given for this submission is the same idea. For
it is God's will that you silence the ignorance
of foolish people by doing good. In other words,
he's saying, hey, we're not going to put a stumbling
block in the way for the mission that we're on.
the mission of redemption, Jesus with his disciples.
We're not gonna put a stumbling block where we
don't pay our taxes and we become like revolutionaries
that everyone is opposed to. We're gonna pay
our tax so that we don't offend them because
we have a greater mission, a greater purpose
for being here. He came to seek and save the
lost. He didn't come to worry about the governmental
systems and oppose them and tear them down. He
came to seek and save the lost. And so we're
gonna pay it so we don't offend them. and we're
gonna move on. And back in 1 Peter, Peter's riffing
on that and he's saying, hey, it's God's will
that you silence the ignorance of foolish people
by doing what is good. Do what is right, being
exiles and strangers, living the radically holy
life that we're called to. People are going to
believe that we are a threat to society. When
we entered in, to faith in Christ and where our
citizenship was transferred into the kingdom
of God. We were like strangers in exiles who
entered into the land of this world and this
kingdom. And we entered in at some point at one
border and we will exit at another border when
we enter into the heavenly kingdom, the future
kingdom in its fullness. But while we are here,
we are on a mission sent by God to see the gospel
of grace advance in our day and our time. to
see Christ exalted. People are going to believe
that we are a threat to society. It was even
in Tacitus we read last week, the historian Tacitus
and his writings, talking about Christians as
a threat to the empire, a threat to politics,
sabotage, or saboteurs of politics. They're a
danger to power and order for their allegiance
is not here. They won't say Caesar is Lord. They
will only say Jesus is Lord. They're a danger
to power and to the order of society. And we,
like Peter, belong to a kingdom whose king reigns
supremely above all earthly powers and our freedom.
from human authorities isn't a license to rebel
or disrespect. It's an invitation for each one
of us to display our true allegiance to the King
of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We submit, as
Jesus did, not because we must, but because our
ultimate mission isn't our personal autonomy
or self -satisfaction. Our ultimate mission is
the salvation and transformation of others. That's
why we submit. We don't want to offend. See the
gospel The gospel is offensive all by itself
When someone is confronted with the gospel in
the face of their self -centered self -righteous
life the gospel is an offense It says, lay down
your life. It says, take up your cross. It says,
follow Jesus. It says, begin to respond to his
commands in loving obedience until your life
is changed and it's not the same as it was before.
And this can all sound really good if your life
has been transformed, but just remember what
it's like when you're on the other side and you're
living the time of your life, right? Does that
mean no more clubbing? Clubbing on Friday? Yes,
it means no more clubbing on Friday. It's probably
not good for you, right? Lay down your life,
take up your cross, follow Jesus. It can mean
all kinds of things. It's individual and personal
based upon where you're at when you start and
where Jesus is getting to you by the end, right?
But either way, it's an offense to your flesh.
And then you know what? You know we have the
audacity of doing, you guys out there? Okay,
yeah. Sorry, it's just a blanket of light here.
Well, what do we as believers Christians have
the audacity to do? We say the gospel is an offense
and and we are all about getting people to the
gospel and then we're like Actually, let's we
also you also need to stand for this. That's
bad You need to stand for this too Unless you
agree to this then you can agree to that and
then we'll get you to the gospel But I need you
on board with all of this first Right no no no
like I'm offended I'm offended that they're charging
a temple tax. I'm offended by that. I need to
go roast them like in the public square. I need
to call them names. I need to do whatever I can
to get them to change. And then once they change
it, they don't tell them about Jesus. Jesus loves
you. He wants to save you. He's got a wonderful
plan for you. Jesus is like, we don't wanna offend
them. We got a mission that's so much greater,
they don't understand it. It's otherworldly,
but it's amazing and awesome. Life transformation,
salvation for souls. And we wanna be about that
business and not just get in, not get in the
weeds, not get muddled up. Jesus didn't insist
on his rights as the son of God. Do you know
that? I read that at the very beginning of service.
Though being in nature, God, he did not consider
equality with God, something to be grasped or
clawed at. He didn't say, I'll go down there
only if they recognize who I am and they submit
to my authority. They know the voice that speaks
it. No, he said, I'll go down there. and I will
die even for those who have no clue who I am
and have put me on the cross. Jesus, the son
of man, he did not insist on his rights as the
son of God. Instead, he chose submission to earthly
rulers. He chose to lay down his life, not out
of obligation, but out of love and humility to
set aside his rights. and out of a desire to
not place unnecessary stumbling blocks in the
path of salvation. God had every right to receive
all the worship of every single one who ever
came in contact with him when he was in the flesh
on this earth. Do you know that? Have you ever
watched a movie that maybe has a king figure
and they're like. Bow before me, kiss my ring,
kiss my feet. Jesus had all of that coming to
him, owed to him. He was the king of the universe
and he set that aside to get down in the dirt
with you and me so that he could figure out a
way to get us reconciled to God, reconnected
so we could have life. Thank you, Anthony. I'll
get you your 20 afterward. So let's bring it
home practically. Are we submitting in a way
that reflects Christ's humility and his kingdom,
his kingdom priorities? Do we model submission
in our speech and our attitudes and our interactions,
especially when we disagree with those in authority?
In this contentious political and cultural climate
we find ourselves in, your holy submission to
human authorities, even flawed ones, isn't weakness.
It's a potent testimony. It declares loudly that
your confidence doesn't rest in the human governments
or authorities, but in the sovereignty of Christ
alone. Firm foundation, sure, through all time.
Submission, done rightly, preaches the gospel.
It says clearly, my life isn't ultimately about
my rights. It's not about self -fulfillment.
My life isn't ultimately about those things.
It's about His glory and others' good. And the
obvious question after all of that is, is there
a limit to submission? And the answer is yes.
The pattern of the apostles as demonstrated in
scripture is the pattern that you and I as believers
must follow and that is when an earthly ruler
commands us to do something that God has commanded
us in scripture not to do or when an earthly
authority commands us to not do something God
has commanded us to do in scripture we must obey
God rather than man. Full stop every time. Because
this recognizes something that is supremely true,
truer reality than we understand, and that is
that all earthly authority is derivative, is
all derived from God. Romans 13 tells us that
authorities are in place because God has given
them that authority. All authority is given by
God, and when we recognize that, then we understand
that the earthly authorities aren't the full
stop end. There is a greater authority above
them, that is God, who has delegated that authority
to them to do good. You may go, but they don't
always do good, they're not always right, and
some of them are just obnoxious. And that is
so, so true. That is so true. But you can know
this, just as Jesus knew, that, as it says at
verse, what is it? 23 of this, he did not threaten,
but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.
If God is going to delegate his authority to
a leader, then he is going to hold the leader
accountable for how they use that authority,
and you and I can go, I don't have to hold him
accountable. God will hold him accountable. They
will stand before God and be judged as to whether
or not they punished the evildoer and they rewarded
the one who did right, as scripture says, is
their job. They will be judged according to scripture
on their conduct as a leader if God has delegated
them the authority. And so it really frees you
and I to listen and to submit unless they try
to usurp God's word. Unless they try to command
us to do something that God said not to do. Or
they try to command us not to do something that
God commanded us to do. And then the final thing
as we wrap up right now. before we get to point
two and three and four. And then the wrap up
and the video afterwards is verse 17. Honor everyone,
love the brothers and sisters, fear God, honor
the emperor. We're not gonna cover all of those.
We'll probably loop back around, or actually,
this week I might put out a short video on Facebook
just covering the rest of these, but we're gonna
really focus on one of those statements. Honor
the emperor. That's verse 17. You guys see it
there, right? It's in the Word, right? Are we
Bible -believing believers here? I know we got
maybe some seekers here, people who are looking
and checking out, and that's totally awesome.
We love to have people who are kind of peeking
in and seeing like, what's this all about? But
for some of you guys, you are Bible believing,
like you're believers, you believe this is God's
word and you wanna respond to it. And it says
honor the emperor. And what does that mean? Well,
I wanna tell you or introduce you to the emperor
that Peter is telling the people, the disciples
to honor. That emperor has a name, his name is
Nero. The emperor. in Rome at the time of the
writing of 1 Peter is most likely Nero. Let me
tell you a little bit about Nero. In AD 64, Nero
blamed the Christians for the great fire of Rome
that destroyed the city. He riled up the whole
city against Christians. He regularly arrested
and imprisoned them without trial and branded
them as enemies of the state. Christians were
killed for public entertainment by gladiators
or by wild animals in the great arenas around
Rome. Nero, and I apologize, this one's gruesome,
but Nero would take Christians and he would tie
them to stakes in his garden and then he would
host parties and he would light the Christians
on fire and they would provide the light for
the party. Christians were crucified in a cruel
imitation of their leader, Christ. They were
social outcasts and they encountered all kinds
of great hostility because of their heavenly
citizenship. That's the emperor, Peter says,
to honor. But shouldn't it read honor God? and
fear the emperor? I mean, doesn't that sound
like, let's be afraid of that emperor, let's
honor God, and no, it says, fear God. So you
can honor the emperor. By no accident, it's in
that order. Fear is not the idea of just being
terrified or afraid, it's the idea of reverence
and supreme position in your heart and mind.
You put God in the right place and you can honor
the emperor. You can understand that even in
his wickedness, God has a plan and a purpose
for why he's there, and God had a purpose in
delegating his authority and his rulership for
this time, and the gospel can still prosper in
this day, in Nero's time. And that's the crazy
thing. If you read enough Christian history,
you realize that the times of greatest persecution
created the greatest spread of the gospel ever.
And you go, oh, that's a loss. No, that's a win.
Nero had no idea what he was doing. He was helping
the cause. With each Christian he lit on fire,
he was causing the fire of the Holy Spirit to
burn brighter and the witness of Jesus to go
out in the world further so that more and more
people believed and ultimately ended in the overthrow
or the downfall of the Roman Empire itself. God
gets our reverence, earthly authorities can get
our honor. God gets our worship, the rulers of
this age can get our respect for the authority
that God has given them. And so the final thing
I'll say here, before I say the final thing,
no just kidding, is this. I don't wanna be political,
but I believe the gospel gets into our business.
The gospel gets into our business. And so if
you go, right. Who are you to tell me what to
do? Just remember where we started, right? I
want you to know that how you talk about Gavin
Newsom is a witness for or against your ultimate
allegiance to Christ. It is a witness for or
against your ultimate allegiance to Christ who
has commanded you to submit to the governor's
authority and to honor him so that the gospel
might prevail in California. The other side ready?
Okay. How you talk about Donald Trump is a witness
for or against your ultimate allegiance to Christ
who has commanded you to submit to the president's
authority and to honor him so that the gospel
might prevail in the United States of America.
And just one more. How you talked about Joe Biden
was a witness for or against. your ultimate allegiance
to Christ who commanded you to submit to the
president's authority and to honor him so that
the gospel, the glory of God, and the good of
others might prevail in the USA. We pray for
our leaders. That's what we do. We pray for our
leaders. We weep for our leaders. We weep over
their sin when their sinfulness has seeped into
their office and they abuse their authority and
we pray that God would transform their hearts
and redirect them so that they might not stand
before God himself on that judgment day and give
an account for the authority that was delegated
to them. That's what we do. We pray. We weep.
We rejoice when they act godly and we pray when
they act evil. But how we talk about them, I
wanna be very clear, I am not talking about setting
aside your citizenship. as an American and not
voting and not being involved in local politics
or governmental, not at all. You have freedom
and you ought to know the issues and you ought
to vote for the issues and you ought to vote
for the people that most align with those issues
and the values that you have. But the way Christians
talk about the people is disgusting. The way
Christians talk about the people is ungodly.
And it is a shame on us. That the world, the
greatest witness that we have is for the world
to stand back and go, why aren't you participating
with us in slandering that person? That's our
greatest witness. Why won't you join in? We're
ganging up on him. We're roasting him. We're
insulting him. We're bringing him down with our
words. Why won't you join in? And the Christian
says, how could I? I was a wretch. I was lost,
but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see.
How could I ever take the seat of judge and slander
one made in the image of God? I will oppose the
policies. I will explain what I think. I will
believe and stand firm on convictions that I
believe are in alignment with the scripture.
But I don't wanna cross that line. And I believe
that Christians get caught up in the moment and
we just join in and the world sits back and goes,
okay, you're not that much different than me.
So like we could be buds, but I don't think I
need that thing that you have because it's just
not that radically different. Not that sweet
of an aroma or beautiful of music. Why submit
when it's hard? Why when it costs us? when we
don't want it. We do it because our Savior submitted,
not just to the Father, but to the suffering
and the shame and the injustice for our sake.
That's why we do it. And He entrusted Himself
to the one who judges justly, and if our King
could lay down His rights, so can we. For you
were called to this because Christ also suffered
for you, leaving you an example that you should
follow in his steps. He did not commit sin and
no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was
insulted, he did not insult in return. When he
suffered, he did not threaten, but entrusted
himself to the one who judges justly. He himself
bore our sins in his body on the tree so that
having died to sin, we might live for righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed, for you were
like sheep gone astray, but you have now returned
to the shepherd and overseer of your soul. My
hope is that not to chastise us or scold us,
but to wake us up to the reality that our holiness
and our conduct has an effect on our witness.
We sometimes think, and I'm gonna invite the
worship team to come up. wherever you guys are
headed, to come up and we're gonna do a song
and communion in just a moment. But we sometimes
think, I need like four points, a gospel sermon,
that's my witness, my witness is my words, my
witness is my sermon, and your witness, yes,
is your words, and it is the gospel explained
or proclaimed, but it's also your life. It's
your conduct, it's your words, it's your behavior
in person and online and wherever you go. It's
your life, your holiness. This is God's means
for witnessing to his greatness on this earth.
And so it matters. It matters. It matters. It
doesn't matter in the sense like, oh. Well, again,
I'm not trying to say, hey, check out of society,
don't have opinions. I say, just remember the
gospel calling that we have as believers. We
are the light of the world on a hill meant to
shine. Don't put things in front of the light
that dim it or dull it. Yeah, you can tell what
you believe or what you think or who you voted
for in conversation at some point in time. But
demonstrate submission to authority with a recognition
of ultimate authority in God. Demonstrate an
honor for what God has instituted, a respect
for what God has done. This is our witness. This
is our gospel. and we get the privilege and honor
to live it out and so I want to join with you
in doing that as we go to our time in communion
and as we reflect on Christ and what he's done
his suffering and the example that he left for
us that we would follow in his steps it says
that when he was insulted he didn't return insult
and he had committed no sin and yet he was found
guilty and put on a cross that we ourselves can
live in the way that He lived out before us.
His example that He died for us on the tree so
that we might live for righteousness. And I just
want to encourage you specifically today if the
Word of God is in 1st Peter 2 and what we talked
about in any way just struck a chord and you
feel the conviction of the Spirit. That's a good
thing people. It doesn't always feel good, but
it's a good thing. Let the Spirit convict you
and lead you to truth.