It's been about two months since our last sermon from Peter's letter. And I do desire your prayers for me, not only while I continue to recover from the treatments I receive, but even while I preach, I welcome your sustaining prayer. Two weeks ago when I finished my treatment, I asked the doctor, how soon do you think I can be back to some normalcy? be in the pulpit, he says, you better give it a minimum of six to eight weeks. It's been two. So I do feel the drain. I feel the mental sluggishness, the physical tiredness. But I'm committed to giving you the best that I can. And I pray that God will use it to minister and bless your life. So, I trust that we can enter into this together and share this time through God's Word. The text that I want to read, if you follow with me, I want to expand a little before, a little after where we'll be this morning in verse number 13, but I want to begin reading in verse number 11, so if you'll follow with me, please. Peter writes, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts. which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. As free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Peter continues to use, as we have identified, a number of adjectives in verse 11 and 12, and even on through his entire letter, to describe or to identify who we are as God's people. This is who God's people are. This is how you identify them, how you can recognize them. And here in verse 11, Peter is telling us that we are a people, and he uses an adjective here in this word that we have, this Greek word that is translated dearly beloved, is an adjective. It is a description of who we are. We are God's special loved people. How important it is. I remember when we dealt with that, how important it is for me and for you to recognize how deeply Unto the end he loved his own is how the gospel of John speaks it. He has loved us indeed with a love that we are only beginning to comprehend in this life and will spend all eternity exploring its many depths. Peter uses this description of us as kind of an obvious conclusion of gathering all of the other descriptions that he has said about us, who we are. Remember in verse 9, we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. We have been shown mercy who had not been recipients of mercy in the past, but now we are recipients of mercy. With all of this in mind, dearly beloved, do you understand how much God has truly loved you? It's an important thing for us to be constantly mindful of as we live out our life because it is the impetus, it is the motivation, it is the inspiration for us to be the people we ought to be. that God has loved us so with such great love. And he has manifested it to us so that we can visually picture what it looks like when he gave us his only begotten son as the expression of his love toward us and all that his person and work achieved on our behalf. We see it in our Lord Jesus Christ. So God has communicated this special love to us, and we hear it, we first heard it in the message of the gospel, in the story, the story that we are told about how God saves sinners, the gospel, the good news to the world. God has come to save the lost. And he forgives them and he welcomes them to receive his provision for our salvation. And at that moment, we in the gospel get our first glimpse of God's love. And as believers, we are now eager to hear God's word and through faith believe and obey those things that we hear And through the instruction of his word, we learn more and more about God in his plan concerning us. And we become more and more familiar with our true identity. The knowledge and understanding of these things leads us to Peter's statement, God's elect people, we are his dearly beloved people. And as we grow in this truth, we are inspired in the doing of His will. He says, you are this, you are chosen, you are priesthood, you're in holy nation, so that you would show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. And so as those who've been loved by God, we have a purpose. We have a purpose when we gather together that he outlined in the first part of this second chapter. We gather together, every time we come together, it is for the purpose of worshiping God. And he has made us equipped and able to bring effective, acceptable worship to him. And so we as now the children of God, those who've been dearly beloved by him, we have a purpose when we gather. And he also goes on and he's telling us, we have a purpose when we disperse and we go out into this dark world. We are to show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. We're always a people of purpose. We're here for a purpose, we go out there for a purpose. We are never without a purpose. And the thing that motivates us to achieve those things that we've been called to do is the knowledge of God's love toward us. That's what draws us to worship. It's what inspires our willingness to be a light in the world. We want others to know what we know about God. And so we show forth his glory, as it were, to the world. And so in verse 11, Peter calls us dearly beloved. He then beseeches us that we abstain from fleshly lusts. And there again, we reminded you there's another adjective, a description. We are fleshly beings, and as such, we have a fleshly nature which have fleshly lusts. They're natural to us. Some are good, some are not so good. We must abstain from those which are evil and sinful, contrary to God's intentions for us. We are to abstain from them. We are to say no to them. We are to keep them from entangling themselves into our life. Every day we live, we get stained and damaged by the things around us, and we're always confessing and acknowledging and confessing to receive forgiveness for those failures that we encounter day by day. But we are not to allow these things to entangle themselves. We are not to invite these things into our life and take control of our life. We are to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. And we must be conscious, according to Peter here in verse 12, we must be conscious of our mission and be intentional in our living as living honestly among the nations of the world wherever we live and whenever we live on the earth. We have a mission to live honestly before the nations of the world. And every one of us have the same mission, wherever there is a church offering praises to God today, yesterday, tomorrow, wherever believers are offering their praises to God, we all have the same mission. Doesn't matter when we live on the earth or where we live, we have the same mission, to live honestly among the nations of the world. All of this is important because it lends itself to what Peter's about to be abrupt with, submit yourselves. This makes no sense if we don't have this information kind of leading us into his statements. So yes, it matters how we live. Verse 12, having your conversation honest. We dealt with that to some length when we were there several months ago, that we are to be living honestly. referring to that we all have the same common goal wherever we live, whenever we live. It is that we live our life in such a manner that they see the world where we live sees a well-ordered, a well-structured, symmetry, beauty in our life. Christianity is not a desirable thing just because you say it's wonderful. Our life must show that it is wonderful by the symmetry and beauty and order that it brings to us. The way we live. God's nature is beautiful. So should our life be beautiful as we take in his influences through his word and spirit upon us. living honestly among the Gentiles. And we must live each day remembering that those around us who see and hear us, remember they have an appointment with God, by the way, and Peter makes it clear that we are preparing them by our good works for that day of appointment with God. that they will glorify God as a result of what they beheld. Now, we mentioned that day of visitation that Peter mentions here, that those who witness our life will give glory to God in the day of visitation. It may mean in reference to their own salvation. When they encounter God's deliverance in their life, they hear the gospel and they begin to embrace the truth. They will glorify God for the good works that you lived out before them. And if it's in reference to the Day of Judgment, it refers to the same thing. They will be brought to memory. the good works that you lived that they rejected and they will still give glory to God for the good works they beheld from your life. That's what Peter is saying here in verse 12. They may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. So we need to see this big picture of God's plan for us. When we gather together, there's a very clearly defined plan for us. And when we go out into the world and live our life, there's a clearly defined plan for us. And we need to recognize that we are a part of God's ongoing work of redemption in this world. We are participants with God in this wonderful plan. And so in verses 13 through 17 is an extension of our good works and living honestly among the different nations wherever God plants his people now and throughout history. It's been the same thing. Living in the world means that we will be under the structure and authority of a human government. That is something that is real. We must not ignore human government because we're members of God's kingdom and somehow conclude that we are not subject to earthly rulers. This is important for Peter to clarify because there was this brewing sentiment among the zealots of the Jews to cast off the Roman yoke and make war with Rome. This was a growing thing, and less than 10 years from when Peter writes, that rebellion was going to reach its peak. and millions would die under the Roman sword attempting to rebel against Rome. The thing that's often a mystery here, and I love how Peter works through all of this and lands in verse 17 at the end there where he does, and we'll work through the details here over the next couple of weeks, but Peter shows there's a wonderful connection here. Fear God, honor the king. Fear God, honor the king. There is something here that is possible because we're exhorted to do it. fear God and honor the king. And so as he works through all of this, he lands here in this final statement or declaration about our responsibility to government. I mentioned in our last sermon that God has established several institutions that are beneficial for society and humanity as a whole, but especially for his children We mentioned these institutions that help to prevent chaos and promote order in the world. There's marriage, there's church, there's government. These are the three primary institutions that God has established for our benefit, for all the world's benefit, though they may not fully understand it. We do, and we accept that God has established government as an institution that we are to respect. Peter in verse 13 begins this section from verses 13 through 17 with an imperative, something that it's a clear declaration, a statement that is true, and that which we are responsible to do, and that is this, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. Peter states in this phrase the duty, our duty to human government. Pretty simple, isn't it? Submit yourselves. That's the duty. of the believer, the church, to human government. He then states the extent of that duty to every ordinance of man. And then he gives the reason for the Lord's sake. And so we want to explore these over the next couple of weeks. I want to spend the balance of my my time with you and focus on this duty itself this morning, the submit yourselves. That's the duty. Very clear. We know the context. It's about government. And here's the duty that he is writing to all Christians wherever they are, whenever they exist, doesn't matter what form of government they are under at the time when this is read, we as Christians receive it as an apostolic exhortation to us from God. Submit yourselves. That is our duty. But before we begin to explore it, a couple of statements I want to make to kind of qualify this a little bit. While this statement is given without exceptions, when you look in this, do you see except for this or except for that? You don't see any exceptions here, right? It's a plainly stated duty. Submit yourselves. Human nature is always looking for the exceptions to the rule, and I understand that, especially in a rule like this. God gives us this emphatic statement as an expression of his will, which will be stated in just a verse or two. human government as his institution, and he wants us to respect and yield to its authority over us. That's a general rule. Wherever we live, whenever we live, whatever government we are under, the general rule is that we submit ourselves. Okay. Peter has already reasoned this out for us in verse number 12 to some level that we would not be criticized. We would stop people from saying terrible things about Christians being unruly and always against the government and things of that nature. They're speaking evil of you. You need to silence them and submit yourselves. many churches, I know if you've read church history, you're familiar with different situations within history with the church and government. Many churches throughout history have been forced to sort through, are there exceptions to this general rule? Well, for example, our duty to God will always supersede our duty to human authority, right? Human governments cannot forbid what God commands, nor can they command what God forbids. There's a limitation to submitting to human governments. Though we have the general rule that is stated here. Well, this may sound a little simple, we know it's not. Church history is filled with different conclusions of good men seeking to do the will of God concerning this matter. Some supported rebellion against an oppressive, abusive government and entered into a revolution against the King of England, right? Many Christians entered into that battle. Some did not. Others fled from oppression, the evil kingdoms, in pursuit of a new land where they could worship without oppression. Pilgrims landed on our shores to do that. They just didn't feel it was necessary just to sit there and be abused. And so they took their families and sailed to another continent. Others found ways to live and worship God during the oppression of an evil government. So there are different responses and reactions, different ways that the church throughout history has chosen to understand these things and to apply them to their church. We're not there to have to be forced to sort this through right now. And so it is not my goal to sort through the exceptions to the rule. We're stating what the rule is. But I do want to mention that there are some exceptions. that are worth considering. So the duty that Peter is giving us here, this general duty, is to submit yourselves. It's helpful for us to know when Peter wrote this, isn't it, and what government was in authority when he wrote this. This is not a time of a constitutional republic. This is the Roman government that he is referring to. And he tells all of them who are scattered all over the Roman Empire to do what? Submit yourselves. That's the general rule that we need to respect. submit. Peter uses this word. We developed this to some length. This same word shows up several times in Peter's letter. Paul uses it a few times, and the place we noticed it particularly when it showed up in church body life and submitting to authority, and also in marriage where the wife is asked to submit to her husband. This particular word is a military word, that's where it was originally sort of formed and developed in thinking, and it referred to a Roman soldier when he was brought into the ranks of that army, he himself made a promise, a vow, he took a sacrament before the King Caesar in his name, that he would submit himself to whatever ranks were above him, the authorities that had been established. He would willingly not be forced, but he would willingly put himself under authority. It was a choice that he would make. And Peter is saying the same thing here, that we are to submit ourselves This shouldn't be something you're forced to do. This is something that you should voluntarily do. You accept the authority as God's institution and you submit to it. That's the general rule that is to govern our life. We are to be ready and willing To do this, we shouldn't require the government to force us to do what it requires of us. This kind of submission that Peter's referring to is a voluntary yielding. And in God's word, that here is presented to us as something desirable that we yield. that we are people who are so concerned not about our own liberties and our own freedoms but our witness what others the world will think of us. Peter is not is not limiting this general principle to a good kind of government, you know. I mean, I mentioned we live under a constitutional republic. Very few people understand what that even means, but we understand its value. And I think of all of the potential governments of the world, We probably are enjoying one of the highest levels and standards of human government that can be formed. What an honor it is and a privilege for us to live in a constitutional republic. But Rome wasn't that way when Peter wrote these words. And these words are read all over the world today. These words have been read throughout all nations throughout 2,000 years. And I mentioned when we first began to even think about these things that we need to be familiar with Daniel and the three Hebrew children and how they interacted with worldly government. and the power of God to work through us when we obey because God told them to surrender, to yield, to bow in terms of yielding to the authority of the Babylonian empire. What a powerful thing God did through these and other believers who lived as light among those heathens. But no matter what the form of government is here, it really doesn't matter. Our duty is the same, and it's to submit ourselves. And why is this important for us today, to understand as we read this, even though we're not in a position of oppression like the people that read this letter on Peter's day, what they were experiencing, horrible things. 60 A.D. is when this is believed, marked to have been written by Peter, and that is really close to the time when Nero began to be concerned about the rapid growth of Christianity throughout the empire, and he devised ways to turn the nation against them. And so he found ways to entertain the Colosseum attenders by putting Christians out in the middle of a big Colosseum and letting lions and wild beasts and other gladiators butcher Christians for entertainment purposes. I mean, this is the period of time here. He also took thousands of them, dipped them into pitch, fastened them to a pole, elevated them throughout the city, lit them on fire to burn, all in an effort to intimidate Christianity and to slow down its growth. This is when Peter wrote These words, submit yourselves. The same period of time, whether it was a little before, same time, a little after, we don't know, but the same year that he wrote this, Paul wrote the book of Romans. Interesting, right? The church in Rome dealing with all these issues. Look at Romans chapter 13. Another important passage just to pull in to the conversation here and finding direction from God concerning our relationship to human earthly governments. So I'll read here verses 1 through 8 in chapter 13, if you would. Let, that interesting little word kind of denotes that implies that we're not to allow any restrictions or hindrances to interfere with what he is about to say. Let every soul He's not writing to the people who lead the government of Rome to the Roman Senate or to the people in the streets who hated Christianity or ungodly. He's writing to the souls of the church in Rome. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. They wouldn't exist if God did not want them to exist. They may not be an ideal kind of government. We may not even understand why God has it established as a government. It doesn't matter. It doesn't exist unless God says it exists. It's ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God." Pretty well simplifies it just like Peter did. Submit yourselves. And they that resist shall receive to themselves the judgment that will come for having resisted. It could be just what Rome will do to them or how God will hold them accountable. For rulers are not a terror. They don't oppose that ought to be. Now here's something where a lot of those who find exceptions to the rule kind of dig their heels in here. But just listen to it. Rulers are not designed and intended to be a terror to good works, but to the evil works. Will thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good and thou shall have praise of the same. Government will eventually at some point acknowledge those who do well and promote those who do well, Daniel. And the government will also see those who are evil and eventually eliminate them. We saw that in the book of Daniel. For he, the rulers, he is the minister of God to thee for good. There's an important thing that we'd love to develop, but we don't have time. They are accountable to God to do the right thing, and they will give an account to God for what they have done. He, by design, God has appointed him to be the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, you have a reason to be afraid, for he that beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore you must needs be subject. Here's the same emphasis that Peter has made. you must needs be subject. Not only for wrath's sake, you don't want to be hauled into the court and judged as a rebel, as someone who breaks the law. You don't want that to happen, but for your own conscience sake. Why would that matter? Because you know what God has asked you to do. And if you openly begin to defy those things, your conscience will be troubled, ought to be troubled when you defy. the powers that be. Verse six, it is for this cause that we also pay tribute. We pay our taxes, right? We pay tribute. The Jews said, Lord, we're free people. What do you want us to do? Do we pay taxes to Caesar, this Gentile? Jesus, right? He taught them. A fish, took the fish, took the coin out of the mouth. Whose image is on that coin? Caesar's. Well then, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God. The image of God in you belongs to God. Give him his money, but you give God your life. And for this cause we pay tribute, for they are God's ministers attending continually upon this very thing. So render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to who custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. You may not think they're very honorable. Boy, politicians honorable? Hard to find them. But somehow we are called upon to show honor to whom honor is due. And so the instruction and exhortations here are no different than what Peter is saying, and he wrote them at the same period that Peter wrote his, and he wrote them to the church sitting in the city of Rome. And he not only says the same things, he expands on it. These things are important to God or they wouldn't be here. And so we ask the question, why are these things important to God? Why it is important to him that we respond to this duty? It is because our mission is more important than our freedom, our possessions, even our safety. Our mission is often carried out even in the most oppressive of situations. Read Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Read through the century the Christians who have died for their faith, but in their shedding of their blood, God produced changes. among others, and even nations." And so, let me close with what Paul finishes up here. Go to the end of chapter 13, beginning in verse 11. He says, and that knowing, he's writing to these same people that he's just exhorted them to, like Peter, submit to government. And he says, and knowing that the time The time that now is, is high time to awake out of our sleep, for our salvation is nearer than when we believed." Now, I really don't believe Paul is referring to the second coming here, but I do believe he's referring to our meeting, our Redeemer, the day of visitation is coming. Get ready. That's the point. Get ready. The night is far spent, brethren. You can look around you in the city of Rome. You know the time has arrived. Get ready. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Listen to this. Let us walk honestly. That was Peter's emphasis, right? Let us go out into this world that hates us and probably is going to kill us. Let us go out into the world as light, put on the armor of God, and walk honestly before them. Let them see the beauty of your Christianity. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. Abstain from the fleshly lust which wore against your soul and will hinder you from living the life that God intends for you to live as your appointed mission in this world. Let the nations see. Let them observe the people of God who in faith and confidence in him are not intimidated by the world. The threatenings of the world do not hinder us from being obedient to God. It's not that we fear the king. We fear God and honor the king. It is God whom we fear, not man. And he is to be our priority as we think about human government. And we'll look a little deeper into some things that Peter says. But the thing I want to leave with you this morning is simply Know your duty to human government. Submit yourselves. That's the duty. Father, we thank you for your word and its clarity. Thank you that we can be reminded, be challenged, maybe repent of some attitudes and behaviors of our life. Help us to live before the world in a manner that it would show forth the praises of our God who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Help the world to see the beauty of our life as we reflect the beauty of your glory. We ask in Christ's name. Amen.