We’re traveling through the book of 1 Peter. Peter’s two letters are a mere 166 verses. Nonetheless, they are packed with keen wisdom from a seasoned pastor about how to live amidst life’s trials. In this short little letter, Peter encourages the churches in now modern day Turkey to stand fast during difficult days of suffering. Surely, the churches and Christians who received Peter’s letter would have been tremendously honored and encouraged at the willingness of such a noteworthy Christian leader to take the time to speak to their life with practical pastoral affection.
Peter tells us where the churches are located in the beginning of his letter as they were scattered over 129,000 square miles. As a comparison, California is around 159,000 square miles. What kind of people was Peter writing to? Bible commentator Karen Jobes writes: “The residents practiced many religions, spoke several languages, and were never really assimilated into the Greco-Roman culture. . . . And yet this untamed region became the cradle of Christianity. . . . We may surmise that, in no small part because of this letter [1 Peter] and the faithfulness of those who received it, well-established churches flourished in all five of these regions by AD 180. Their bishops attended the great councils of the second through the fourth centuries, where the doctrines were forged that Christians hold dear yet today.”
Today, we focus on the relationship between the Christian’s and the government. Here are some questions Christians grapple with in America today: Should Christians support the Iraqi invasion? Should American Christians who protest the Vietnam war go to Canada to avoid the draft? How are Christians to respond to a nearly $900 billion stimulus package? Can Christians support Obama while remaining pro-life? Just this past week Hilary Clinton, the US secretary of state, visited China and said that human rights issues cannot interfere with the US’ economic relationship to China. Clinton has been an outspoken opponent of China’s human rights violations, yet China is currently the world’s largest holder of US debt. What is an American Christian’s role in urging China to grant its people human rights? How should Christians view techniques such as water boarding by the CIA?
“Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:13-17)
1. A Christian Citizen’s Responsibility
“Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme…” (1 Peter 2:13). Think with me about the Christian citizen and his responsibilities. We have a generation today that’s talking about its rights. Rights and responsibilities go hand and hand. When you teach a man his rights without teaching him his responsibilities you have a revolution.
In AD 37 Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus to his mother Agrippina the Younger. She would marry her uncle, Roman Emperor Claudis, who adopted Lucius and change his name to Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus. Agrippina was an ambitious woman who poisoned her two previous husbands, including Nero’s biological father. Claudius already had a biological son named Brittanicus who was in line to the throne. But through the crafty scheming of Agrippina, she convinced Claudius to name Nero as the next in line to the throne and he finally agreed. Soon after, Agrippina arranged for Claudius to be poisoned to death. So at the tender age of 17 Nero became the fifth Roman emperor. His reign would last fourteen years until he committed suicide at age 31. Nero earned a reputation as one of the most wicked, depraved rulers in history. According to the Roman historian Suetonius, Nero and his mother then plotted the death of Brittanicus so he couldn’t pose a threat to the throne. What goes around comes around, because by the time Nero was 21, he hated his mother. He made four attempts to kill her, three times with poison and once with a boat specially designed to break apart and sink. Agrippina avoided the poisons (she was the expert) and when the boat sank, she swam ashore. In AD 59, Nero sent an assassin who clubbed and stabbed her to death. And in 62 his first wife was executed. And Seneca his former counselor was forced to commit suicide. Nero fancied himself a great singer. He had little talent, but he loved to dress up in costumes and perform on stage in front of an audience who were forbidden to leave while he performed. In the summer of AD 64, a terrible fire broke out in Rome. For nine days, it raged out of control and two thirds of the city was destroyed. Although it was rumored Nero set the fire, most historians agree he wasn’t in the city when it started, but upon hearing about the fire he returned. The notion that Nero fiddled while Rome burned is a fable of history: fiddles and violins weren’t created until the 17th century. But Tacitus reported, “At the very time that Rome burned, he mounted his private stage and sang about the destruction of Troy.” Because of the rumor that he set the fire, Nero quickly looked for a group to blame. He found the perfect scapegoat in an obscure sect of people called Christians. At his direction, Believers were arrested and executed. Tacitus wrote: “Besides being put to death, they were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were covered with wild beasts’ skins and torn to death by dogs Others were set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed...covered by inflammable matter, they were set on fire to serve as torches during the night. Or they were tied to stakes in Nero’s gardens while he drove around in his chariot, naked, indulging himself in his midnight revels, gloating over the dying agonies of his victims.” Eusebius tells us that Peter was crucified “because he had demanded to suffer” After a few more years of perverse behavior, there were plots to remove Nero. In AD 68, the Senate voted to have him flogged to death. As they were coming to take him, Nero committed suicide. His last words were “What an artist the world loses in me.” Nero was 31 years old.
Peter’s first letter was probably written some time before this terrible persecution. At the time of Peter’s writing, Christians was being slandered and mistreated in isolated places throughout modern day Turkey. Nero was not the only ruler Peter had known. He had known of Pilate, the governor in Judea, who washed his hands of Jesus’ murder, had him beaten, and turned him over to be crucified with no grounds. He had known of Herod Antipas who executed John the Baptist as a dancing prize and later put his purple robe on Jesus and mocked him with his soldiers. Peter was probably a boy in Galilee when he heard that Herod the Great had killed all the children in Bethlehem. So Peter was not naïve about the vicious world of government corruption and wickedness. He did not live in a “Christian nation.” He knew the depravity of human nature and the utterly ruinous corruption that political power can bring. This was the world into which he wrote our text.
Being a Christian in the United States is much different that in Peter’s day. This message does not aim at being political. Yet, I realize that being a Christian today is increasingly putting us at odds with political positions. There are some of you who disagree with Peter for you believe you should keep your politics and your religion separate. Yet, Peter sees all of life in relation to God. “Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme…” (1 Peter 2:13). Everything in a believer’s life is related to God, including his citizenship. This has broad implications for Christian citizenship. This causes us to think about the poor and a person’s race through Biblical lenses. This causes us to see abortion not about whether a woman has the right to choose but about the gift of human dignity given to us by our Creator.
The New Testament gives us some broad principles on how we are supposed to respond to government. For example, Romans 13 elaborates on the origin and institution of government as something that God ordains. That doesn’t mean that they are sanctioned by God or that God endorses everything that civil governments do; we know better than that. But Paul is saying that it is God who brings government to pass, and we are called to submit to the rulers of the government out of respect for Christ: “or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good” (1 Peter 2:14).
Peter tells us that purpose of kinds and governors is to punish evil and praise good. This is God’s purpose for them. The great theologian Augustine said that government is a necessary evil, that it is necessary because of evil. And most theologians in the history of the church have said that human evil is the reason even corrupt government is better than no government at all. The function of government is to restrain evil and to maintain, uphold, and protect the sanctity of life and of property. We learn from the Apostle Paul the relationship of government to God: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:3-4). Given this function, the Christian understands that government is ordained of God, and so Christians, first of all, are called to respect whatever it is that God institutes and ordains. This is a Christian Citizen’s responsibility.
C.S. Lewis said this: “I am in favor of democracy, not because everyone is equally intelligent or equally qualified to have an equal say, but because everybody is equally sinful and we all need to keep an eye on one another.” The proper aim of government is to dam up the river of evil that flows from the heart of man so that it does not flood the world with anarchy (as, for example, in Rwanda and Somalia). Governments do not save; they are to maintain external order in a world seething with evil so the saving message of the Gospel can run and triumph on its own power. That is why Paul urged us in 1 Timothy 2:1–4 to pray for kings and those in authority because He desires that the Gospel not be hindered by upheaval, so that more people can be saved. For God’s sake we are called to be model citizens. We are told to bend over backwards to honor the king or be obedient to the civil magistrates.
Why is this issue even brought up by Peter? “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
You are citizens of two orders, two systems. This world with its necessary institutions, and the order of the kingdom of God with its necessary values. This is not because the two orders have equal authority, but because God is the ruler and owner of both. When you belong first to Him and His kingdom, you can be sent by Him, for His sake, for His purposes, for His glory into the kingdom of this world. In this way Christian submission to the institutions of this world becomes an act of tribute to God’s authority over the institutions of the world. You look a king or a governor in the eye and say, “I submit to you, I honor you … but not for your sake but I honor you because God has positioned you as my authority. I honor you because God has raised you up for a limited season and given you the leadership that you have. It is for this reason that I honor you."
2. Do Christians Always Submit?
“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16). What this verse teaches is that we belong to God and not the American government. We are slaves of God and not man. We do not submit to human institutions as slaves to those institutions but as God's free people. We must not equate Christianity with any political party. Be it democrat, republic, republican or independent. Why? We need to be free to tell all of them to repent and get right with God. There are occasions on which Christians not only may but must disobey the civil magistrates. Anytime a civil government requires a Christian to do what God forbids or forbids them to do what God commands, then the person must disobey. The church must always remain the conscience of the state. And we will speak. We will be civil, but we will not be silent.
“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him” (Acts 5:27-32)
If there’s a time when the government tells us to do something that transgresses clearly and plainly the law of God, the principle of obedience to God takes priority over the principle of obedience to king. Pharaoh said, put the little babies to death, but the midwives hid the male babies from Pharaoh. Were they right or wrong? They were right. Jacabed, Moses' mother, hid little baby Moses in the bulrushes. She broke the Pharaoh’s command, but she did it in order to save her baby. Daniel was told, you can’t pray. But Daniel said, you can’t stop me from praying. And I’m going to pray when the king and his law said that it is unlawful. As much as is possible, we as Christian citizens must obey the laws of our land, but there is a higher law that we are subject to. The church must always remain the conscience of the state. And we will speak. We will be civil, but we will not be silent.
Nathan was a prophet. He warned king David. Elijah was a prophet, he spoke to Ahab. Daniel was a prophet, he spoke to Nebuchadnezzar. Moses was a prophet, he warned Pharaoh. And while we will submit to every ordinance of man for the king’s sake we will not be silent in our land because of what is happening. As long as they’re killing babies in the mother’s womb we will stand up, speak up and say that is wrong before Almighty God. As long as we are normalizing sexual perversion and sodomy and adultery, fornication and pornography, we will say that is wrong. As long as there are those who are telling free-born Americans with liberty and freedom that their freedom of speech abridged and they cannot pray vocally and publicly in public schools or anywhere else we’ll say that is wrong. When the government tells us that homosexuality is right and teenagers will have sex, so here are contraceptives, then we will say that is wrong. Yet, our basic posture toward government, according to the New Testament, is to be submissive and obedient citizens of the state. We are also given the duty of praying for earthly governments that they may fulfill the tasks God has given to them.
3. A Christian’s Honor System
“Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:17)
First of all, in our social life, we’re to honor all men. If you’re a Christian, you will see every man that walks the face of this earth as precious in God’s sight. The bible says in Acts chapter 17 that God has made of one blood all men for to dwell upon the face of the earth. The Bible teaches that there is no respector of persons with God. “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place….” (Acts 17:26). Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in His sight. And the Bible says that we are to honor all men. The word honor literally has the idea of preciousness. I don’t care what kind of condition he is I tell you he is precious in the sight of God
Look in verse 17 where the Bible says, Honor the king. Again, honor the king. Now where our government is lead by a king or a president the principle is still the same: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). I pray regularly for our governmental officials. “The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;?he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1).
And don’t you teach your children to be disrespectful to the government. You’re breeding a rebel if you do that. The next generation needs to know that men and women in uniforms are an authority over them – they should be obeyed and respected.
What is our relationship in our church life? Look in verse 17, “love the brotherhood.” What's the brotherhood? That is Christians. We are to have a special love for Christians. We are to honor all men, but we’re to love the brotherhood. One of the most patriotic things that any of us could do who name the name of Jesus would be to fervently, passionately love one another. May this world look on us and say, “Behold how they love one another.”
In our spiritual life, we are to fear God. The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Do you know what’s wrong in America today? Simply put, there is no fear of God. Did you know that you can get on television and say a word against the Jewish people and people would come down on you like a hammer. They should. You could get on television or radio and say a word against the blacks and people would come down on you like a hammer. They should. Because with God there is no respecter of persons and we are to honor all men. But friend, today in America you can blaspheme the Almighty and nobody would say a word. Isn’t that true? You know why? Because we honor the creature more than the creator. There is no fear of God. And America is laughing her way into hell. Most of all, we need internal freedom. Freedom from lust and hate and pride and Jesus gives this. Then we can have external freedom and we can have eternal freedom forever with our Lord in heaven by knowing Jesus. Do you know him? I didn’t ask if you were Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Episcopalian. I’m asking you this. Are you born again? I mean, do you know if you died today you'd go straight to heaven? You ought to know it. I’m on my road to heaven and I have a Bible reason for knowing it. I know, I know that I have been born again. if you would pray a prayer like this:
“Oh God I'm a sinner and I'm lost and I need to be saved and I can't save myself. You send your Son, Jesus to die for my sins. I believe Jesus is the Son of God. I believe God raised Jesus from the dead. I receive you now by faith as my Lord and Savior. Come into my hear, forgive my sin and save me Lord Jesus. The Bible says for whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Father I pray that many will pray that prayer and give their hearts to Christ. In Jesus name, Amen.
