Good Morning Beloved,
Thank you all for joining us here today
I am thankful that you are here, it is
my prayer, that you will be blessed by it
Heavenly Father,
We are grateful that You can see our hearts
because in our hearts is the desire to be obedient
to You, Your Word, it's what You want us to do
Father, we know, that You've put us in this world
each with a purpose, and opportunity to serve You
You've given us a chance to live effective life
And we want to submit our life to You
to use us, our time, talent and energy in ways
that are going to accomplish what You will.
Lord, I just ask You today, that in this time of prayer
that You will help each one of us, and refresh our minds
and our commitment to You, that we might be the kind of people
that You want us to be, more like Your Son Jesus Christ
Father, I thank You for even those of us who are well-meaning, passionate,
often zealous Christians, who in our desire to do everything right
can tear it all down, God, help us to use our spiritual weapons
help us also to be faithful to You, and one another, in diligent prayer.
In Christs' precious name
Amen
"Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation. 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. For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. As God’s slaves, live as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor."
I Peter 2:11-17
Today's Message: Christian Freedom - Part 1
Today we'll begin a new study on what I believe, to be an important spiritual theme, "Christian Freedom." We must understand what the Bible teaches about being free in Christ. Our Lord said, "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free for real."
What is Christian freedom? Now that is a really important question. What is Christian freedom? And I think there were more than a couple people who asked me this, so I thought I'd share what Christian Freedom means. But free to do what? And what are the limitations? Are there boundaries? What are the parameters of our freedom in Christ?
So what does it mean to be free? Paul the apostle says, "We are no longer bound by dietary laws. We are no longer bound by the new moons and the Sabbaths and the feast days." Even the Sabbath day itself, in Romans 14, is indicated as optional. We are free in Christ. We are no longer under the law, he says.
Open your Bibles, if you will, to I Peter chapter 2:11-17. I Peter chapter 2. I want us to look together at verses 13 through 17. I Peter 2:13 through 17. Actually, this is the text that we're looking at under the title, "Silencing the Critics." And it is continuous a flow from verse 11 all the way down through verse 20. But for today, we'll just be looking at verses 13 through 17.
So let's get started and I'll read them to you.
"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. For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. As God’s slaves, live as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor."
Now, this compelling passage of Scripture has at its heart the statement in verse 15, "For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good." What does that mean? Simply stated, is that it is the will of God that by doing right, you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.
So, the whole point of this section of exhortation, is that being Christians, we are to live in such a way, that by our exemplary lives, we shut up the mouths of those who criticize our faith. We are to live a life that is above criticism, a life that is above reproach, a life that is above shame. In fact, I have highlighted to you on numbers of other occasions, but don't be concerned, I'll highlight it again today.
Because how you live as a Christian, is the single greatest apologetic for the evidence of the transforming power of the gospel. There is really no greater way for people to see the transforming power of the gospel than to see the life of a transformed person. It then, is the greatest apologetic. In fact, its essentially the foundation of our witness. The powerful witness comes when a person gives someone the gospel who has already laid a foundation of having been shown that person a transformed life through Jesus Christ. Am I right? Amen
If ever there existed a need for a clear teaching and a powerful sound, ringing out from the pulpits around the world it is certainly today. So, we must be mindful, that we are to manifest through Christ Jesus, a transformed life.
Peter, here is saying that it's absolutely essential that you live your lives in such a way that your testimony becomes not only believable, that the transforming power of Christ is made evident not only by what you say and what you do, but by what you are. Now as we endeavor to live our lives in the world there are three perspectives that Peter gives us here. He says you must view your life in three ways. Point one: You must see yourself as an alien to this society. In verses 11 and 12 he made note that we are aliens and strangers and we have to see ourselves in that way. Then in verse 13 to 17 he says even though you are aliens you are still citizens, even though our home is in another dimension, we still are here in this world and we must conduct ourselves in a proper way as citizens. Lastly, in verses 18 to 20, he discusses the matter that we are servants, or as we determined in an earlier lesson, slave to Christ.
Peter sees us, Christians as an alien, as a citizen, and as a servant. And each of those unique perspectives directly relates to how the watching world sees us. And as the world sees us they must also see us as aliens. As they see us as aliens, they must see us as citizens, however, they must recognize us as servants.
The bottom line is that the way you live will determine whether you lead someone to Christ or whether you fan the fires of criticism. This is obvious, I think, to everybody, virtually everybody.
The problem with the Christian culture in America is, its suffering greatly right now because of the tremendous rebuke that has occurred to Christianity. There's a significant number of leaders in Christianity that have more than demonstrated, that their lives are far from being above reproach and they have literally fueled the fires of criticism. They have opened the eyes and mouths of the critics rather than silencing them. They have failed to live an alien life and consequently they have harmed greatly the testimony of Christianity. I find this to be very disheartening. We must be able to offer someone a drink of living water from the cup of Christ, without becoming stained.
And, I also believe that not only are there people who obviously are not living supernatural God-centered lives, those very people who have proclaimed to the world, "Christ transforms," but lived a very non-transformed life and thus undercut their testimony, but there also are in Christianity today people who are living in the world in such a way that even their function as citizens is causing a reproach to fall on the name of Christ. You can lose the credibility of your testimony by failing to live a supernatural life which is alien to this world, which demonstrates the power of Christ. And it is also my belief, that you can lose the foundation of your testimony by a failure to live as a citizen should live under the rule of Christ.
As Christians, it is obvious that we must know what we are "free" from and to whom we are to "serve." These two go hand in hand, which is something this generation of church go'ers and leaders have failed to discover. Never has there been such a "devilish freedom" that seems to have overtaken the pulpits as it has today. They wrestle the scripture to their own destruction. They preach "free from restrictions and regulations" and twist the scripture to mean deliverance from holiness, godliness and purity. The word "saved," which literally means: to rescue from danger, harm, etc. has no meaning at all to them because it is obvious that they are "saved" from nothing, not even themselves. They inherent danger and that is obvious.
That's why its become so very important that we discuss not only that alien idea which we have already discussed, but that we also look to this matter of being citizens. So that's what I'd like us to look at. These two go hand in hand, and you can make the connection rather readily in your own mind, but they go together something along these lines. We are aliens in the world; that is we live by a different standard. We live a heavenly kind of life. We live the life of God. We live on a supernatural plane. You already know that. We are unearthly. We are heavenly. We are to be disentangled with the world systems. We are to set our affections on things above and not on the things on this world. We submit to a greater authority than any earthly authority, in the sense that we move under the power of the living God as expressed in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And whether some want to acknowledge it or not, it's not self, but Almighty God is to come first.
However, if we get too carried away in our alien identity, we can easily become indifferent to the world in which we have to live. And so our alienation from the system must be carefully balanced by the demand of proper citizenship. Its true, we live a supernatural life. And yes, we live a discipline that is inward and private, energized by the Holy Spirit. Yes, we conduct ourselves with an outward deportment that is also energized by the Holy Spirit, and so we are different than those of world who are around us. Our alienation is further demonstrated by the fact that we are to abstain from fleshly lusts, according to Scripture, we are to do good deeds, verses 11 and 12.
We are different from those of the world. And so our alienation is there by visible in our character and conduct, it is to be evident to the world. However, the result of that can be an indifference to the society around us, an unmitigated disregard for the authority around us. And so Peter is quick to add immediately in verse 13, "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution." The fact that you are citizens of heaven, that you live at a different level, that you live on a higher plane, that you answer to a higher authority does not mean that you can treat with indifference the institutions that are here on earth. We who feel we are above the system need to learn how to live within the system. So that leads Peter into the discussion of verses 13 to 17 and the matter how we are to conduct ourselves as citizens.
And quite frankly, I believe, that it is through the providence of God, that has brought us to this passage, for such a time as this. I cannot think of a more fitting teaching since we can witness, at any given time, numbers of Christian people and church leaders and I suppose, religious people in general, who have defied God's Word. They have deliberately breached the standards of kingdom citizenship. Not only have they violated the law but they have dishonored the ruling authority that governs over them. We can see that happening, nearly every day. And what disturbs me the most, is that they do it, all in the name of God. They have defiled the name of Christianity. And so beloved, we need to carefully examine that particular issue and see precisely what the Word of God has to say about it. And there is quite a lot, to say about just that.
It is rather obvious in the background of this epistle that the people to whom Peter is writing are being severely criticized. It is difficult enough when you know your position is that of an unearthly life and you live in the heavenlies, answering to a higher authority than any earthly one, it is difficult enough to be a good citizen. However, when that is compounded by the society in which you live, one that is altogether hostile toward you, in fact, when it is even militantly persecuting you, which, no doubt, was the case to those to whom Peter wrote. It was rather common, in fact, to call them evildoers, as they are often identified throughout Scripture, they are slandered as evildoers. That's a term of derision; apparently it was used of Christians categorically. Rather than to call them Christians, they would call them, instead evildoers.
For centuries, in the beginning of the early church, it was not uncommon for them to experience antisemitism in the society in which they found themselves, it was certainly no secret the Romans hated Jews and it was no less common for them to have to face hostility. And Christians were considered to be nothing more than a sect of Jews. In fact, there was such a repulsive view toward Jews and Christians from among them.
They were accused of rebelling against Rome and all human authority. And we know from the accounts in Scripture, that was certainly, in part, the basis of the reason why the Romans engaged themselves in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ Himself, because it was brought to their attention, that Jesus provided a tremendous threat against Rome, and Caesar, which, of course, we know was not true. And through the first centuries of the early church's existence, those accusations of hostility against earthly governments would continue to mount, even though there was no truth in them.
In fact, there was nothing that would be further from the truth, however, that was simply one of the slanderous statements that were frequently made against Christians as well as against the Jews, in general.
And they would continue to be subject to a variety of false accusations, including being accused of atheism, and as one could expect, there was a tremendous hostility toward them for that. It's difficult for many of us today to fathom, isn't it, that the early church of Jesus Christ, would be accused of atheism? Yet, it was true as anyone who refused to worship the many false gods and several demi-gods, who had been human, of the pagan nations, including Emperor Caesar, of head of the Roman Empire, was considered to be an atheist. In other words, if you didn't worship Caesar, regardless of who else you worshiped, you were considered atheistic. Many Romans, during the reign of Augustus, which marked the point at Rome had rediscovered its true calling, so to speak. They believed that, under his rule and with his dynasty, they had the leadership to get there. Upon his death, Augustus, the 'son of a god', was himself declared a god.
And one of the most bizarre was, they were accusing the Christian church of engaging in cannibalism. And the basis for such claims, were actually based upon the words of our Lord Himself, Jesus, found in John chapter 6; "Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, because My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me, and I in him.," and the words of the apostle Paul who again said that when you commune with the cup and the bread you are communing with the body and blood of Christ. Clearly, the words of our Lord, were not an invitation to cannibalism, nor were the apostle Paul's, but this simply demonstrates the desperation of their accusers ridiculous claims. And if that weren't enough, the Christians were also accused of killing and eating children at their feasts.
They further accused them of immorality, even of incest. They were accused of Oedipean intercourse. We all know about Oedipus, was adopted as with any child, he grew up. But that wasn't the issue. You may remember the story of Oedipus, he grew up, saw a delightful lady, married her and found out eventually that he had married his mother. Sigmund Freud gave them both a lot of notoriety, as he propagated his theories of sexual development with particular reference to incestuous tendencies. However, long before Freud, people were having trouble with this and the pagans were accusing the Christians of this incestuous behavior. Since Christians called women "sisters," and the men of the church had very close relationship with these "sisters", therefore, the pagans in their ignorance, in their equation, put two and two together and came up with nine.
And because they said, that since the sword that fell between man and wife when one came to follow Jesus Christ devastated that home. They accused them of fostering slave rebellion because when a slave came to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, he had a new life, had a new dignity in Christ. And they thought that to be hostile in keeping slaves in their place.
Christians were also accused of hating men because they were opposed to the worldly systems. They accused them again of disloyalty to ruling authorities, including, Caesar, on the basis that they would worship only Jesus Christ and refused to bow in allegiance to any other. The church in the early years was not only in the world but in the hostility of a very hateful world.
And now, to Peter there was only one way to deny such charges. The only way to deny the charges was to live a godly life, a life of virtue. In which to shut the mouths of the critics, by taking away the legitimacy of any accusation. They wanted to live a life that was so full of spiritual quality, that there was simply nothing that they could use to slander Christians.
Beloved, might I dare say, that even today, the world is still hostile against Christians. Men still despise God, they still reject Jesus Christ. Maybe the form of it has changed somewhat, as they may be a bit more "tolerant" of the religious system of Christianity, but they are increasingly less tolerant of its truths and righteousness. And I'd have to say, perhaps, even more than they've ever been.
And so, the challenge in the Christian life, is still to be alien, while remaining a citizen, to be different, to live a life that is above and out of the world, and yet live in the world. And that challenge is great. We are to live in such a way that in spite of all of the false accusations, the hatred and amidst all of the hostility, that we might turn the hearts of those who would accuse us, toward Christ by the evident transformation of our own lives.
Peter, in the underlying foundation, of his message, is he wants to silence the critics and bring them to faith in Christ. It's evangelistic. It is our evangelistic purpose, as Christians.
Now let's look at the text. First of all I want you to notice the command in verse 13, the command.
"Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority" So let's examine the first part, "Submit yourselves." That is the command, a simple yet powerful command, "submit yourselves." Now, why does he say that? What exactly does it mean?
Let's find out..
When we think of ourselves as above the world, as heavenly citizens and when we are attacked by irresponsible, ignorant, unfounded, evil accusers, it is an instinctive to rise up in self-defense and retaliate. And it also easy think to ourselves, that since I have no part in this world and this world has no part with me, and I answer to the supreme Authority of God, I am not under the jurisdiction of earthly authority. So I will ignore with indifference, all of its systems.
Listen to this carefully, God does not endorse such behavior, especially from us, those He calls His own.. God doesn't wish us to think, that because we are citizens of heaven, that we can act upon our own authority, in any way that we desire, simply because we're not answerable to human authority or under the influence of its earthly institutions. In fact, quite the contrary. He wants us to demonstrate self-restraint, to demonstrate virtue, to demonstrate a concern about community, to seek peace in the community, to do all we can to prevent trouble, to live in such a way in peace and goodwill that we deprive our enemies of the grounds for all their false accusations. The Christian behavior, should essentially stifle our critics by obeying all the laws and respecting all the authorities. If you want a classic illustration of that, read the record of John Wesley. And read how John Wesley, through prayer and the proclamation of the Word on the streets and to all who would hear, turned the tide toward the Christian faith. There were all kinds of abuses in the time of John Wesley, all kinds of sins within society. John Wesley's protest against that was always a spiritual one, using the Word of God and prayer. Read that over several times, allow it to refresh your perspective, as you meditate on the enormous impact that that had.
The command to "submit yourselves," is from the Greek word hupotassō. It is a military term meaning to arrange in military fashion under the commander. It's talking about being subject. One translation says, "Put yourselves in an attitude of submission." Think about that, "Put yourselves in an attitude of submission." For the record, that attitude is distinctively Christian because submission and humility in biblical times, were looked upon as solely characteristics of cowards and those who are weaklings. And no man, let alone, one of power, authority and strength would ever think of submitting himself or being humble.
God calls His people to live in a humble, submissive manner, even in the midst of a hostile, godless, Christ-less, sinful, wicked, accusing, slanderous society. In fact, God's people had often been accused of insurrection, would continue to be accused of insurrection but were never called by God to engage in it, never.
Turn with me to the Old Testament, Proverbs 24, for just a moment to kind of support the principle that we noted as the command, "Submit yourselves." In Proverbs chapter 24 and verse 21 it says this, "My son, fear the Lord and the king." That's interesting. "Fear the Lord and the king." And listen to this. "Do not associate with those who are given to change for their calamity will rise suddenly and who knows the ruin that comes from both of them?" Do not associate with those who are given to change, the rebels, the insurrectionists.
In Jeremiah chapter 29. it says, "This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon" I find this to be most interesting. This is a message to the Jews in Babylonian captivity. They were in a pagan land. They were under pagan rule. They were under the authority of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. In case you don't know about him, he is a pagan to the very core. I mean, he is so pagan, that he rises up, shakes his fist in the face of Almighty God. The people who were taken into captivity were really to be brainwashed by the Babylonian culture and the Babylonian system. Then just look what God says, "This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease."
What is He saying? Live your life. Live your life. Get a house, live in it. Plant a garden, eat the fruit. Marry your children to one another, carry on with life. Multiply there; do not decrease.
Now, look at verse 7, "Seek the welfare of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it has prosperity, you will prosper." Keep in mind, they're living in the midst of a hostile, Pagan society. "Pray to the Lord on its behalf."
Have any of you ever felt that way, living in your city? Perhaps the decisions that are being made by the authorities of this city, at times, really irritates you. You sort of feel as though you are living in exile. What did you do? You likely get a house, you've been living in it, maybe you planted a garden, then ate the produce, had children, they grew up and married some one living in your city, and seek the welfare of the city. Anything you can do to seek the welfare of the city and pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will have welfare, or one way I have heard it said, "In its prosperity you will have prosperity." Seek the prosperity of the city, for in its prosperity you will know prosperity. Become the agent of disruption and you will know disruption. Well, that's the implication.
Now, let's take a look at these next two verse; "For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, and don’t listen to the dreams you elicit from them, for they are prophesying falsely to you in My name. I have not sent them.” This is the Lord’s declaration." WOW. Now that is a very bold and direct statement, isn't it?
Let's keep going.. "For this is what the Lord says: “When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm My promise concerning you to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you”—this is the Lord’s declaration. "I will restore you to the place I deported you from."
In other words, God is saying, "Look, we both know that you don't belong here, your aliens, in a foreign land, but make the best of it, do all you can to seek the welfare of the city, because when it prospers, you will also prosper. So, it also for your benefit. But don't forget, I have big plans for you, after all this, I'll come and get you and lead you back home.
Worldwide, there have been many, protests, numerous acts of civil disobedience, countless violations of the law, many upheavals and revolutions, many insurrections, and many subversive attempts to overthrow entire governments. Why? Get this. Are you ready for it, in the name of Christianity? Beloved, that is tragic. We are never commanded to do that. The command is simple, submit yourselves, submit yourselves.
Turn with me for briefly to Romans 13 verse 1, "Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities." You see any exceptions there? You say, "Well that means except our government." No it doesn't. "Well that means except me." No it doesn't. "Every person in subjection to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves." That is very unequivocal assertion!
Paul basically said the same thing that Peter did. Yeah, I know, there is some of you saying to yourselves, "But they didn't live in a world like we do today. Things are different now." Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but yes they did. He also lived in a world dominated by slavery, incredible abuse. Do you have that to contend with? He lived in a world dominated by the abuse of women, and there was murder of children. There are historical records verifying the fact that particularly female children were drowned because the parents said I don't want the child. They lived in a world where sin and sexual immorality was rampant. They lived in a wretched, rotten, vile, ungodly, wicked society much like we do. And yet they were told to be subject to the authorities, to be subject to the powers that be because they were ordained by God. And Jesus Himself said in Matthew 22:21, "Therefore give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s"
Turn back with, if you would to I Peter 2 and I'll make my second point. The first point, if you'll recall was the command; the second point is motive. The second point is motive. And he says it as clearly as it could possibly be said, "Submit to every human authority because of the Lord" Why are we doing this? Literally, because of the Lord. Because of the Lord. For the His sake. Because it is the way you honor Him, it is the way you respond to Him. Do you really need a better reason than that? Well, do you?
Submit yourself because our God demands it. Therefore, since you have commanded to do it, you are doing it in obedience to Him. It is to obey Him. Since there is no higher authority apart from God and, now here it comes, are you paying attention? All of those authorities which exist are all established by God, and you can verify it in Romans 13, we just read that earlier, that when you respond submissively to their authority, you are doing it for the sake of the Lord, Who instituted the authority. Revelation! Those of you who would complain about any politician, especially, one which is not your favorite. Carefully read and re-read Romans 13, and then read it over again. "Every person in subjection to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves."
Now, allow to just go ahead and clear the air before it is brought up later, and we know that it will at some point, like most of you, well, many, OK, all of you is more like it, I do have my personal preferences for every election. But whether we like it or not, we are not always going to get our way, and our favorite candidate is not always going to be elected to office. Let's be honest, it happens to someone every election, whether you, me or someone else. But whether or not we like them is irrelevant, we are commanded by our Lord, to subject ourselves to their authority. We don't have to agree with their politics, but we do, in obedience, have to respect their position in the office.
Do you not see that?
In Closing.....
When a leader in this society says this or that, you do it. When the police say get up and move over here, you get up and move over there because that's what the Bible tells you to do. Why do you do it? Because of the Lord. Because of the Lord why? Because the Lord has called us to obey the authorities because the authorities are ordained by God and it's a matter of obedience. It's a matter of obedience. It's that simple. Now, allow me to add this addendum, with the exception that it goes against biblical law. Then, you follow God's Law and not man's. But that's it. And that's not an excuse to ignore man's law, but God's Authority over us always comes first.
Beloved, we don't need to enter into combat with our local authorities, the only weapon we will ever need to our Holy Bible. Just God's Word..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries