Tremendous hymns this morning and meaning I hope you pay attention to the words when you're singing those beautiful morning on the farm. You should have been there with me this morning when the Sun was just breaking, orange and purple in the sky, and then there were two brand-new baby lambs just born. So that was cool, and life is abundant on the farm this time of year, and we enjoy that and appreciate that. 

I always think of 2nd Corinthians 5, where it talks about now all things are of God. So whenever you see a sunrise, whenever you see new life and a baby lamb, all things are of God. That's the way we see the world as believers. 

Well, we're continuing our study of this great first epistle of Peter on Sunday mornings, and we come to a very interesting and perhaps controversial passage this morning in our study. The main intent of Peter in this epistle is to encourage the brethren to persevere in the midst of suffering and persecution. They were experiencing these trials; they were discouraged, perhaps doubting, not knowing how to handle these things. 

Peter began the letter by expounding to us the great doctrines of our salvation—who we are, what we have in Christ. That first chapter is profound in that it explains to us the origins of our salvation and the plans of God, the accomplishment of our salvation by the work of Jesus in our place for our sins on the cross, and His death, burial, and resurrection. The results of our salvation are that God has caused us to be born again to a living hope and the truth that He now keeps us by His power and gives us the promise of eternal life. 

These great present and eternal truths Peter sets in contrast to the temporal nature of the sufferings we now endure. We are to rest our hope fully on the grace that is to be revealed at the coming of Jesus Christ. We are not to rest our hope in the temporal world system—the schemes and hopes of men, the peace and prosperity of our culture, our world. We are to rest our hope fully on the grace of God in the coming of Jesus—our glorification together with Him. 

So we see that we must understand the temporal in light of the eternal. This is largely Peter's message, and we must rest in the grace of God, which is sufficient for today. 

But as we continue to study through this letter, we notice something interesting beginning in our text today. A major theme of Peter's epistle is submission. He's going to spend basically the rest of the letter, beginning here in chapter 2, verse 13, talking about submission—submission to authority, to government, wives to husbands, children to parents, employees to employers, submission to elders in the church. Submission becomes the message, specifically an attitude of submission.

Peter's message to us is that the way we are to endure unjust suffering with joy in this world is through an attitude of submission, and this ultimately in the plan and purpose of God. When we submit to our boss at work, when we submit in the home, we are submitting to God because it's God who has designed these relationships and given them to us for our benefit.

We see this most vividly in the example of Christ. Look at 1 Peter 2:20: "For what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called." Isn't that a stunning statement? "For to this"—what? Unjust suffering—"to this you were called." Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps. 

Here's the example of Christ, who committed no sin nor was deceit found in His mouth; who when He was reviled did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously, who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

At the cross, Jesus committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. This is the message—in submitting ourselves to those in authority over us, we submit ourselves to the will of God, His design for relationships in our time on this earth. We are ultimately entrusting ourselves to God when we have an attitude of submission. That's what our text is about this morning. 

Look at it with me: 1 Peter 2:13. "Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to governors as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice but as bond servants of God. Honor all people, love the Brotherhood, fear God, honor the king."

I've given you four points on your outline this morning: first, the context of persecution; second, be submissive to authority; third, be submissive to the will of God; and fourth, an attitude of submission. 

First, in looking at our text, we must remember the context of persecution. The passage we just read about Jesus tells us that Jesus suffered unjustly; He was persecuted, giving His life for the salvation of the world in the plan and purpose of God. Jesus suffered the ultimate injustice, and He did it willingly. He is God; He is the creator of all things; He is the sustainer of all things by the word of His power. He committed no sin and yet took the punishment for the sins of the world. Never was there before, nor will there ever be, a greater example of unjust suffering, and this is Peter's purpose in bringing up the cross—the suffering Christ as the ultimate example of submission to the will of God, of committing oneself to the care and sovereign purposes of God even in the midst of suffering. 

It's the premier example of trusting, of entrusting oneself to God. When we read passages like the one before us or Romans 13 or in Timothy, as we will see this morning, there's something that sort of rises up in us. I think especially for Americans and perhaps even more so for you purists and rednecks, of which I am both. It's a certain independence and rebellious spirit that's bred into us. We are free men in a free country—at least that's how it used to be. And I think there's a great desire in us for justice in this world, for things to be right. But it's hard for us to think about an attitude of submission to the government. 

I remember years ago, I was doing a lot of guiding for bow hunting whitetails, and what developed out of that, through a course of circumstances, was exclusively guiding hunters from Sweden and Norway. It was very interesting to get to know these guys from the Scandinavian countries because they had a completely different upbringing, a completely different culture, a completely different way of thinking, especially concerning the government. 

One of the first years they came, one of the men came up to me in the middle of the week and he said, "Could we get some dark bread?" I said, "Okay, I'd been buying Italian bread because that's our custom." He said, "The government says that we should not eat white bread." And I thought to myself, well, if that's what they say, then I'd be eating nothing but white bread!

One year, Anders, the man who organized these hunts, approached me about bringing the Prince of Sweden to come and hunt. One of the guys had befriended him, and he'd had a great interest in bowhunting, which they cannot do in Sweden. In the course of our conversation, Anders explained to me there'd be a couple of guys with wires in their ears following us around and so forth, and he told me that I would have to do some sort of head bow to him and address him in a certain way. 

Anders must have seen the look on my face because he said, "You guys don't bow to kings here, do you?" And I said, "No, we fought a war about that." So from our beginning, an attitude of submission, particularly to a central government, is a hard thing for us to swallow, but it is the will of God. 

God has set up a variety of relationships for us in our time on this earth, and every relationship that we have is designed as an authority-submission relationship. Whether that be in society with the governing authorities, in the home with husbands and wives or parents and children, or in the workplace with employees and bosses, or in the church with overseers and the body of Christ. Every relationship God has ordained exists in an authority-submission context, and even in the context of the body, God intends that we all submit ourselves to one another—every one of us—for our own good and the good of others and, ultimately, His purposes and glory.

The key exhortation in our text is verse 15, where Peter says, "For this is the will of God that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." As free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice but as bond servants of God. Notice the word "for"—"Submit yourselves to those in authority over you, for this is the will of God that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men."

You see, doing good here is an attitude of submission. It's obedience, and this is evident throughout the scriptures as the will of God for us specifically in the context of unjust suffering. Turn over to Romans 13 with me. This is a more developed parallel passage: 

Romans 13:1: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil."

Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience sake. God has ordained the governing authorities, Paul says; they are His ministers. This really does rub us—it's hard for us. We want to rebel against that which we believe to be unjust, or is clearly unjust. But God wants us to submit to that which He has ordained for our good and for His glory.

I've heard some try to manipulate this text by pointing out that our government is very often not good, and this is true. But my friends, please recognize and understand the context in which Paul and Peter wrote these very words. The government was Nero—a crazy, insane dictator who was happy to burn his city to the ground and murder and kill men for sport, who made the Christians a scapegoat for his crimes and tortured and killed them at will. 

And what does Paul say? What does Peter say? Rebel? Organize a revolution? That's what men wanted; that's what the disciples were hoping for in Jesus. That's not what Jesus did; rather, He submitted Himself to torture and beatings and mockery and even death on the cross without uttering a word of protest, because He entrusted Himself to God the Father—the One who judges righteously. And in this, He accomplished our salvation.

I want you to turn to 1 Timothy 2, a truly amazing passage. 1 Timothy 2:1. Paul says, "Therefore I exhort first of all, matter of first importance, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings and all who are in authority." Why? "That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

What is the context here? What is the "therefore" therefore? Paul has just said that God put him in the ministry to be a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Look back up to verse 15: 

1 Timothy 1:15: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long-suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life."

Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Is the world unjust? Are leaders and governments corrupt, led by the most corrupt of men? Yes, most often. Am I here to right the wrongs of the world? Am I here to bring the world system under the moral law of God through government authority and legislation and law enforcement? No! They're not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can they be. I am here to save lost and dying men out of this world by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I am His ambassador. I have been given the words of reconciliation. I am to preach Christ crucified. And God says that happens most effectively when I have an attitude of submission, even in the context of unjust suffering. 

In 1 Timothy 2, Paul ties directly our submissive attitude to the salvation of lost souls. He says, "I exhort you to pray for all men, for kings, all in authority, in order that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence—for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved."

One more passage, one of my favorites: 

1 Thessalonians 4:9. Paul, writing to the believers in Thessalonica, says, "But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. And indeed, you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more, that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside and that you may lack nothing."

What should my aspirations be as a believer in Christ about how I should live in this world? What should my goal be? Paul says, "Aspire to this. Strive for this—to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, to work with your own hands." And then he gives us this amazing purpose for this kind of life, so that we might walk properly toward those who are outside. 

How can I be a witness for Christ and lead men to faith in Jesus? What is God's plan, even in the context of the injustice of this world, of suffering, of persecution? It's an attitude of submission. It's a quiet and peaceful life, minding my own business, not the business of others, not the business of the world, but my own business—working with my own hands, providing for my family and for him who has a need. 

This is how I can walk properly toward the lost, how I can be a witness, as we saw in our text last week, by word—preaching the gospel—and by deed—how I live. It's no accident that our text this morning starts with the word "therefore." It goes back to verses 11 to 12: 

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

You remember that the day of visitation in the New Testament is when God visits in grace and mercy for salvation. "Have your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, so that by your good works which they observe, they may glorify God in the day of visitation that they might be saved." 

"Therefore," he says, "submit yourselves to those in authority over you." The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Man must hear a message about Jesus in order to believe, but how we live is vital to our witness, and a rebel rousing spirit, constant rhetoric of rebellion, and using the means of the world to bring the will of God undermines the message that we preach.

I'll never forget the interview I watched after the election of George Bush. I was a fairly new believer then, and some of you will remember that it was largely the evangelical vote that elected George Bush. The media was making a big deal out of this. We had the moral majority representing Christianity to the world with a great deal of political activism, a lot of the Lord's money going to those causes in the religious right world. 

I watched an interview with a prominent leader on the left. I can't remember the guy's name; he's a Jewish lawyer from Harvard, but you'd know it if I could remember it. He was very active in the world of politics, and he said, "The evangelical community has made itself a force to be reckoned with, and from here on, we will reckon with them." 

I remember trying to witness to my neighbor in this time, standing on the street talking to him—a huge, rough man, an atheist, evolutionist. As soon as I began to talk about Jesus, he said with his finger in my face, "All you Christians care about is abortion and gay marriage." 

The church suffered a lot of damage in engaging in the ways and means of the world and attempting to force morality through legislation and political means, in my opinion. It doesn't mean that we don't stand for what is right. It doesn't mean that we don't exercise our freedoms in a constitutional republic for good. But in all of this, we should have an attitude of submission.

We should aspire to lead a quiet and peaceful life, to work with our hands, to mind our own business, to love God and love men—all men—and pray for them and seek to give ourselves, our very lives to them, and most importantly, our saving message about Jesus—all of this in the context of injustice, of corruption, of abuse, and persecution for righteousness, and submission to those in authority over us. My brothers and sisters, this is the will of God. 

That's what Peter says. Now, the exception to this rule, just to be clear, is very clearly laid out in the book of Acts. If a man asks us to do something God forbids, or he commands us to do something that God—forbids, or if he forbids us to do something God commands, then, as Peter said, we must obey God rather than men. 

But the rule is an attitude of submission. Whenever I study this, I think about 2002, because 2002 was the year they outlawed deer baiting up here. I was guiding and hunting, and I wasn't baiting because it was against the law. And I had some friends at church up at range, and the husband and wife. And the wife came in one morning. She's talking to me right in the middle of deer season. 

And she says, "I keep having bears coming into my deer stand. There's bears in my deer stand all the time." And I looked at her, and I said, "The only reason you'd have bears in your deer stand is if you're baiting." She took both her hands and smacked me on the face like this and turned and walked away. 

Is that a big moral issue? What if I bait? I mean, that's not really a moral issue, is it? How about a local pastor arrested for illegal deer hunting on the front page of the paper? Submit to the government. Do what they say. There's no chapter and verse that says you get to bait deer. And there's a lot of issues like that in our lives all the time: just do what the law says. 

If they tell you to murder someone, or your boss tells you to steal something, or your husband tells you to engage in some sort of illegal activity, then you obey God rather than men. But otherwise, we obey those in authority over us for the sake of witness, for the sake of living a quiet and peaceable life. 

"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake," Peter says. "For the Lord's sake." For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Submit yourself for the Lord's sake. 

Does the Lord know best how to bring men to Christ, to salvation? You know, I used to think when I was first saved, because I've got a Romans 1 brother and I've got a Romans 2 brother. And I always thought the Romans 1 brother would be easier to lead to Christ because he just had a hard way to go all his life, mostly by his own doing. But he never was interested. My Romans 2 brother—the self-righteous, religious, moral man all his life—he's come to Christ. Praise the Lord! 

But I think about my brothers and witnessing to them. My one brother—the Romans 1 brother—is a liberal. I thought for a long time, if I could just show him the righteousness of the conservative thinking, that would be a good illustration for the gospel. That was really stupid! Really stupid! You know why? Because the conservative movement isn't righteous. No men are righteous. And we shouldn't put our hope in any politics, or solving the world's problems, or any of that in men. 

And I think I did a lot of damage there in fighting with my brother about politics. The point is, God knows how best to save men, and what has He said? He said, "Tell them the truth about Jesus and live a life that shows them Jesus." And live a quiet and peaceable life—work with your hands, earn your own way, take care of your loved ones, and have enough to give anybody that has some need. That's how we live.

I love that life. I love that—minding my own business, working with my own hands, looking to minister to people, to love people. It's for our good that we have government and law and order so that we can live a peaceable life, as imperfect as it often is in the hands of corrupt men. It's conducive to the furtherance of the gospel that we live in peace and structure in which we can work and live and witness to our neighbors. 

It's the will of God. Christians are always asking, "What's the will of God? How can I know God's will?" Well, we've seen this in our text: Romans 13, 1 Timothy 2, 1 Thessalonians 4, here in Peter—is the will of God for your life. Live a quiet and peaceable life. Work with your hands. Mind your own business. And preach Jesus Christ. 

Make this your aspiration—to be a model citizen. To love men as God loves men. To be the best employee you can be, working hard as unto the Lord. Be the best husband, wife, mother, father, brother, sister that you can be. Unselfish, serving one another, glorifying God in all that you do. Jesus said the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

Paul exhorts us to give our lives as living sacrifices to God. To serve one another, to submit to one another, to love one another. This is good and acceptable to God, and it serves to accomplish His will and purpose in my life. And according to Peter, an attitude of submission is the way for me to persevere, to endure through all the suffering and injustice of this world, knowing that God's in control, entrusting myself to Him. 

I believe that God has put in us, in our new birth and regeneration, a strong desire for righteousness and justice. We long for things to be right. We long for justice. Think of David's pleadings in the imprecatory Psalms, you know—get them, God! Over and over and over. 

We look forward with great anticipation to that great day when Jesus will come and judge the world and usher in the kingdom and rule and reign with a rod of iron. And yet we exist in this world now, today, as we're approaching that great day. What does Jesus tell us about this time and about the time that is to come before His coming? He has clearly promised us that the rule for the believer in this world is suffering.

Consider the fate of Peter and Paul—those great men of faith. They suffered continually, even in persecution, and they were martyred for their witness to Jesus Christ. Paul had his head chopped off. Peter was crucified. All the apostles, save John, were brutally murdered for their faith. So Jesus tells us, because of your identification with Me, you will suffer. 

And what about the times? What should we expect now as we're moving forward toward the consummation of all things? Turn over to 2 Timothy 3. 

2 Timothy 3:1, Paul tells us about this time—these last days in which we live. He says, "I want you to know something. I want you to know and understand for certain that in the last days, perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power." And from such people, turn away. 

Evil men will wax worse and worse. These are the times in which we live. Turn over to Romans 1 at verse 18 and see if this reads like the New York Times. 

Romans 1:18, Paul explains to us what to expect in these last days: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things." 

Now look at verse 24: "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen. For this reason God gave them up," that's the second time—"God gave them up" to what? "Vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature." Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another—men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge—third time—God gave them over to what? "A debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting."

Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness—they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. Look at verse 32: "Who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." 

This is our world, my friends. This world is experiencing the wrath, the judgment of God. We have been given over to ourselves, and we see the result. Christians often say, "Well, if we don't repent, God's going to judge us." No, friends, this is the judgment! He has given us over. This is the result.

So here we are, longing for justice, seeking righteousness, and yet living in a world that is under God's judgment where men are given over to corrupt minds to do that which is not fitting—a world that Jesus promised would grow worse and worse until His coming, a world of injustice and persecution for those who love Jesus. How do we live in such a world? 

How do we live? Adrian Rogers said social justice is like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. Do we put all our money and time and energy into trying to fix the wrongs of this world? We minister to people, we love people, the church takes care of people, but we're not going to fix the wrongs of this world. We speak the truth in love. We stand for righteousness' sake. We do what is right and good—obeying God—and this we do with an attitude of submission. 

This we do as we preach the gospel, as we love men and live holy lives as witnesses in word and deed. We live in every relationship and every circumstance as unto the Lord. You see, I'm not working hard because of my boss; I'm trusting my Lord who has ordained this authority-submission relationship in which I am to be the best employee I can be so that I can be a powerful witness to the life-transforming power of Jesus—so that I can be different than the world. 

I'm working as unto the Lord with a view to witness in the salvation of lost souls. In aspiring to live a quiet and peaceful life, working with my own hands, minding my own business with an attitude of submission, I am entrusting myself to Him who judges righteously. 

I may think that I know what is right, but I know that He knows what is right and what is best for me for accomplishing His will in my life; therefore, in all these things, I trust Him. 

And that means I seek to live with an attitude of submission, as clearly His will for me. Right before that Romans 13 passage, Paul said, "Vengeance is mine," says the Lord, "I will repay." He's got that part! It's going to come! But for now, this is the age of grace. 

This is the age of grace! I love that illustration about the waves of God's wrath pounding against the dam of His mercy. The dam's going to let go when God says it's the right time, and His wrath is going to be poured out on this earth. But right now, we live in the age of mercy—of grace—and God wants to visit lost men for the purpose of salvation. 

And the way that that can happen is through those whom He has chosen to be His witnesses—through preaching the gospel and living a life that honors that gospel, that shows its power. We are His ministers. We need to walk properly toward those who are outside that men might see Jesus and hear the good news and believe and be saved. That's why we're here. 

That's why God left us in this world—so that the world may know that Jesus is the Christ. And that's why an attitude of submission is vital to our mission. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You for telling us the truth. We thank You for telling us the hard things. We long for justice. We long for love and righteousness to rule and reign, and we long for You to come. That's our great anticipation. As long as we live and have breath in this world, help us to live for Jesus—to live to lead men to Him—because eternity is at stake, Lord; nothing else matters. 

Help us to see the temporal in light of the eternal and to endure by Your grace and power to bring You glory in all things. We thank You that Jesus died for us, that He rose again, and that we have life in Him—that we rose with Him to a new kind of life, an eternal life. We praise You and we thank You. In Jesus' name, amen.