Submission into Authority

[0:00] Submission to authority. 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 praise those who do good.

[0:27] ! For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

[0:40] Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

[0:52] Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Bear God. Honor the emperor.

[1:06] Servants. Be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and the gentle, but also to the unjust.

[1:20] For this is a gracious thing when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

[1:32] For what credit is it if when you sin, you are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

[1:52] For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

[2:07] He committed no sin. He committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

[2:20] When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

[2:33] He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

[2:45] By his wounds, you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

[3:03] This is God's word. Thank you very much, Loren, for reading for us this morning. As we continue our sermon series in the letter of 1 Peter, we come to a section of the letter that gives us another important insight into the human condition of indwelling sin.

[3:31] Those of you who were here last Sunday will recall that we considered verses 11 and 12. We considered verses 11 and 12 last Sunday.

[3:50] And we considered how God's people are called, indeed commanded, to abstain from the passions of the flesh.

[4:01] And I reminded us that passions of the flesh are sinful desires that we naturally want to do because of our sinful nature.

[4:14] So when we are commanded to abstain from the passions of the flesh, we're being commanded not to do the sinful things that our flesh naturally desires to do.

[4:25] But in this section that we have come to this morning, we're being commanded to do something that our flesh does not naturally desire to do.

[4:39] It's quite the opposite of what we considered last Sunday. We're able to see that part of the human condition has this conflict in both directions.

[4:52] Desiring to do what we ought not do. And also, not desiring to do what we should do. Desiring to do what we are called to submit to authority.

[5:15] And that is something that none of our flesh naturally desires to do. We have no natural desire to submit to authority.

[5:29] And this section of the letter that we come to this morning, three times Peter says, be subject. And one other time, he uses other words that mean the same thing.

[5:40] In verse 13, we read, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. Verse 18, be servants, be subject to your masters with all respect.

[5:58] And then in verse 8 of chapter 3, which we're not considering this morning, but I just want to point it out to us. He begins by saying to the wives, he says, be subject to your husbands.

[6:18] In verse 1 of chapter 3. And then further down in chapter 3, in verse 8, he doesn't use the words, be subject.

[6:29] But what he says is this. Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

[6:41] And the only way that we can do this, brothers and sisters, is if we have hearts of submission one to another. That's the only way that we will have unity of mind. We will have sympathy and brotherly love and a tender heart and a humble mind.

[6:58] If we have truly submitted to one another. So, in this section of the letter, Paul is bringing before us this call to do what our flesh doesn't naturally desire to do.

[7:13] And that is to submit to authority. And so the question then for us this morning is, how do we do what we don't naturally desire to do?

[7:28] How do we submit to authority? And we have no natural desire to do that. This is true from the smallest child to the eldest person this morning.

[7:42] How do we do this? Well, thankfully, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Peter tells us in this passage.

[7:55] He tells us how we who have no natural desire to submit to authority can submit to authority in a God-honoring way.

[8:05] And so I want us to consider that this morning. But first, let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, we come this morning and we bow our hearts before you.

[8:18] And we all acknowledge, Lord, that there is nothing in us that naturally desires to submit to any authority in our lives.

[8:32] And so, Lord, we pray and we ask for your help. We pray and ask that you draw near to us in our particular circumstances.

[8:44] Lord, you know in particular ways where we struggle most to submit to authority in our lives. And so, God, I pray that as we hear your word this morning, that those circumstances would come to mind and we would hear you speaking to us in light of them.

[9:07] And, God, would you give us the grace not just to hear but also to obey all that you would say to us this morning. I ask for your help and grace to draw near to me that I'll be faithful to proclaim your word to your people.

[9:27] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. As we consider these words of the Apostle Peter this morning, as he commands us to submit to authority, I believe this command to submit to authority can be summarized in three shorter commands.

[9:47] And I want us to consider these three shorter commands in our remaining time. First, Peter says to God's people, submit to authority generally.

[10:00] We see this in verses 13 to 17. But before we look at these verses in detail, I want us to take a moment.

[10:11] I want to begin by defining for us what it means to be subject to authority or what it means to be submitted to someone and then to explain what that also is not.

[10:30] Submission is a voluntary act of humbling ourselves and bringing ourselves under the authority of another person or a group of people.

[10:42] That's what submission is, to voluntarily humble ourselves and bring ourselves under the authority of another person or a group of persons.

[10:54] And so on its core, submission is an attitude. It is a hard disposition. Submission is not agreement.

[11:07] We can submit to a person with whom we disagree. Submission is not obedience. Submission is not obedience. Submission to authority has obedience in view.

[11:25] But submission to authority is not in and of itself obedience. They are not the same thing. You see, we can be forced to obey.

[11:35] And many of us know the experience. We've been forced to obey, but in our hearts we are not submitting. We're not submitted to parents, for example, who forced us to obey particular commands that they gave us.

[11:51] Submission is a hard disposition. It cost us for obedience, but it is not in and of itself obedience. As a matter of fact, obedience is actually easier than submission.

[12:08] Again, because we can be forced to obey, but no other human being can force us to submit.

[12:20] Because that is a hard disposition. And I'm sure most of us live long enough to hear this saying, when a parent might say to a child, sit down.

[12:32] The child says, I'm sitting down, but I'm standing up in my heart. And we know the conflict between the two.

[12:45] I think another thing that's worth saying this morning is that this call to submission, although it has obedience in view, it doesn't mean that we have a duty to obey everything that a person in authority over us calls us to do.

[13:05] And the reason for that is sometimes people in authority will call us to do what God forbids. Or they will forbid us to do what God commands.

[13:17] And we have a duty to obey God. If they forbid us to do what God commands, we must not obey them. And vice versa.

[13:30] So we should always submit to authority. But whether we obey authority is a relative issue in terms of what we are being called to do or not to do.

[13:44] We should never submit to anything that we know to be wrong. Unless somebody has a gun to your head, and then it's more profitable to disobey and be alive than to...

[14:01] to obey and be alive than disobey and... we have a funeral. But notice how Peter begins his call to submission in verse 13.

[14:15] He says, we are to submit to every human institution for the Lord's sake. This call to submission, brothers and sisters, is not first about us.

[14:29] We are called, as God's people, to submit to human authority, to the human institutions, for the Lord's sake.

[14:43] Look again at how Peter says that in verse 13. 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.

[15:07] These verses remind us of the importance and indeed the necessity of having government, having order, having institutions that help us to live together, to lay down rules and regulations about how we are to relate to one another, how we are to conduct ourselves, when we're on the streets, when we expect certain services from the government and laws that tell us that we ought to do certain things in order to benefit from those services.

[15:43] These human institutions are really there for the good of society as a whole. And we are all called to submit ourselves to them and since the outcome of them is obedience to, also obey them.

[16:06] But these opening words of Paul also bring us face to face with another reality. And that's the reality of evil. And it brings us face to face with our need for systems of authority to restrain evil and to punish those who commit evil.

[16:27] It's a function of government. That's a function of authority in society. It is to restrain evil because we by nature are evil people.

[16:37] And it is to punish those who do evil. But another function of authority in society as well is to also praise those who do good.

[16:53] This is often overlooked but it is a part of what authority is supposed to do in society. It is an encouragement to do evil by recognizing, by praising those who obey the laws and the rules and the regulations of society.

[17:14] Brothers and sisters, the ultimate reason that we are called to submit to the governing authority is not because we fear punishment or we desire being praised for doing good.

[17:27] The ultimate reason that we who belong to Christ is a call to live this way is for the Lord's sake. Because we don't want as those who represent him, we don't want his name to be maligned.

[17:48] Instead, we want our lives as we live our lives adhering to the rules and to the authority that we are under we want it to point to praise to the name of the Lord rather than to malign the Lord.

[18:09] I think it's important for us to recognize and acknowledge this morning that this command to commit to every human institution is much easier for us to hear this morning.

[18:21] This is much easier for us to hear this morning than it was for Peter's original audience. You see, we live in a democracy. We proved it just a few weeks ago.

[18:33] We went to the polls. We freely voted. And we get to do that regularly. We have laws that even govern those who govern us.

[18:45] But in the situation that Peter wrote some 2,000 years ago to his original audience, they were followers of Christ but they were not in a democracy.

[19:03] They were scattered abroad in modern day Turkey. They were oppressed. They were persecuted. They were marginalized living in the Roman Empire. when they would have heard these words from the Apostle Paul under reference to the emperor.

[19:23] See, when we think of emperor, we probably think of a prime minister or a governor general. No, but when they read these words in verse 13 and verse 17, the name and face of a wicked emperor, Nero, came to mind.

[19:43] Nero ruled the known world in Peter's day. He was a wicked tyrant who hated Christians. He is the one who instituted the first persecution, the first Roman persecution against Christians.

[20:01] Nero was so wicked he murdered his own mother. And some three years later he murdered his wife. and said, this is a wicked man.

[20:13] This was an evil man. And Peter knew full well that when he said the emperor, everybody knew who the emperor was. He didn't have to put a name to the emperor. They knew who the emperor was.

[20:28] And Peter begins by saying to them, you are to submit to the human institutions, to the emperor, and to those who were sent by the emperor.

[20:43] I think you would agree with me this morning that if we lived in such circumstances, we would be reading these words differently this morning. I think we can read them somewhat casually.

[20:56] But if we lived under such a circumstance with a wicked ruler who was the law and did as he pleased, how differently would we be hearing this morning these words be subject to the human authorities, be subject to the human institutions.

[21:20] we should consider ourselves blessed this morning because we are brothers and sisters around the world who live under modern-day Neroes.

[21:40] Perhaps because times have changed not in the exact same way, but they can really in many ways be described as modern day Neroes.

[21:54] I think if you were a Christian in Russia or North Korea and you were hearing these words, I think we'd be praying, oh Lord, give me grace to be able to do that.

[22:08] If we were living in countries like Nigeria and Pakistan and India where the governing authorities turn a blind eye to the persecution of Christians, where the governing authority would implement laws that will marginalize and harm Christians and discriminate against them in so many ways, we'd be reading these words very differently, and yet many of our brothers and sisters live this way, right next door in Cuba, a communist country, where those who follow Christ cannot worship as freely as we are doing so this morning, unless they register with the state, who would have people come in to monitor what they're doing and what they're saying, and yet, even as they may worship in private and secret, and they come to these words, they are called to this submission as well, and why?

[23:19] Because even when the leaders are wicked, it is God's will, that's what it says in verse 15, this is God's will. Here's why we can and must submit ourselves to even wicked leaders, even wicked leaders are there because a sovereign God put them there.

[23:49] A sovereign God raises up wicked leaders for his own purposes, and he doesn't always tell us those purposes. What we know, we don't know the reasons that he raises them up, but what we do know is he tells us plainly in his word, you submit yourselves to the governing authorities.

[24:09] God's will is that, we see it in verse 15, that those who live in the society, as God's people, obey God's word, those people would have no reason to speak ill of them, and to speak ill God's name, because of our lack of submission to the governing authorities.

[24:45] And we can be settled in this this morning, brothers and sisters. God calls us to do nothing that he doesn't give us grace to do. He calls us to do it, there's grace to do it.

[24:58] And even though we may be thinking, removed from those situations, that boy, how could I do that? If we were there, God will give the grace, for us to be able to do that. When we consider that believers are commanded to live in this way, but unbelievers are not.

[25:16] What we're reading this morning is not written to unbelievers, this is written to believers. It's written to the saints who were scattered abroad in modern day Turkey and by extension written to all of God's people.

[25:30] And as you think about this, you could think, wait, believers really don't have any freedom. Freedom to do as they really want, to do as they really please.

[25:42] But in verse 16, Paul helps us to see what true freedom is. True freedom is not the ability to do as we please.

[25:55] True freedom is not to live our lives as we want. Instead, true freedom is the ability to live our lives as we are, as God would have us to live them, even when it's difficult to do so.

[26:09] Again, look at what he says in verse 16. Live as people who are free. Not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God.

[26:25] Brothers and sisters, true freedom is not doing what our flesh wants to do. To fulfill the sinful desires of the flesh or to refuse to submit to authority.

[26:38] No, true freedom is living as servants of Christ. True freedom is living a life that shows we've been set free from the bondage of sin.

[26:48] We are no longer slaves to sin, to do what our flesh desires to do. But God has set us free through Jesus Christ. And therefore we can live lives, freely as his servants before him.

[27:09] In verse 17, Peter gives what appears to be new commands. But he's still talking about submission because without a submissive heart, we cannot fulfill these commands.

[27:27] As God's people, we are called to honor everyone. That's what he says in verse 17. Honor everyone. Love our brothers and sisters. Love the brethren.

[27:39] Fear God and honor those who govern us. A submissive heart is required to do all of those things.

[27:53] If our hearts are not submissive and our hearts are proud and arrogant, we're not going to honor everyone. We honor who we want to honor. We honor who we think is worthy of honor. But no, the Bible calls us to honor everyone.

[28:10] To love our brothers and sisters. We fear God. We live in the fear of God. And then we honor those God.

[28:21] God will govern us. A submissive heart is required to do all of these things. Now, since submission is a matter of the heart, though, how can we tell if someone is living in submission to authority?

[28:44] The truth is we can't, not in any perfect way, because only one knows the heart, and that is God. God alone knows our hearts, and he knows alone whether we are truly submitted to authority in our hearts.

[29:02] But I think there are two external indicators that can help us to see whether we are truly submitted to authority in society in general, or whatever context it might be.

[29:16] And the first one is obedience. If we disobey laws and rules that have been laid down by the governing authorities, it's a clear evidence that we are not submitted to them.

[29:30] Because, again, the outcome of submission is obedience. We submit with obedience in view.

[29:41] Again, tentative obedience, because we're not sure whether we may be called to do something that's wrong, but the general position is we are submitted to obey.

[29:56] And so we obey the laws of land. We obey the traffic laws. We don't run through red lights when they're on. To do so is to not be submitted to authority.

[30:11] You see, authorities have given us those laws to order society so that we can live together harmoniously. When we come through customs and we submit dishonest declarations, we're not being submitted to the authorities.

[30:34] And no matter how much certain things may be favored past times, and we may call them cultural in our society, those of us who belong to Christ, we are called to obey the laws that govern us.

[30:52] Called to submit ourselves to the authorities. Law-abiding citizens are a great expression of submission to God.

[31:06] The second one is respect. God's you know, there's a common practice around the world that when the head of state or the head of government walks into a room, you're either told to stand and expected to stand, or you stand.

[31:30] That's a common practice in most parts of the world. God's You know, I've been in settings here in our country where the head of state or the head of government, the prime minister, walks into a room, and in our case, we're asked to stand, and some people refuse to stand.

[31:56] As Christians, we don't have that option. As Christians, we are called to submit ourselves to the governing authority, and an expression of that is to respect the governing authority.

[32:12] It matters not whether we agree with them politically. That is the respect that we are called to give to those who hold an office, because they hold it by the sovereign will of God.

[32:33] Doesn't mean we agree with them. God doesn't call us to agree with them, but he calls us to respect them. And you know what? It's good for us to do that.

[32:47] It humbles us to do that. When we are submitting to those we agree with, it's easy submission.

[33:01] The true test of our hearts in submitting is when we are doing that which we, in our flesh, ordinarily rather would not do. So I imagine elections just a few weeks behind us, you're in a setting, and the prime minister walks in, and you've supported him politically, you'd want to jump to your feet and honor him when he walks in.

[33:29] What about if you didn't support him? See, that's where the true expression of submission will come when we show the respect because we're submitted to the governing authorities.

[33:46] So brothers and sisters, we are called by God, in his word, to submit to the governing authorities generally. This is expected of every member of society.

[34:00] But in a broken and a fallen world, sometimes we find ourselves being required to submit in some abnormal situations as we live in a fallen world.

[34:20] Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we have to submit, and the way that we have to submit, the abnormal situation we face is not widespread in the society.

[34:35] In Peter's day, one such abnormal situation was slavery. Starting in verse 18, Peter addresses those who found themselves in the abnormal situation of slavery, and from his instructions will be able to conclude is that God's word to all of his people who find themselves in such abnormal situations is to submit to authority exceptionally.

[35:13] These are exceptional situations, but he calls us to submit to them nonetheless. This is my second point. Submit to authority exceptionally. look again at what he says in verse 18.

[35:27] He says, servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, and not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust.

[35:41] Now, the English Standard Version has sanitized the word slave by using servants, or slaves.

[35:53] The English Standard Version has done that. The New International Version doesn't do that. The New International Version says slaves, and that's what it was. Peter was not addressing servants, like we may consider, you know, people serve tables and so forth.

[36:10] No, he was addressing slaves. And he is simply saying to believing slaves, you are to submit to your slave masters.

[36:26] Now, though Peter is not addressing slavery in this passage, and I think this is one of the things we need to bear in mind for ourselves and for anybody else who comes to us with just strange and biblical arguments about what the Bible has to say about slavery.

[36:42] Peter is not speaking for slavery or against slavery. What he has in view is the issue of submission. And sometimes what we also do is when we come to passages like this and we see slaves mentioned or referenced, we think about the transatlantic slave trade and slavery.

[37:06] That's not what Peter had in view. The transatlantic slave trade and slavery that came from it came some 2,000 years after Peter would have written these words.

[37:21] So he's not referring to the modern slavery that we know and that many of our ancestors were subjected to. The slavery that Peter was writing about, that he was referencing, was slavery in the Roman Empire.

[37:38] That's very different from slavery that we know today. Reliable historians tell us that about 25% of the population in the Roman Empire was slaves.

[37:52] About one in four was a slave in the Roman Empire. And in those days people became slaves for all kinds of reasons.

[38:03] One reason that was forbidden, and forbidden in the Bible, is kidnapping. So they, largely in the Roman Empire, yes, you would have had the exception of some people who were forced into slavery through kidnapping, but that was not the norm.

[38:18] That was far from the norm. And the Bible expressly forbids kidnapping people. Expressly forbids it. But at that time, people entered into slavery for all kinds of different reasons.

[38:35] For example, one of the common ways that people entered into slavery was because of economic distress. They, some did it for survival.

[38:48] So essentially they would go to someone and say, hey, you know, I'm on hard times, can I just be your slave for X amount of years? Because slavery in the Roman Empire largely was not permanent slavery, wasn't forever slavery.

[39:03] slavery. They would enslave themselves to someone that they'd be taking care of, or if they owed the person a debt, you could go and work for them as a slave, and you pay the debt off.

[39:18] I've thought about this before. How many of you, you know, let's say you have a huge mortgage, and the law was that, you know what, rather than just paying cash, you could go and become a slave of the bank for a certain period of time and pay off your mortgage.

[39:43] I think there'll be people who take that. And many people in Peter's day, they did that. They made themselves slaves in order to pay off debt that they otherwise could not pay.

[40:00] And it makes sense because there were no bints in those days. You're just going to say, let me borrow some money, I'll pay you back. It just didn't work that way. So a lot of people were slaves in this way.

[40:11] But again, this is not permanent slavery. This slavery was not based on race. It was not based on social standing. As a matter of fact, some of the slaves were more educated than their masters.

[40:26] Some of them were hired to care for children and to teach children and to run households and to run businesses. And so this is a very different kind of arrangement than what was known in trans Atlantic slavery.

[40:44] We shouldn't confuse the two. They are very, very different. Another thing that must be very obvious about the kind of slavery that Peter was speaking into is that these slaves had freedom.

[41:02] They were slaves, but they lived ordinary lives. They were part of the church. They were members in the church. And that's the reason that Peter addresses them.

[41:12] Paul addresses them elsewhere as well. In the scriptures, because they were part of the church. In the church, the distinctions didn't exist. They existed in society.

[41:23] You could be a slave in the church, you could be a member in the church. As a matter of fact, there was nothing that stopped slaves in the church from being leaders in the church. Because in the church, there was no male or female.

[41:38] There was no slave or free. There was no Jew or Gentile. Those distinctions were left outside of the church. And so, in this church, among these people, Peter writes to them, and as a good pastor, he is aware they are slaves in the midst.

[42:00] And they are slaves who find themselves in a position of subordination to a slave master that's very different from this first command that you just admit to the governing authorities generally.

[42:16] And so, he specifically says to them, you be subject to your masters. He tells them, you be subject to your masters with all respect.

[42:37] Now, see, respect is really a part of true submission. But I think Peter raises it and puts it before them because of the circumstances they were in, that they were slaves, they were under these masters.

[42:54] And obviously they didn't have laws to protect them, as we do today. There would have been some basic laws, but there would not have been laws in any meaningful way. And so, he rightly says to them, and you are to do this not just to the ones who are good and gentle, but also to the ones who are unjust.

[43:17] You do it to the ones who are unjust as well. Two times in these two verses, verses 18, verses 19 and 20, Peter says, it is a gracious thing.

[43:33] He said, it is a gracious thing when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. And then in verse 20 he says, but if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

[44:00] Peter is aware that these slaves would have a hard time submitting to these slave masters, especially those who were unjust and those who would have treated them cruelly.

[44:19] Peter's command to them is the same. Whether the master is just or unjust, he commands them all, you are to submit to your master.

[44:36] He says, it is a gracious thing. And that should clue us into the fact that this could only be done through the grace of God. Through the grace of God.

[44:51] God's grace is always sufficient. Whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, however difficult it is, we must believe.

[45:03] Because it is true, God's grace is sufficient. God's grace was sufficient for those who found themselves in this circumstance of being subordinated to masters, unjust masters in some cases.

[45:21] And Peter writes to them, and he says to them, you are to do this with God and be mindful of God, mindful of the grace that he provides.

[45:35] Now, I know this morning that none of us is in an exact situation like this group of people to whom the apostle Peter wrote.

[45:51] They're not slaves, not subject to masters, but no doubt there may be some of us who find ourselves in exceptional circumstances.

[46:05] Maybe it's a very difficult work situation that you're in. Maybe you have a supervisor, maybe you have a boss who's a tyrant, who makes life difficult.

[46:22] And your circumstances may be such that it's like being a slave. You just don't have other options right now. Maybe you've sent out resumes, maybe you've looked around, but nothing is opening up, and so there you are, confined to that situation.

[46:38] God's word to you is the same. Submit to your boss.

[46:53] Submit to your supervisor. Mindful of God. Mindful of God who's not just calling you to do this and folding his arms, but mindful of God who's calling you to do this and then giving you grace to do this.

[47:15] Peter says, submit to them with all respect. Brothers and sisters, none of us can do this in our own strength. And the only way we can is if we seek to obey God's word, mindful of the Lord, and mindful of the grace that he provides.

[47:36] Peter concludes in verses 21 to 25, and he tells us how we can and should submit to those in authority over us, including those who are unjust.

[47:52] He tells us we can submit to them by submitting ourselves to God ultimately. And this is my third and final point.

[48:02] Submit to God, ultimately. These concluding verses, Peter tells us that Christ has done what we're being called to do.

[48:16] And he says that Christ has left us as an example. He's left an example for us to follow. And in truth, there is no true submission without following the example of Jesus.

[48:31] Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate expression of submission. Submitted himself to the Father's will and came to this earth. He didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped and held on to and to fight to hold.

[48:48] No, he submitted himself to the Father's will and he came to this earth. As a man, as a servant, indeed as a slave. Peter says, Christ left us an example of submission to follow.

[49:12] Notice in verse 21 that Peter says this. He says, To this you have been called. Now, the immediate context for Peter's words are the slaves that he was addressing.

[49:36] But those slaves were not called to the circumstance in which they were in and to the submission that they were called to give any more than God calls all of us who belong to him to submit ourselves to the governing authority and to whatever circumstance of authority that we find in our lives.

[50:04] Wherever we find ourselves, wherever we are called to submit, to whomever we are called to submit, the sovereign Lord has ordained it. He has called us to it.

[50:21] Peter reminds us in verse 22 of Christ's example. He says, He committed no sin, neither was the seed found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

[50:35] When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

[50:49] When he suffered, when he was threatened, he had all the power in the world to be able to respond to that.

[51:03] But he didn't do that. He submitted himself. He entrusted himself to him who judges justly. brothers and sisters, we must do the same.

[51:14] We must trust ourselves to the Lord. We must submit to the Lord's authority. Ultimately, our eyes need to be on the Lord. We need to see beyond the authorities in our lives who can be harsh and who can be cruel.

[51:35] We need to see the Lord. We need to fix our eyes on him and recognize that he is the one to whom we ultimately are entrusting ourselves.

[51:48] The Jews and the Romans conspired against Jesus. But in verse 24, we're told that Jesus ultimately was submitted to God.

[51:59] He entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. Verse 24, the Apostle Peter tells us, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds.

[52:19] You have been healed. This is an expression of Christ's ultimate submission to God. That he would die the death of a criminal.

[52:32] That he would hang on a cross, naked, and mocked and scorned. But he would submit to the Father crushing him.

[52:51] The Lord Jesus was more mindful on the cross of what the Father was doing than what the Romans were doing. So he cries out to the Father, why?

[53:03] Father, have you forsaken me? This is the ultimate expression of submission.

[53:17] Again, Christ could have resisted. He could have resisted the entire Roman army. But he submitted himself to God.

[53:28] He submitted himself to God's plan to crush him for the salvation of sinners like you and me. And why did Christ suffer this way?

[53:40] Peter tells us in verse 25. He says, you and I were straying like sheep. It points to our rebellion.

[53:53] Adam's fallen race. We all have sinned.

[54:03] We all have fallen short of God's glory. We all have rebelled and turned away from the great shepherd. Through Christ's submission to death on the cross, he has redeemed us and he has brought us back to God.

[54:19] Peter says in verse 25, we have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of our souls.

[54:36] Brothers and sisters, we, by nature, are rebels. Because Adam is our father.

[54:49] we rebel against goodness. We rebel against God. The Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam, has come.

[55:05] He obeyed God. He obeyed God that he might bring us home, that he might bring the straying sheep home. The one who the first Adam and his sin scattered.

[55:19] sent into disobedience and rebellion, straying away from God. The last Adam has come and he, in submission to God and offering his life as a sacrifice, he has brought us back to the shepherd and the overseer of our souls.

[55:37] That's the position of authority ultimately that we find ourselves in if we belong to the Lord. We are submitted to him. He is the shepherd and the overseer of our souls.

[55:50] And so whatever other human circumstance of submission we find ourselves in, it is under that. And brothers and sisters that we will live our lives in submission to God, the other human authorities, the other responsibilities that we have to submit, they're going to fall in place.

[56:06] we belong to God, and to be submitted to him.

[56:18] And a genuine expression of our submission to God is our submission to authority. May God help us to live this way.

[56:34] And may he remind us that we cannot do this in our own strength. We need the grace of God to do this. If you're an unbeliever this morning and you have not trusted in Jesus, you're among those that Peter describes as those who are straying.

[56:58] Those who are just doing your own thing. The Lord Jesus Christ has come submitted to the will of the Father and died in our place so that every single person who would believe and put their trust in him, they can be saved.

[57:22] They can be rescued. And they can submit to the shepherd and the overseer of their souls. Let's pray.

[57:39] Heavenly Father, would you draw that to us as we contemplate these truths that are hard to hear in many different ways on different levels.

[57:53] things. Would you help us, O Lord, to submit ourselves ultimately to you, and then as a result to every human institution, whether generally or exceptionally.

[58:17] that I especially pray for those who find themselves in those exceptional, difficult situations of submission.

[58:34] Would you give them grace, O Lord, to be mindful of you, and to submit to authority. Help us to do this with the glory of your great name.

[58:47] Amen.