An Appendix on Authority

Automated transcript of the sermon audio, generated with OpenAI Whisper (small.en). It has not been checked against the recording and may contain errors, especially in names and Scripture references.

The subject of submission to authority is so significant for all of us. And we’ve been reminded of our obligation to follow authority and our opportunities to influence authority the last couple weeks from Ecclesiastes chapter 8. And even though Solomon has some more insight to share with us about authority in the last half of Chapter 8 in Ecclesiastes, I am compelled to stop and park for at least one more week that is today on some of the same issues that he has been addressing. Ecclesiastes no doubt has given us some solid, and I think most of you are finding some challenging truth as it relates to authority. But authority is not just an Ecclesiastes issue.

Authority is a Bible issue. And there is all kind of talk from pretty much the beginning to the end of the Bible that is related to and gives us instruction about authority. And though Solomon’s readers probably did not have most of the Old Testament, they probably had some of the Old Testament at that point, they had access to that. There was still probably a lot of the Old Testament they didn’t have access to and obviously Solomon’s original readers would have had nothing from the New Testament. So they wouldn’t have known some of the things that we at least have the opportunity to know. And what I want to do is take a step back from the narrow context of Ecclesiastes and consider the issue of authority from the broader biblical context.

So far I have endeavored as much as possible and typically this is my goal. I’m not always doing it as much as maybe I’m hoping to do. But typically I try to let the guy who’s writing the thing we’re studying make his own case. That’s why I don’t necessarily take us to a lot of other passages, a lot of other cross references. I really try and have tried so far to let Solomon make his own point in Ecclesiastes without running to a bunch of other places. But we do, that is you and I, we do obviously have more of God’s revelation. And I wanna take us this morning and add some New Testament Christian understanding to our understanding of following and influencing the man.

This is bigger than just adding a footnote onto our study of Ecclesiastes chapter eight. You know, sometimes preachers talk about that. In fact, even pastors here this morning said, like let me just add a footnote. Footnote is small enough to go at the bottom of the page. This is bigger than a footnote. We’re given this, its own whole chapter at the end, but it’s not necessarily in the book of our Ecclesiastes study, but it’s an appendix that helps us that kind of adds on to our understanding of authority. So this is an appendix, not an appendix or whichever side it’s on. It’s an appendix like at the back of a book.

another resource on authority. Now there are, like I said, a lot of Old Testament and New Testament passages that deal with the subject of authority, but I know of no clearer or more comprehensive passage in all of the Bible that reveals for us the why to submit to authority and the how to submit to authority and the benefits of submitting to authority than what we’re gonna look at this morning in 1 Peter chapter two verse 13 through chapter three verse six. Obviously that’s a big section, we’re gonna have to look at it kind of from an overview perspective. But I was thinking about it this morning, if my heart were a cup of hot water and this passage were a tea bag, this passage has been steeping in my heart since the spring of 1995.

In other words, it has been in there for a long time. And typically what happens, you know, you stick that tea bag in the boiling cup of water, and then the water starts to cool down, even though the tea starts making its way through and impacting the rest of the cup of water. I tell you, I think that instead of the water cooling down in my heart, it has only heated up more. And what I mean to say by that is, so much of my own heart has been impacted by this passage, And I am, I’m compelled to share it with you as it relates to our discussion on authority. Because what Peter tells us here about submission and about where that’s to take place and about how that happens, this is a masterful case for humble submission.

And I want you to get this. It’s a masterful presentation of our need to submit even when the authority is wrong, even when the authority is wrong, we are called and commanded to submit and to honor and respect those who are in authority over us. Now, let me try to set the stage just quickly of Peter’s letter and show where this section on submission comes in. Pretty much after he greeted his readers in chapter one, verses one and two, Peter starts celebrating the salvation that God has given us, really from chapter 1 verse 3 all the way through chapter 2 verse 10. Almost all of chapter 1 and a good portion of chapter 2 is all about the great salvation.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has caused us to be born again. God has caused us to be born again. He has created an inheritance for us that He’s reserved for us in heaven and He’s preserving us to make sure we get to that inheritance so that we can enjoy that. What an amazing thing. He talks about how He sent His Son as a lamb, like a pure spotless lamb led to the slaughter on our behalf.

The Father not only caused us to be born again, what enabled that was Him sending His son to take our place, to pay our penalty on the cross. And then God went out of his way to communicate that to us, to send preachers with the gospel, with the word that is what God uses to give us that new birth. That’s the end of chapter one. And then as you move into the beginning of chapter two, that same word that gave us new life is now growing our spiritual life. That’s why we’re supposed to long for the pure milk of the word so that by we may grow in respect to salvation. And then we see in the next paragraph after After that, that God is building us, He is making us into His own precious possession, a special people.

And Peter celebrates this salvation that God has worked in us and steps directly from celebrating salvation to exhorting our submission. Let that soak in for just a second. He moves directly from this great, large-scale celebration and worship of what God has done in us in salvation and moves directly like two links in a chain side by side. He goes from salvation to our need to submit. And that means that submission is a Christian thing. It is not a super spiritual thing. It is not only for the mature. It is for any and everyone who is saved. That blows my mind. Being a Christian involves a certain kind of conduct.

And the first kind of conduct or behavior that Peter addresses and identifies and says needs to be part of the Christian life is humble, respectful, honorable submission to authority. Like I said, this is more than just submission to authority. This is submission to authority that makes it difficult, that makes it tough, that are hard to submit to. This is the kind of submission that Peter is exhorting us to. It’s reminiscent and it’s part of the reason why I’m adding this as an appendix onto our study in Ecclesiastes because it was in Ecclesiastes 8 verse 9 when Solomon says, all this I observed when man had power over man to his hurt.

Authorities sometimes hurt intentionally or unintentionally those who are submitting and following. And Peter tells us that we are responsible to submit in all of those kinds of situations. And specifically, as we get an overview of these three paragraphs this morning, I want you to see three hard places to submit. Three hard places to submit. First of all, look at chapter 2 verses 13 through 17. The first hard place to submit is number one, ungodly government. Not just government, ungodly government. Command is clear and comprehensive in these verses, specifically look at verses 13 and 14. Be subject. Submit. For the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as those sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

You’ve got the emperor, or the NASB translates the word king, and the governors. Those are the authorities in this paragraph. They are the government officials. These are the guys who make the laws and enforce the laws. For the most part, you’ve got the king or the emperor who is making, determining what’s supposed to happen. And you’ve got these government officials, these governors who are his representatives sent to enforce those laws that the King of the Emperor has determined. Governmental authority is the primary point, obviously since the Emperor and the governors are mentioned at the beginning of the paragraph and even down in the last verse of the paragraph, verse 17, you see Emperor is mentioned at the very end.

So you got Emperor at the beginning, Emperor at the end. This is all about, or primarily about at least, governmental authority. And the paragraph starts with this command, be subject, submit yourselves. Now that’s not hard to figure out. I’ve said this before. The whole modern day question of what does it mean to submit is not legitimate. People don’t really wonder what the definition of submission is. They ask the question, well, what does it really mean to submit? Because they know what it means and they don’t want to. To submit very simply means to do what they say. It’s to obey, it’s to follow. Those are all synonyms describing the same thing and that is the command, be subject or submit yourselves to every human institution.

And that’s a general thing that he moves more specifically into. But the word institution is what refers to all of those systems and structures of authority that we see around us pretty much everywhere we look. Now, okay, we’re smart enough, peoples. We figured that we had to obey our government. I mean, we can track with that. That kind of makes sense. We have leaders, they have authority, and they have people with guns beside them who enforce that authority. So, like, we get that. We have to submit to those people with guns, or swords, or bazookas, or whatever it is that they have. But the real rub in this paragraph comes when we consider the types of authority Peter is thinking about when he makes his command.

Who is the emperor that Peter is thinking about and what are the types of governors that are in his mind when he says submit? These are the Romans. These are the most ruthless, unsympathetic, heartless, immoral, ungodly government you can imagine. Bill Clinton had and has nothing on the immorality of most of the Roman government. And it is to those authorities that Peter says, submit yourselves. Be subject to. I mean, it’s hard to compare when Mr. Bowers gets his teaching degree. Maybe he can explain to us and he can compare and contrast all of the various pagan governments that have ever existed and which one was actually the most Christ-hating, church-hating group.

Lots of governments have been like that, but I certainly think that the Roman government of the first century probably is in the top five of the most ungodly governments that have ever existed.

With the most power and control and ability to hurt people and then to focus that power to hurt Christians, the Romans have to be near if not at the top of the list. And it is to that kind of ungodly government that Peter says, submit. We are to follow authority not only when the authority is good, but what’s the opposite of that? When the authority is bad. We are to follow our government authority not just when they’re sympathetic to the church, but when they use their power to persecute the church. Guys, we are to submit to our government, not just when they make laws to protect Christians, but when they make laws to kill Christians. That is when we’re supposed to submit, not just when it’s easy. That proves zip when you submit to the government that is protecting you and thinks like you do. We are to submit from top to bottom. Christians submit even when government authorities are ungodly.

That’s the point of this paragraph, verses 13 through 17. There’s a second hard place to submit found in the next paragraph, verses 18 through 25. Not only do we submit to ungodly government, we are to submit to unjust masters. The authority in this next paragraph, 18 through 25, is found in the workplace. That’s what connects most for us. Obviously, the specific context is between slaves and masters. For the most part, in our American culture at least, we don’t really have masters and slaves and servants, but we do have employers and employees, there are probably other parts of the world that do still have masters and servants like that.

But for the most part, I think we can apply this to the workplace. Look at verse 18, servants, subject to your masters with all respect not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. Now there is more than just a topical connection between this paragraph and the one preceding. There is a grammatical connection. And this is impossible to see in any English translation I’ve ever looked at including the message. The message doesn’t help us out here either. No English translation does this right. It drives me crazy. I understand why they translate it the way that they do, and I’m going to get to explaining why that is, but I think I understand why they do it because it would be hard to follow perhaps if they translated it the way that Peter, oh right, through the Holy Spirit originally wrote it.

So apparently God figured that we could follow it. I don’t know why our English translators assume that we can’t. Like I say, there is more than just a topical connection. There is a grammatical connection. A woodenly literal translation of verse 18 would be something like servants being submissive. Or perhaps we would say servants submitting. And if your ear is good and you’ve been paying attention to your grammar stuff in English, you know that the verb being submissive or servants submitting is not an imperative. It is not a command, it is a participle. It is a secondary verb that has to find a big brother to go with.

Secondary verbs are lonely, weak, they need help. So, they’ve got to look back to a primary verb to give them a purpose in life. You’ve always got to have a primary verb to go with a secondary verb. This is not a primary verb in verse 18. It is a participle and as such it grammatically looks back to the command in verse 18 to be subject to every human institution. And what that means is this whole paragraph, 18 through 25, is just one specific way that it’s one specific particular example that shows how we’re submissive to every human institution. Verses 13 and 17 kind of expanded on it and talks about government.

Here we talk about the workplace. Be subject to the Lord’s sake for every human institution, to every human institution, includes submitting to your boss. Again, notice what kind of boss or master Peter expects us to submit to. And this is the brutal part, I guess, because we’re to be being submissive. We’re to be submitting not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. That last phrase makes even the most capable lawyer blush at their inability to figure out the escape clause for why we can get out of submitting. Well, you don’t understand, they don’t treat me right. This phrase includes your little defense and the judge says, no, this is clear who you’re to submit to.

This is the small print, so to speak. The word unjust is the Greek word scholiois. And the word when referring to physical objects, like for example the road, meant that the road was bent, that it was crooked, that it was not straight. And when applied to persons, it always referred to some moral defect that they as well were crooked, that they were twisted, that they were dishonest. These are the kind of bosses and masters that Peter calls us to submit to. Just the ones who do what’s right and treat you like you want. The good and gentle who hold your hand when they ask you to do something tough. But even to those who are unjust, who treat you unkindly.

These masters were crooked, they were corrupt, they were dishonest, they were unfair, they didn’t do what was right or treat those who were under them properly. Whether that was an issue of pay, whether that was the working conditions, whether whether that was unreal expectations, whether that was false accusations, whatever, we are exhorted by Peter to be subject with all respect, with the right attitude, not only to those authorities that we like, but to those who treat us unfairly. Look at Peter’s explanation, verses 19 and 24. This is a gracious thing. That’s an okay translation, but in Greek it really just says, this is grace.

It doesn’t say this is a gracious thing. It says, this is grace. This is grace when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, This is grace in the sight of God. The issue at hand, obviously, is enduring sorrows while suffering unjustly under authority. Amazingly, Peter has the audacity to call that grace. Twice, he says, at the beginning of verse 19 and at the end of verse 20, this is grace. This is favor from God. Not just when you submit, not just when you suffer, but when you submit and suffer having done good and you don’t quote unquote deserve to suffer.

That is grace. That’s what he says. There is zero credit in taking punishment that you deserve well. You disobey, you get a spanking. Most of you aren’t getting spankings anymore. And you don’t complain about the fact that you got a spanking. Um, good, good job not complaining and being bitter that you got a spanking that you deserved. But there’s really very little credit in that. There’s also minimal credit in doing what is right when the authority treats you right. I mean, that’s good, but guys, anybody can do that. It does not take supernatural strength to do what is right when you’re treated like you want to be treated.

I think I might attach the interjection, big whoop. Ooh, superpower strength to do what is right when those who are over you treat you right. Way to go. Awesome. Peter says that is not what it’s about. I mean, that’s good. Sure. I mean, do what is right when they’re treating you right. And for that matter, do what is right when you deserve the punishment. But Peter’s point, his emphasis, is that if you are mindful of God and do good and still get beat, the NAS takes the chicken way out on this one. It says harshly treated. The verb has more the idea of being struck with the fist. And that’s why the translation of being beaten is better.

Look, the masters have their own thing to deal with. They’re going to give answer for that, and that’s part of the point. But even if you are beaten, when you have done good, you don’t need to call a lawyer. Talk to the union representative. What credit is there? There is none. But if you are mindful of God doing good and submit even while suffering unjustly, that is grace. Maybe you’re like, no one in their right mind would do that. I mean, I don’t know anybody who acts like that. There is no way that God could endorse that. I mean, that just seems to be letting the masters, the bosses, the people in authority, that just lets them get away with it.

That’s not just. I mean, nobody would do that. No way God could be pleased with that. Or, look at the example in the very next verse. 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. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return when he suffered. He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.” Nobody would do that. God could never be pleased with that. That’s wrong. Jesus did that. And God was pleased with what Jesus did. Jesus submitted while suffering unjustly without sin.

And that is an example. That is the path that he has made for us to follow without attitude, without threats. Instead, he trusted his father and knew that his father was paying attention and would make it right at the right time. We hate it when unreasonable and unjust people get their way. I mean, our blood boils when that happens to us or even when we see that happening to other people. And I tell you, most Christians justify their anger and bitterness and critical spirit and even slander by saying, well, you don’t understand how I was treated. Maybe I don’t. Jesus does. Jesus gets it. He not only just knows about it, he went through it.

You want to talk about a case where there was injustice. You want to talk about who was really the authority, and yet he submitted. And though he had done nothing wrong at any point in time ever, totally sinless, they crucified him. This was not just a beating. This was not just slander. This was putting him to death. I mean, you can’t get any more extreme than that. There is no greater injustice that has ever happened anywhere, any time in the universe than when the Son of God was crucified, and He is our example in that. Well, but you don’t understand how bad I’ve been treated, how much that authority let me down, how much they hurt me.

We’re the people who are saying, yes, I was unjustly treated, but I’m going to return blessing instead of cursing, because that’s what my Savior and my example did. Well, that’s the second hard place to submit. The third hard place to submit is the next paragraph, chapter three, verses one through six. We’ve seen ungodly government, unjust masters, third, unbelieving husbands. We’re taking a quick look at government authority and workplace authority. Now we come to the institution of marriage and the authority structure in the home. I would suppose that some of you can’t believe that there could possibly be a comparison between the emperor, the master, and the husband.

And to some extent, I agree, I am not looking to be called the emperor at my house by my wife. I’m not looking for her to, when I come in, bow down and call me master. That’s not what I’m looking for. And so there may be some differences, but there are a lot of similarities. And I’m promising you that there are similarities, not just because the issue of subjection and submission has talked about, but look at the very first word of chapter 3 verse 1. Likewise, in a similar manner, based on what we’ve just been talking about, this also is included in the discussion. And even more than that word likewise, you want to know what?

This command, translated as a command in chapter 3 verse 1, is another participle. It’s not the main verb. It requires us to look back to chapter 2 verse 13 and the imperative that command be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution. That includes the government, that includes masters and employers, that includes husbands.

Likewise wives, be subject or wives subjecting yourselves to your own husbands so that even if some do not obey the word they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Also similar between this and the first two cases is that this submission comes in a hard place. Like ungodly government and unjust masters, here are unbelieving husbands. You have to, if you trace the phrase, disobedient to the word through the Old and the New Testament, there is no way to describe that as being just a disobedient Christian. Those are always unbelievers. For the most part, Christians are known by their obedience to Christ. So when you characterize a person as being disobedient to the word, that is always in every place a description of an unbeliever. Not only that do I say that’s why that’s the unbelieving husband and not just a husband who’s messing up or disobedient for a certain period of time. Not only do I say it because of the phrase itself and how it’s

used in the Bible, but also because we don’t ever say that we have won someone to obedience. We don’t say that we win a Christian back to doing what they’re supposed to do, but we do talk about winning an unbeliever to Christ. And that’s the goal here for the wives submission is that she can win her husband. That is saying by your submission you have an evangelistic impact that could save your husband without you saying a word if you are submissive in the right way. Now that’s powerful. That is when we talk about maximizing your influence, submission is apparently persuasive without explaining it, being submissive makes your point. Certainly that’s the case for the wife. Now Peter goes even further and provides an example of this unbelievably difficult submission with Sarah and her submission to Abraham. I know Mrs. Bohm a few Wednesday nights ago talked about this whole passage. And even though I think Abraham was a believer in God, he certainly wasn’t acting like it when they entered Egypt and he told his

wife Sarah to represent herself as his sister and not his wife. Now you want to talk about a stupid decision that was wrong. Maybe Sarah herself didn’t have to lie outright about it. Maybe she just kept her mouth shut. But Abraham had to open his mouth and lie outright. He was wrong. He was foolish. He was not living by faith. And what did Sarah do? She She did what he said. Whoa. And Peter not only sees that, he goes on to say that all of the holy women since who submit to their husbands like that are called daughters of Sarah. I mean, they are in her line. What an amazing description. He was stupid, he was wrong, no faith, and yet she’s still submitted.

Now, I’m sure we could come up with some more difficult cases of submission, but I think these three are pretty hard. Ungodly government, unjust masters, unbelieving husbands, and I think that these three paragraphs together form an argument from the greater to the lesser, because if you can submit more than that, if you are commanded to submit in these hard places, Shouldn’t it be easier and quicker to submit in situations and places where the authority in your life is godly and treating you righteously and who’s a believer? I mean, for that matter, shouldn’t it be easier, even if they’re an unbeliever, to submit to somebody who’s at least honest and who’s at least, you know, somewhat moral and not crooked?

And none of you, none of you in here in this room right now have to put up with this kind of treatment from that kind of government or those kind of bosses, the ones I know about, none of you wives are putting up with that kind of husband. In this room, at least that’s the case. You remember when Jesus says we’re supposed to love our enemies? We’re not practicing that very well either. Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. Shouldn’t that mean it should be easier to honor our loved ones who are in authority and to submit to those who protect us? And the answer to that is yes. So I mean, how is it possible?

How in the world can we treat and follow our authority like this? How can we honor those who treat us dishonorably? How can we be respectful and not resentful when authorities treat us unfairly. How can we submit while suffering unjustly without sinning? I got five principles, but I gotta get this hot boiling tea out, spill it on you. Some of which to wake you up. Some of you are like, ooh, that burns. And I agree, this is tough. That’s why I said hard places. Well, some of you need to be woken up that this is the kind of life that Christ calls us to and set us an example to follow. We are playing for keeps in this one.

So five indispensable pursuits for submission, namely all of the five things I’m gonna mention finish this sentence. You will not submit in hard places without. You will not submit in hard places without these five things. Number one, looking to eternity. If you love the world, you will not follow Jesus. If you think that this life is what it’s all about, then you had better get busy fighting for your rights and arguing against your authorities when they’re telling you to do something that you don’t want to do. Because if this is all you got, you better start maximizing your time. So you had better fight, and you had better argue, and you had better rebel so that you can do what you want if you love you and if you love this life.

This is the best that it gets if you’re stuck with an earthbound perspective. But for Christians, this is not our home. We are just passing through. All the way back in chapter 2 verse 11, we are seen as sojourners and exiles. And that is why, like Jesus, we can entrust ourselves to Him who judges justly. Chapter 2 verse 23. We can look to the one who is beyond time and beyond the Son, and even though he might not right the wrongs against us today, he’s going to take care of it. You’ve got to look to eternity if you’re going to submit in hard places. Peter makes a similar point in chapter 4, verse 19 of 1 Peter.

He says, Therefore, let those who suffer according to God’s will, steep in that for a second, rotisserate that it’s the will of God for you to suffer sometimes, entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good. If your perspective is stuck on earth, your suffering is miserable. I agree, vanity vanities all is vanity, and then you die. That’s brutal. That’s tough if this is all you’ve got. I understand the desire for vindication. I mean, what is it when you want to be vindicated? You want to be proven right, and typically that means you want the other person to be proven wrong. I totally get that. I prefer on the sliding scale, being right.

And I like it when a lot of people know that I’m right. And all of the other idiots proven wrong. I like that. That’s good for me. You know what? So does the rest of the pagan world like that. I prove absolutely zero about my valuing of Jesus if I value me being right. If I’m more interested in showing myself right than Jesus, a worthy Savior and example, I demonstrate by my lack of submission, by my lack of perspective, that I am more valuable to me than Jesus is valuable to me. That puts you in the same category as every other non-believer on the planet. If we’re going to submit in hard places, we’ve got to look past the immediate difficulty and look to eternity.

Secondly, you will not submit in hard places without being mindful of God. It comes right from verse 19. It is not a value to endure suffering for your own sake. We’re not talking about some stoic, just grin and bear it kind of submission that shows off how strong you are. God is not valued or praised by you submitting to show off how great you are. Ooh, I’m the martyr. They’re treating me so awful and look how I’m not complaining except for right now. We are to be God-focused, God-centered. Verse 13, we submit for the Lord’s sake. Verse 16, living as servants of God. This is a gracious thing. When mindful of God, one endures suffering unjustly.

Verse 19, with the kind of character which is in God’s sight, very precious. Chapter 3, verse 4. I mean, Christ is the ultimate example of this. You know, the point is less what Christ did not do. He did not sin when suffering unjustly and submitting. That’s less the point as much, the point is what he did do, which is entrust himself to the one who judges justly. He was mindful of his father when it was difficult.

And there is no need to watch out for yourself when the just judge is watching out for you. When the guardian of your soul, The shepherd of your soul is like on the watch. Let him do it. If you wanna submit in hard places, you must be mindful of God. Number three, you will not submit in hard places without remembering your calling. You know, we were predestined to be like Christ, right? Romans 8, 28, 29. We’re predestined to be conformed to his image. And God says, the Father says that He perfected His Son in suffering. I don’t even know how that’s possible to perfect perfection in suffering. But Hebrews chapter 5 verse 8 says exactly that.

And do not expect that if the Son of God, if Christ was perfected and learned obedience by suffering, that God doesn’t have that in the plan for you. You’re going to be made perfect and be made like Christ without going through some similar things that Christ went to? That is why Peter says, to this, to this life of submission and suffering unjustly in that submission, to this you were called. And Christ has left you an example for you to follow in His steps. That means it is our calling, our purpose to be misunderstood like Christ, to be criticized and reviled like Christ, to be ignored like Christ and to be hurt for doing what is right like Jesus.

That is what God is doing in us. And you realize that when you remove yourself, when you resist unfair, unjust, unbelieving authority, you are also removing yourself from God’s sanctifying work to make you like his son. You are basically saying, I want to go to heaven another way. I want to be made like Christ my own way. Our calling is to follow Christ in his steps. We fight and argue against authority, unfair or fair for that matter. Most of us in this room are fighting against fair authorities because we have lost sight of the path that Jesus walked and we have traded His map for an easier, more popular route. The problem is both routes don’t lead to the same place. To submit in hard places you’ve got to remember your calling. Number four, you will not submit in hard places without wanting more of God’s grace. That comes back to the beginning of verse 19 and the last part of verse 20, This is grace. This is a gracious thing.

This finds favor with God. This is what pleases Him. This is the life the Father is pleased with in His children. If you don’t want more of His grace, more of His favor, more of His pleasure on your life, by all means, argue and make what you can of this life. But if you want more grace, follow His will. Submit in hard places by hungering for more of God’s grace. And then last, number five, not submit in hard places without, number five, desiring to win unbelievers. We are to live in such a way that unbelievers, that Gentiles, that non-Christians see our good works and glorify God in the day of visitation. That’s chapter 2, verse 12.

Even we saw unbelieving husbands can be won without a word, can be brought to Christ without a word by the submission of their wives. Submission is influence. Submission is persuasive. And when you act like everybody else who wants their rights and to be seen and known as right and to make sure that all of the injustices of the world are punished, especially those ones that impact you, If that is your priority, you will show no light to an unbelieving world. You’ll be just like them. You will have no influence. You will have lost your influence. You will have lost a platform for Jesus, for the gospel. If you say, my priorities are earthbound just like yours, I’m being treated right and fair.

I tell you what, your classmates see you submitting to a teacher who, again, in most of your cases, is not out to get you, but they see you submitting, or maybe you didn’t deserve it, you have the right attitude because you’re mindful of God. I mean, that can’t help but send out an aroma of your life that you value Jesus more than you. Couple things as we end. Who or what are you hoping to win by arguing yourself out of submission?

What is it that you are hoping, what point are you trying to make? Who are you trying to win or what are you trying to gain by arguing yourself, debating yourself, rationalizing yourself out of your need to submit at home, at work, to government, wherever it might be. Even more than that, Do you realize that not submitting, I’m about ready, I just can’t hold on to this hot cup of tea anymore. I’m about ready to hit a little bump. Do you realize that not submitting is a work of Satan?

You remember Jesus and Peter’s conversation when Jesus tells Peter that he’s about ready to go and die, and Peter says, no, not for you. Was that for the sake of justice that Peter said that? Yes! He knew who He was talking to. He knew He was talking to God. He had already confessed Him as the Christ. Peter knew who He was talking to. He knew that who He was talking to was without sin. And therefore, it was totally wrong for Jesus to be killed. And He says, no, you won’t. And what does Jesus say back? back. Get behind me, Satan. If Jesus does not submit while suffering unjustly, continuing on without sin, we have no salvation. You think that God doesn’t want to grow that kind of life in us as well to make us like Jesus? Not submitting is more like Satan than it has anything to do with our salvation.

In Ecclesiastes, we saw that we learned to follow and influence our authority by fearing God. And in 1 Peter, this section we learned to follow and influence our authority by following Jesus. And they’re really the same thing, fearing God and following Jesus. He is more than just our example of submitting while suffering unjustly without sinning. He is our enabler. He’s at work in us. His word, His spirit, and of course, His Father’s plan. is to do that. If you want to do the will of God, if you want to fulfill your calling, if you want to be Christ-like, if you want to experience more of God’s favor and grace, if you want to do what is considered noble in heaven, if you want to win unbelievers to Christ and cause God’s name to be glorified on the day of visitation, respect and submit to, follow and influence your authority just like Jesus did.

And Father, this is so beyond us naturally. It is not built into us except for the salvation that you have wrought in our hearts and the sanctification that you are working out in our lives. And so we need your help. But we trust that after we have suffered a little while, that you, the God of all grace, who has called us to your eternal glory in Christ, will yourself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us, and so to you be the Dominion forever and ever. Amen.