Hi, Scott Wiley here. More than half of the world's languages now have some scripture, but reading the Bible isn't the same as understanding it. That's why Stephen teaches the Wisdom Journey. It's a series that explains the Bible book by book.
Next year, we hope to translate it into ten new languages. Please keep us in mind as you plan your year-end giving. There's information and a link in the show notes.
Now, here's Stephen. Peter writes in verse 17: Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God. You might write in your margin the word or the verb "revere." To fear God is to revere God. It is to prioritize God. If you're not sure when your feet hit the floor in the morning as you begin your day, who comes first—God or you?
You're going to be in trouble. It's going to be amazing how quickly the day gets muddled. This is actually the paradox of of all of life. When you think about it, everyone is under the mastery of something. Everyone is a slave to whatever it is that demands of them the highest allegiance and and loyalty.
The question isn't "Are you a slave?" The question is, "Whose slave are you?" That's the question. You are either a slave to your own will, your own life, your own career, your own plans, your own desires, your own body, your own intellect, or you have handed to Christ, as it were, your will.
So that he will have mastery over your life and your career and your plans and your desires and your body and your intellect.
So here is the question: Whose slave are you today? What masters you? And in this context, I think. Peter is implying that slaves of Christ make the best citizens of Earth. Servants of the Kingdom of God produce the greatest service to the kingdoms of Earth.
Listen, the best citizens who contribute the best of what can be contributed ought to be the Christians. It was that way in the first century as they began to change their world. It ought to be true today.
Now, with that, Peter really picks up speed and delivers four very short, quick commands that adds to his wise counsel for Christian citizens. And it's number four in our list for this study. Here is the paraphrase: No matter what, show respect for everyone. Notice what he writes in verse seventeen: honor all people. You can understand that honor every human being.
Now he isn't telling us to honor everything human beings do. He isn't telling us to respect everything. Human beings do okay. He's not saying that. He is saying to respect the very fact that they're a living human being.
Show deference and compassion, even though in conviction you may. Disagree to the nth degree. Why? Because we happen to believe that every human being is a creation of God with inherent value.
So they're not to be discarded. They're not to be abused. They're not to be mistreated. Why? They're created in His image.
James chapter three verse nine expands on that. In fact, the verb to honor, to honor, would be helpful to understand. You could render it to treat as valuable. That's what that means to treat as valuable, with a sense of respect, knowing that God has created them according to His purposes, and they have eternal value. By the way, this is the same verb Jesus used when He preached to the Jewish audience, and He said to them, "Honor your mother and your father." Same verb.
In other words, don't treat them selfishly. Don't treat them as objects. Don't discard them. Care for their needs. Don't use them for financial gain.
Treat them with respect. Do the simple fact they are your mother and your father, even though you may disagree with the way they live. Treat their position. With respect, now you need to understand that the idea of honoring every human being was a staggering concept to these original readers. Their world had an incredibly calloused view of human beings.
You think we've got stratas in our society? Move back to the first century and hold your breath. I'm telling you, life was cheap. If you didn't want your baby, leave him on the doorstep while dogs can cart him away. No legal repercussion from that.
There were sixty million slaves in the Roman Empire when Peter was writing this letter. I mean, life was cheap. Gospel comes along and it changes the price tag on everything, doesn't it? Women are no longer beasts of burden. Embedded in the gospel is truth that that dissolves slavery.
So you have Paul writing a slave owner saying, "By the way, your runaway slave, bring him back in as your brother." Staggering to our minds, no matter what someone's station was in life, their ethnicity, their color, honor every human being. The mockery, the the slander, the jibes, the off-color conversation—none of it is befitting a Christian. The world in Peter's day and in our day ought to know that when they meet a Christian, they ought to apologize for their French. You ever had that happen to you? They find that you're a Christian, and they say, "Oh, forgive my French." It wasn't French.
I've never had French, but I know that wasn't French.
Okay, but you know, immediately they they sort of, oh, they ought to do that. There ought to be that sense that things kind of clean up when a Christian comes around. That they can expect you to be respectful. Of every human being, let me give you an illustration I came across. There's a debate going on between an evangelical and an atheist, a scholar and professor from Oxford, by the name of Jonathan Glover, and and and the believer posed this question to him in the debate that I think is a wonderful testament to what Peter is saying here.
He said this. He posed this to Professor Glover. He said, "If you, Professor Glover," We're stranded at midnight in a desolate downtown street neighborhood, and if, as you stepped out of your broken-down car with fear and trembling, it's dark, it's midnight, you're in the inner city, and you were suddenly to hear the sounds of pounding footsteps. And conversation coming up behind you, and you turned, and you saw a dozen burly young men who just stepped out of a nearby apartment, and they were coming directly toward you. Would it, or would it not, make a difference to you to know they were just leaving a Bible study?
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Right. They're carrying Bibles. That argument wins the day. Shouldn't that make a difference, even to an atheist?
It ought to make a world of difference, and that's his point. The reputation of the Christian is that they are respectful of. Everyone, and we're going to deal with this a little later on. Let me go back to the idea of slavery. I appreciated D.
Edmund Hebert's wonderful commentary that I've been following, along with you know twenty-five others. But he made the comment at that particular command, "Honor every human being." He made the comment that if this were followed, this would deal a mortal blow to any kind of racial conflict. We would treat no one with scorn, no one in any kind of setting, any kind of strata, any kind of ethnicity. To me, one of the most wonderful declarations of the gospel. Is that we have in the assembly people from all walks of life.
In fact, to my left, sitting in the last rows, Dr. Israel, an Indian who is teaching a Telugu Bible study that meets on our campus with those that have matriculated into our congregation, and in the audience is a Filipino couple who've started a Bible study and are integrating into this church.
So they have their Bible study for Filipinos and Indian. Language and the food that goes along with it, enjoying that together. That's wonderful. We are having, frankly, the nations move to our community. You've noticed that, right?
I think it's a wonderful opportunity because you know I've traveled the world, and now I see you know the the world coming here. I can't tell you how many ethnicities, nations are playing sports. In our sports outreach and visiting, that's part of the reason why we're doing it. It's interesting to me that that Wake County happens to be the fastest growing Hispanic community population in America, not Texas or California, North Carolina, Wake County, the fastest growing. Hispanic community in America.
In fact, I read only recently another magazine survey declared that Raleigh is the number one place to live in America. We know that's not true. It's Cary. I think I did it wrong, but you get the point. I'm living in my neighborhood.
A family, you know, from India. I turned into the neighborhood. I was a block away, and I could smell the curry. It cleared my sinuses right up as I drove past. Exactly, I'd been there.
I'd been to that world. I was talking to a friend of mine in our congregation not too long ago from Taiwan, and I was kind of kidding with him. And I said, "You know, the problem with you guys is you all look alike. I can't tell you apart." And he said, "Stephen, we say the same thing about you guys. You all look alike." Well, I do look like Brad Pitt.
Robert Redford. That explains it. Come back, come back. Use your imagination.
Okay, never mind. All right. The truth is, dislike for any other culture, for any other social economic standing, any other ethnic group is traceable, not. No matter what you hear, the governments of our world say it's not traced back to you know they didn't get a good education, or they lived in the wrong neighborhood, or they didn't have enough money growing up, or they you know lived in a demographic weighted culture, and that's the problem. No, it goes back to a sinful heart.
That's why the gospel is the solution. Let me give you another illustration. Just try to explain the hatred of Jewish people. Can you explain it? That hatred can only be explained by the human heart of disbelief, found by Satan to be pliable ground to attempt to wipe out that people group.
You know why?
So that God's promises to reconstitute them as a nation in the kingdom one day will be null and void. Thus, God doesn't keep His word. That's why one of the most powerful testimonies to the promises of God is that you know Jewish people; they still exist. None of you have ever met a Philistine. None of you have ever met an Amorite.
Or a Jebusite, or a Hittite, long gone. Not the Jew. At the end of World War II, after the atrocities of the Holocaust, just the most recent attempt to wipe this people group off the face of the earth.
Some of Hitler's lieutenants were found and brought to trial for their crimes, primarily their murder of millions of Jews. As you know, one of them by the name of Adolf Eichmann. Said this under oath, and I quote: "He said, 'I shall leap in my grave over the thought I have five million lives on my conscience. That is to me a source of inordinate satisfaction.' Where does that come from? The cure for that will never be.
He just didn't have a good job, or he needed more education. It's a matter of salvation." And a new heart, and what Peter is saying, it ought to be so much a part of the reputation of Christianity, that when you show up, no matter who people are, they know you're going to respect them. You're going to demonstrate this new heart by showing respect for every human being. Number five, don't forget to love your church deeply. You might have thought this command would be higher on the list.
Pastors would have put it higher. God didn't. Here it is, verse seventeen again. Honor all people. Love, agapao, the deepest love.
Love the brotherhood. I like that term. Peter's the only one that uses it. In fact, he never uses the word ecclesia or church. He uses the word brotherhood.
And he uses it twice in his letters. It's as if Peter kind of views all believers as a collective unity, and it's a very affectionate idea that you're part of a brotherhood. Here's what Peter's doing. He knows that we will naturally show respect to people in our community who show us respect. We're going to like the neighbors who like us.
So he broadens this idea that we should show respect and deference and kindness to every human being we encounter. Why? Simply for the fact that they are created by God. They have inherent value. And now with this command, he knows that we're naturally going to love people that love us.
We're going to pander to people in the body that pander to us. We're going to like those we find lovely.
So he broadens it. Simply because of the fact that they are part of your family, love everybody in the body, as Christ loved them and paid the ultimate sacrifice in purchasing them as His bride.
So we are commanded to love deeply the ones loved deeply by Christ. And if, by the way, as we get through this list, you're finding these more and more impossible. They are. It will require that we become mastered by God.
Well, how in the world can you ever love this way?
Well, it's going to require reverence, and that's why he moves quickly here to number six. In all you do, let me put it this way: in all you do, live in awe of God. Peter writes in verse seventeen: Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God. You might write in your margin the word or the verb "revere." To fear God is to revere God. It is to prioritize God.
If you're not sure when your feet hit the floor in the morning as you begin your day, who comes first, God or you? You're going to be in trouble. It's going to be amazing how quickly the day gets muddled. James writes, and I believe he's writing to believers in chapter one and verse seven. He says, "The double-minded man, the one who hasn't made up his mind that day, who's going to come first, is unstable in all his ways." Doesn't take long for the fog to come in.
Without reverential awe and a prioritization of God who comes first, none of these things will ever make sense. In fact, it'll just be one muddled mess. In fact, Peter uses the present tense. He's writing to believers. He's saying, "Don't stop revering God." With the implication that you could today, don't stop prioritizing God.
Don't slip back from placing Him first. Don't stop prioritizing Him. That that relationship then isn't first. That desire isn't first. That goal isn't first.
And if that relationship, or that desire, or that goal means that you sideline God, make Him number two, three, four, ten, twelve, whatever, that relationship needs to be ended. That desire needs to be put away. That goal not pursued. If He can't be first, as you attempt to live for Him. Let me let me review.
We've covered a lot. Number one, no matter how it feels, you're actually free. Number two, never use your freedom to run wild. Number three, you've been freed only to be mastered by Christ. Fourth, no matter what, show respect for everyone.
Fifth, don't forget to love the church deeply. Sixth, in all you do, live in awe. Of God. One more, number seven. No matter who it is, show respect for those in authority.
And with this, now he comes back full circle, doesn't he? Notice he writes there at the end, honor the king, the highest position of authority. There's a little irony here. In fact, I think there's a little humor in the mind of Peter. See, emperors, kings in his day thought that they were the offspring of deity.
And it's interesting that Peter uses the same verb for honoring the king as he did to honor every human being. It's as if as Peter writes, he smiles, saying, "You know what? Even though the emperor, you know, thinks he's divine, he's really just another human being like you and me. But don't leave him out because of his position of authority. Be careful.
Be respectful. He's not an object to satisfy you." He's not a thing to just give you what you want. He is God's appointed, commissioned, ordained ruler who, under the hand of God, accomplishes the purposes of God.
So, to them, he's saying Nero, and that's who they're hearing. But he's he's really saying, in this perspective, as he takes our. Elevates our perspective above politics. He's saying, "Yes, Nero might be ruling. Just don't forget, God is overruling Nero.
So, offer respect to his office. How are we doing? Let me give you an illustration. And with this, I'm almost going to close. Paul is standing before Ananias." The high priest and Ananias.
If you are old enough in the faith to have read, you know he's a scoundrel. He's wicked. He's a hypocrite. He's hiding behind, you know, like a whitewashed wall. It's painted and looks clean, but it's filled with dead men's bones.
The Lord has some things to say about them. He planned to kill Paul. He wants to get rid of Paul's testimony. And so he's he's arranged it, put a hit out on you know for his on on Paul's head, and and and Paul is almost assassinated. But at the last second, Roman authorities are informed and and and brought together, and they rescue him.
Because the Roman authorities know that this is a religious matter, they arrange a meeting between Paul and the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is the supreme court of Israel.
So Paul is now standing. He's going to provide his own defense because nobody's going to defend him.
So he's going to speak for himself. And here's what he says. Oh, by the way, before I do that, there are many that believe, and I would agree with them, that Paul's thorn in the flesh was a physical, a disability. It could be amaia. It's a disease that causes eyesight to be damaged in some way.
He he refers to writing with larger letters in one of his epistles. This event is where most believe yes, he had trouble seeing. And for what it's worth, that helps a little bit of an understanding as I read this. But here we go, brethren. Paul says, "I've lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day." In other words, what I've been doing, I've been doing with God's pleasure.
The high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside him to slap him on the mouth, strike him. Then Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall." And about now you're going, "Yeah, I like this. I like the way this text is going." Do you sit and try me according to the law, and in violation of the law, order me to be struck? In other words, how dare you violate the law in a courtroom of law? Supposed to be upholding the law, and and and you're ordering me to be slapped, which is a violation.
But the bystander said to Paul, "Do you revile God's high priest?" Evidently, Paul didn't recognize the man that gave the order. I don't think he could see that well.
Now, what you might think, now knowing this, is that Paul will dig in his heels and let loose a barrage, a tirade that will become legend. Instead, he immediately apologizes and says, "This I was not aware, brethren, that he was the high priest. For you shall not speak evil of a ruler." How we doing? See, his response gives a volume of implications. He didn't yell louder.
He didn't threaten. He didn't say, "Well, now I am going to really unseat you." Instead, he apologizes and offers respect and deference for the simple fact of the position of authority this man held.
So consider that. As you think of how to respond, there is one other illustration, and then I will get to the end here. That's Daniel. Daniel will serve, having been abducted by a foreign power. He'll serve for eighty years.
Faithfully in that political environment as a political leader, and at the end of eighty years, what happens? He gets thrown to the lions. Then, how's that for a gold watch and a farewell party? Yet he always addressed the three kings he served with respect. He he addressed Nebuchadnezzar, always giving him the title that his rank afforded as king.
Later on, Daniel even referred to the wicked King Belshazzar with the same respect given for his office, and then finally, Daniel treated with respect Darius. Even though, don't overlook the fact that Darius capitulated to political pressure in throwing Daniel to the lions' den. The next day, I would have had words for Darius. Daniel treated him. With respect, because of his office, isn't it telling that Nebuchadnezzar and Darius both came to acknowledge the glory and majesty of Yahweh as the true and living God?
So, what do we do as citizens of the country? How do we act toward those in our culture and our church in positions of authority?
Well, once more. Hear the word of the Lord. Act as free men. You're really free, no matter how you feel. But don't use your freedom as a covering for evil.
Use it as slaves of God, mastered by Christ. Honor every human being. Love deeply the brotherhood. Be in awe of God. And honor the king.
And who knows? Perhaps some in your world will so will be so marked by your different spirit and your different attitude. They'll watch your reactions and your spirit, and they they may join you. They just might join you in worshiping and revering your. True and living.
