The First Letter of Peter-10

Subtitle: Our Witness before the World- Part 2

1 Peter 2:16-20.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, January 25, 2026.

We continue in this first letter of Peter.  He is focused on how we follow Jesus, and how that affects the world around us.  God wants those who are following Christ to be a witness and a testimony to the world.

This witness will save some.  We will be a witness that they receive.  However, others will not receive our witness.  The things we share and do are then evidence against them.  Of course, this is not our goal.  Our goal is to help them see Jesus.

In many cases, it may seem unfair that God expects us to be a witness for Him to people who do not deserve it.  The rub here is that we are the ones determining who doesn’t deserve it.  No one “deserves” the Gospel, but the grace of God has chosen to make it available to all.  We either agree with that and help, or we disagree and ignore the commands of Christ.

It is common that Christians end up suffering for their active witnessing to the world.  This too may seem unfair.  Why should we suffer so that they can be forgiven?  The answer is Jesus.  He suffered death for you and them so that forgiveness could be possible.  If we believe in him, then we can agree that his purposes are worthy of the greatest of sacrifices.

Let’s look at our passage.

Submit to every human institution of authority (v. 16-17)

We had to stop in the middle of this section last week.  The main point comes from verse 13. We are to do this for the Lord’s sake (not ours), without respect to the level of authority, and in order to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

There are going to be people who reject God no matter what His decision is.  It is God’s will that we submit ourselves to the governing authorities in order to shut the mouths of those who would ignorantly accuse Christians of rebellion.

Of course, it is a spiritual rebellion.  We will not serve the devil and his angels.  However, our goal is not to fight the governments of this world.  It is to silence their mouths through righteousness.

Verse 16 then adds the instruction that we should use our freedom to be slaves of God.  Now, some of them are free people and others are slaves.  There is even a spectrum of from the least freedom to the most freedom.  It would start with those who were slaves and move up to those who are simply servants.  We then would come to those who are free but have no Roman Citizenship (the Apostle Peter) and move to someone like the Apostle Paul who had both freedom and Roman Citizenship. 

However, Peter is not talking about our natural freedom.  He is talking about the spiritual freedom that we have in Christ.  All Christians have been spiritually set free from the guilt of their sins and the rebellion of humanity.  We have been also set free from any claim that the devil may have on us.  Those who were Jews were set free from the Law of Moses.  This doesn’t mean that Christians are lawless.  Instead, we are under the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2).

Many Christians make the mistake of using their situation as an indication of what they truly are in Christ.  If my circumstances are bad, then I am a loser in Christ, a failure.  If my circumstances are good, then God loves me, and I am a blessed winner.  Isn’t our Lord Jesus a rebuke to this kind of thinking?  Of course, he is!  There is no more victorious person who has ever lived than the Lord Jesus.  Yet his circumstances were so bad that “we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4 NIV). 

Peter warns against using our freedom as a “covering for evil.”  We can sweep a lot of things under the carpet of freedom that are not in character with the freedom that God has given us.  Another way to describe this is to use grace as a license for immorality.  Did Jesus free us so that we can continue to sin, or God forbid, do even more sinful things?  Of course, he didn’t.

Those who protest the loudest that they are free from being judged are in bondage to the vices and lusts of their heart.  In fact, all of us have recognized how particular sins can get a hold on us.  We want to be free from it, but it seems to have powerful control over us.

This brings up the issue of political freedom.  What good does political freedom do for those who are in bondage to sin?  Only people who are spiritually free can remain politically free.  Those who are not will find their political freedom disintegrating before their eyes.  How much political freedom are we going to lose before we repent?  I don’t know.  God will let us lose it all, if we don’t do so.  It is up to us how far we will fall.

God will goad us along the way, trying to get our attention.  He doesn’t want us to be destroyed, but He may let it happen. 

So, Peter started this passage calling believers to abstain from fleshly lusts (v. 11).  Now he has described that further as not using your freedom in Christ as a covering for evil.

Peter then gives a quick list of the kinds of things we can do as free people who are serving God in verse 17. 

The first is to honor all people.  Honor is something that is nobler than submission.  At its root is the idea of value.  It can be a person who has value, or it can be a person who is in a valuable position of authority.  Of course, a high position is not needed for a person to have great honor (value).

A person who has no honor is a person who has become worthless.  Many worthless people end up in positions of honor.  This can be a difficult and oppressive thing to endure.

To honor someone who has honor requires me to see beyond myself.  It really should be easy to do.  Yet a person of honor who is in a position of honor should see the value of the people for whom they are responsible.  Shouldn’t a king see the value of the people he serves, even the peasants?

Ultimately, value comes from God.  It is He who has made us and not we ourselves.  It is a common occurrence that we do not live up to the value that God has given us.  Peter challenges us to see the value in all people and give the honor that God wants you to do.  We must use our freedom to honor all people appropriately.

The second thing in verse 17 is to love the brotherhood.  Brotherhood here contemplates the family of God as a band of brothers, which includes both men and women.  The devil loves to tempt Christians into the path of hating one another, or at least not caring to love one another.

We are called to love one another as Christ has loved us.  This is not a fake honor and not a fake love.  We should not love sparingly or begrudgingly.  We are to use our freedom to love our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Love always begs the question, “What does it mean to love now?”  I know a man whose son ended up in prison for a period of time.  When the son was released, the dad tried to help the son get back on his feet by giving him a place to stay and a job in his shop.  It is clear that the dad loved his son when he could have written the son off.  I’m sure the dad wrestled with what the love of Jesus would have him do.  After some time of working in his dad’s shop, the son began to dip into the till.  At some point the dad suspected it and eventually caught his son’s sin.  What can the dad do now?  He is faced with the hard question.  What does love do now? Yes, you want to help your son, but his problem is clearly far deeper than just needing a helping hand.  What would you do in that situation?  Loving people is difficult, but it is what Jesus calls us to do.  Love doesn’t always do the same thing.  Sometimes love has to say no more.  Sometimes it has to tell someone to leave before they can be received back in repentance. 

Peter also tells us to use our freedom to fear God.  This may sound like a contradiction, but God has not set us free so that we can live a life of not having proper respect for who He is, and what He has done.  He is our Father, but He is also our Judge.  He will not pervert truth in order to make you feel good.  He loves you too much to do that.

We are told in the Bible that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Yes, you are free to be a moron, but that is not what God had in mind when He gave you freedom.  We will all give an accounting to God one day.  There will be consequences for the way we have lived our lives.  However, there is more to the Fear of the Lord than just being afraid of hell.
Moses, when confronted with the idea that God might not go with along the way to the Promised Land, feared not having relationship with God.  God, You must come with us.  Otherwise, people will not know that Your favor is upon us.  Can you imagine eternity without Him Who is the greatest good?  Lack of relationship with God should be a far more fearful thought than eternity in a Lake of Fire.

Peter also tells us to honor the king.  This is clearly added to deal with the obvious question that would follow the earlier command to honor all people.  Should we honor even a wicked man like Nero?  We are to treat the king with respect and the honor that is due to his position and authority.  Again, that is in order to shut the mouths of foolish and ignorant people.

Household servants are to submit to their masters (18-20)

This word for servants has the idea of a household servant of various types.  Some may have greater freedom, but some may be actual slaves.  This is similar to the previous category under the king, or civil authority.  Even free people are under some authority in life.  Yet slaves and servants would have an extra layer of authority over them.

Peter calls slaves to use their freedom to submit to their earthly masters.  They are to choose to take their proper place under the master’s authority.  It may not be proper in the sense that God made them to be that way.  However, under the laws of the society, they are under a master.

Now there were some Christians who had slaves.  The letter of Philemon is written to a master asking him to receive a run-away slave back and treat him as a brother.  However, most Christians were not masters.  In fact, quite a few were slaves themselves.  You could understand that a slave might hear the Gospel and rightly think to themselves, “Christ has set me free!  No man can own me.”  Of course, God did not make any person to be the chattel property of another.  Yet this is not a perfect world.  In this imperfect world, God does not ask us to kill the masters with a slave revolt.  Instead, He calls the slaves to show the masters Jesus by giving them respect.  In fact, Peter calls them to show “all respect” in the way they submit to their masters. 

This term can mean something like terror.  However, the emphasis is on being very careful in your submission.  What if the masters are not respectable?  We are to respect them for Christ’s sake.  It is the respect of Christ that overshadows the whole issue.  I do it because I respect Christ who asks me to do it.

Jesus will not force us to submit to our master with all respect.  But He will work on our hearts by His Spirit.  He will call you to this and challenge you in it. 

The average American is no longer dealing with actual slavery.  Yes, there is some underground illegal slavery happening, but this is not what is being talked about here.  This best maps over to our relationship with an employer in this life.  Do you have a “good and gentle” boss?  It does happen!  The same thing was true of slaves in the first century.  Some of them had good situations and were happy to work for their master.  Even if they were told they were free, they might choose to stay.  However, many slaves had bad situations, even oppressive situations under masters who were evil men.  These slaves didn’t have a choice about their master.  He was who he was.  Peter challenges them to submit especially to the unreasonable masters.

It would be easier to serve someone who is good and gentle.  Anyone in the position of a lord over another person should have the qualities of being good and gentle because these are the qualities of Christ.

However, when a master is unreasonable, it seems unreasonable to expect a slave to submit to them.  The word unreasonable has the sense of being crooked, perverse, or wicked.  How can God expect us to serve a wicked master?

Many people in our society rail against the Bible and the God of the Bible.  Yet they are often using their political freedom as a license of sin, and a cover for evil things.

Freedom is a puzzle that is much more complex than we would like to admit.  Being politically free is one thing, but being spiritually free is quite another.  God is concerned about bigger issues than rather we are politically free or not.  Yes, He did not make us to be under tyrants and dictators.  However, the only way to break through to hard hearts is to remove their freedom and put them under the heavy hand of another sinner.  God is speaking to our hearts in these times, calling us to turn back to Him.  This is why nations rise and nations fall.  It is something that this rising nation should take to heart.  We have only risen because God has allowed it.  Yet He may cause us to fall as well.

God can help us through oppressive things, like a master who is unreasonable, if we will ask Him.  Rather than complaining, we can choose to trust God and submit to trusting Him.

Peter explains that a slave who endures the unreasonable actions of an evil master will find the favor of God.  Just like Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord, we are called to be people who put their trust in God’s way and not our own.

To put a finer point on this, imagine a slave being able to choose between two doors.  Behind one is political and economic freedom and behind the other is favor with God.  Which would you choose?  In truth, it would be suicide to choose freedom over against the favor of God.  What good does freedom do for a person who has drawn the ire of God?  It does none whatsoever.

Verse 19 is somewhat choppy in English, but let’s work through it.  The point is not just suffering unjustly but also enduring under the suffering.  A person will only do so for one of two reasons.  They either have no hope and have been beaten into submission, or they have hope in God.  This latter reason is the testimony of slaves throughout history, even those in America.  They had faith in God and were able to endure great suffering.

African American slave culture had developed great faith in God.  It is the wellspring of the Negro Spirituals that surfaced in that era.  If you read the words to “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the “Black National Anthem,” you will be surprised at the level of faith and prophetic warning to America and black people themselves.

In the time of suffering, they learned something about God that was invaluable.  Yet they also knew that it could be lost.  This is a challenge for all people of all races.    God is found in times of suffering if we will put our trust in Him.  However, we can lose Him in the comfortable times that follow.

Peter tells us that there is no credit before God when we endure harsh treatment due to our own sin.  As free people, we may not have to suffer an evil master punishing us for our sins.  But we can suffer evil men due to our sins.  If I want God’s favor in such a situation, then I need to repent of my sin.

But, if we suffer for doing what is right and patiently endure it, there is favor with God.  Do you remember the Beatitudes of Matthew chapter five?  Jesus listed things that make us feel like we are not favored with God and told the people that they were blessed if they fit into those not so blessed categories.  Why are those who mourn blessed?  They are blessed because they have a Heavenly Father who has determined a time of comfort for them, at least if they will hang on in faith, continuing to draw His favor.

These unreasonable masters (and unreasonable, evil men) will stand before their Master one day.  They will be judged with a stricter judgment because they were in a position of power and authority.  They abused their power and will thus be treated with their own harsh treatment.

This is not an instruction that makes our flesh feel good.  It is an instruction that delivers our soul from our own sinful tendencies.  You can either be concerned with what you are getting out of life, or you can freely serve God and His purposes.  One thing is certain, you can’t do both!

Our Witness 2 audio

A Tribute to the God Who Set Us Free

Exodus 1-14.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, July 6, 2025.

The title that I have chosen is a bit vague. 

As Americans, this is the Fourth of July weekend in which we celebrate our freedom from Great Britain, which God gave to us.  At the foundation of this freedom, we must always recognize the grace and help of God in this.

As Christians, we rejoice that Jesus has set us free from sin.

It is easy to say that we “want to be free!”  However, freedom always brings with it responsibility and duty.  We see this in the story of the Exodus.  The people of Israel had been pressed into slavery in Egypt, and yet one day, God showed up and set them free, leading them out of Egypt.  He did this through great acts of power.

Though this is real history, it is recorded in the Bible for a greater reason.  This story is key to understanding God’s purpose for humanity, and the redemption that we have in Jesus.  So, if you are asking yourself what God is doing today, you only need to look to this story to see that He is setting us free.

Leading up to and during the time of the War of Independence, Exodus 1-14 was quoted and preached quite often.  It is ironic that a people could draw such hope from this passage and, yet, balk at giving that same hope to others.  I’m talking about the slavery issue.

The newly formed States were divided over this issue of slavery.  The northern States were strongly opposed to it while the southern States were strongly in favor of it.  Of course, the States that were in the middle had some that were for and some against. 

After, the war, they were in a pinch.  From a moral standpoint, those strongly opposed to slavery felt they should refuse to allow the slave States into the union they were forming.  George Mason of Virginia said at this time, “As much as I value a union of all the States, I would not admit the southern States into the union unless they agreed to discontinuance of this disgraceful trade [i.e., slavery].”

He was an important voice and was respected by many.  Yet, pragmatism won the day.  Others believed that the British would eventually return, and if the States were not strongly allied, they might not be so lucky.

Of course, luck had nothing to do with it.  No, it was God who gave them (gave us) independence, freedom.

Many do not realize that the Article 1 Section 9 Clause 1 was a compromise between both opinions.  It essentially said that Congress could not pass a law regarding the slavery issue (and immigration of any sort) until 1808.  This essentially set a clock of twenty years.  In 1807, Congress passed a law that made trafficking of slaves into the union illegal as of January 1, 1808.  This wouldn’t stop the slavery that was already here, but it would squelch further importation of slaves.

Black communities celebrated this date for years.  The first black Anglican pastor in America, named Absolom Jones, preached from Exodus chapter three, calling his people to recognize that day as a day of thanksgiving for God’s grace.   In fact, verse 8 details how God tells Moses that He has “come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.”  Pastor Jones then went on to declare that God had come down into Congress in their day in order to give them grace.

After the War between the States, the 13^th Amendment would make all slavery illegal in America.  At that point, the stopping of the importing of slaves into America became yesterday’s news.  Now, something even greater had been given to the people of America, both blacks and whites.

This idea of God coming down and setting people free is baked into us as a people; it is part of our cultural DNA.  Freedom is a big deal.  However, when you have never been physically in bondage, it is hard to understand the true benefits of your freedom.  You take much for granted and neglect to see the many ways you are bowing to slavery of different kinds.

The colonists testified that they had been reduced to bondage by their own people, King George and the British Parliament.  They had been enslaved under a system that was making money for the crown and the great trading companies of the day.  Yet, that is a lesser bondage than that of those who were actual slaves.

Even though troops and battles were involved, the victory was given by God for His purpose of teaching us the truth about freedom.  The challenge is this.  It is easy to be for “my freedom” in a particular way, but lose sight (be blind to) the need for freedom that others have.

Whether we are wanting free from a corrupt political system, literal slavery, or an oppressive economic system, we must understand that, though God is also concerned about these things, He is concerned about so much more than we tend to see.  The slavery of sin in all of our hearts is at the root of all the others kinds of slavery.

Today, we give this tribute to the God who sets us free!  He is the One who is fighting for complete freedom, not just the myopic freedom upon which we tend to fixate.

Humanity was made to glorify God through a fruitfulness that images Him (Exodus 1:7)

The people of Israel are described in this verse as being fruitful, increasing greatly, multiplying, becoming exceedingly mighty, and filling the land.  This terminology is descriptive of their experience.  However, it is using words that come directly from Genesis 1:28.  God tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.  This can be seen as a command or mandate. Yet, at a deeper level, it represents God’s desire and purpose for humanity.  We were created to express the glory of God by a life of fruitfulness on the earth.

We see this same desire and purpose reiterated to Noah following the flood in Genesis 9:1.  Though He had poured out great judgment upon humanity, His desire and purpose were not changed.  In fact, the judgment can be seen as a way of protecting that purpose from the great evil and corruption that had spread throughout all people.

This same theme is spoken to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  They are the chosen line through whom God’s promises to help humanity would be fulfilled.  Israel’s fruitfulness is a sign that God is faithfully keeping His promise to them, and to humanity.

This is a strong theme of Genesis and the Bible as a whole. Of course, this is not meant to be only a material and natural fruitfulness, i.e., population growth, crops, wealth, etc.  This is a fruitfulness that is a product of a spiritual relationship with God.  We are first spiritually fruitful in our hearts, families and communities, and this spreads out into these material and natural things.  We are intended to be a source of life in all of its connotations.

Here is a question we can ask ourselves.  Am I like a weed or thorn bush to others, or am I like a fruitful tree?  Am I imaging the destroying influence of the devil, or am I imaging the life-giving activity of God?

From the very beginning, the devil has attempted to stamp our this purpose within humanity.  However, God continues to help us against him.  The source of his despising of humanity is not completely explained, but it is real nonetheless.

This story of Israel’s fruitfulness is then connected to a Pharaoh who, much like the devil, despises and fears this.

This is a threat to tyrants (Exodus 1:8-14)

Israel had been only a blessing to Egypt.  Yet, the fruitfulness and freedom of those who are called by God is generally taken as a threat by the devil and those who are cooperating with or trapped within his systems.  Thus, powerful people who have sold out to immorality have actually given their services to the devil, whether they know it or not. 

We see Pharaoh in these passages pressing the free Israelites into slavery.  In that bondage, he uses them like cattle to labor for his great glory, and the glory of Egypt.  This is a signature of tyrants.  They harness the labor of the people for their own glory, whether that is Egypt, Babylon, Rome, London, or Washington D.C.  There is a long history and a well crafted art of subjugating a free people.   Some ways involve brute force.  However, there are far more insidious ways that essentially seduce a people into shackling themselves.  Once they realize that they are in slavery, it will be too late to back out of the trap.

This is what the colonists of the 18^th century came to understand.  George III and the British Parliament took advantage of their great distance from their brothers in Britain and supplanted their English freedoms.  All of this was done for plunder and great gain for the crown and elite of Britain.  The colonists were not pressed into abject, literal slavery.  However, they were in slavery to a system that was using them for its own gain at the expense of their freedoms.

The Great Awakening of the American Colonies was a time of spiritual renewal in the 1730s to the 1740s.  This movement stirred up a recognition of God’s purpose in governments and how this was being abused.  The preaching that began in this period and continued up to the War of Independence was not about rebellion and war.  It was about the purpose of God for His people and for human governments.  It was a recognition that even kings are accountable to God and the people they are supposed to serve.

Whenever a people are under bondage, it can feel hopeless and futile.  In fact, a subjugated people will often self-monitor themselves out of fear of being found out.  They can rat out their brother and collaborate with the tyranny in order to protect themselves.

Yet, there is one more aspect to this story that we need to remember.  Why was Israel in Egypt in the first place?  Why did they leave Canaan, the land promised to them?  We could say that it was all about a famine that required them to go to Egypt for food.  However, that famine was long gone.  If we go back further, we know that Egypt had food only because Joseph their brother was there and was used of God to save it.  Why was Joseph there?  At the root of this story, we find the sin of the patriarchs of Israel.

God is concerned about our slavery, but He is more concerned about our sins that keep pulling us into bondage.  God is in the business of helping us to face our sins, not because He delights in rubbing our noses into it, but because it is a place where our flesh is most able to hear His rebukes and turn to Him for help.

Let’s read further.

God hears the cry of those in bondage and responds (Exodus 2:23-25; 3:7-8; 3:19-20)

In chapter 2, we find that God is responding to the cries of Israel under their bondage.  We can feel forgotten during times of bondage.  However, God has not forgotten us.  Notice the verbs that God uses in that first passage: God heard, remembered, saw, took notice.  Throughout these passages, He also says, “I am aware…I have come down to deliver them…I will stretch out My Hand…with all my miracles.”  They may have felt forsaken, but God had not forsaken them.  He had a perfect time of deliverance planned all along.

We can say that God began to help them when Moses came out of the wilderness, but it is clear that God was already moving on Israel’s behalf at his birth.  We often think that God is not doing anything because we don’t see anything that looks like God in our life.  However, the things that God does are often unrecognized until after the fact, and that is if we trust Him enough to cooperate with His salvation.

What we have here is a template of God’s heart and plan for us, for humanity.  This world is full of slavery systems that have been harnessed by the devil to subjugate us.  However, in Christ, we have a calling that he cannot destroy, and we serve a God that he cannot resist.

God showed up and mightily saved Israel from Egypt, but the next forty years revealed that Egypt wasn’t their true problem.  They were having trouble trusting God, and it continued to lead them into discipline and even judgment.  Thus, the redemption from Egypt became a picture of what God would need to do for His people when Messiah came.  The prophetic books are full of allusions back to Exodus while pointing forward to the Messiah who was coming.  In the first century, Israel was not just in bondage to Rome.  They were also in bondage to their own religious leaders as a people and their own sins as individuals.  Jesus went to war against their greater enemy (sin within us) and called his followers to extend an offer of grace to the Romans, et. al.

The colonists of the 18^th century found themselves under a similar tyranny.  Yet, they weren’t as good at seeing the tyranny that they were doing.  Don’t get me wrong.  Many abolitionists spoke out against the evils of slavery during this period, but their voices were not the ones that won the day, expediency did.

I believe that the War between the States was God’s judgment against the North and the South for not giving to the African slaves what God desired for them.  God won’t force us to do His will, but He will hold us accountable to ignoring it and pushing it off to a later date.  Yet, He is also faithful to open up doors of repentance even in the midst of our bondage.  He may let us circle for forty years in the desert, but He will always bring us back around to the greatest act of faith, repenting of our willfulness and trusting Him.  It is these hard years of bondage that soften our hearts to hear the message of repentance.

I want to end by looking at two New Testament verses.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”  Galatians 5:1 (NASB).   This first verse is particularly talking about the freedom Christians have in regard to the symbolic aspects of the Law.  It can be called a religious freedom, but it is deeper than that.  It really is a spiritual freedom given to us by God through Jesus.

“[T]he creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”  Romans 8:21 (NASB).This verse is talking about a freedom that is cosmic, universal.  It is not just spiritual, but a freedom for all of the creation that has come under the effects of the curse of Genesis 3.  Though God placed the creation under a curse, it was always His purpose to bring it to a day of removing the Curse.  All of human history between Genesis 3 and Revelation 19 has been us circling in the wilderness.  Yet, God was being faithful to teach us all along so that we can be ready, like Joshua and Caleb, to enter into the Promise that He has secured for us through Jesus the Messiah.

We must unravel the layers of bondage and face our own sin

We can imagine a spectrum that goes from spiritual bondage on the left to physical bondage on the right.  Our tendency is to point to the things on the right and complain that God is not doing anything about them.  However, it is the bondage on the left of this spectrum that God is most concerned about because it is at the heart of why we end up on the right side of the spectrum.  The moral, social, economic, political, and global problems of our world are not because of a particular system, nor is it because of a certain race of people.  It is always about the heart of people who are trapped by their sins and unwillingness to surrender to God.  Thus, we become tools of the true enemy (the devil and his cohorts) instead of becoming fruitful imagers of God.

God could destroy the Romans, (insert most feared nation here), but would it “fix” everything for Israel or for us?  Israel had the same problems as the Romans who had the same problems as the Americans and any other nation.  We need God’s help, and He has given it in Jesus.

Christians cannot be satisfied just to work for spiritual freedom in their life and the lives of others.  We must advocate against and proclaim the truth about the systems of bondage that we have created in our world.  However, we cannot fix systems while ignoring the greater problem beneath.  Thus, in the name of humanity, we will crush individuals.  Is this righteous?

This is a signature of those who hate freedom.  They use the guise of helping a particular group as a moral cloak while binding everyone (the group included) under a system that entraps them through their own sins.

Jesus has shown us the strategy.  First, become a person who is free from sin by dying to yourself and living for him.  Then, work to bring that freedom to others.  As we do that, God works and supplies help for us to demolish systems of bondage in our own heart, family, town, State, Republic, even world.  It is ours to trust Him and be faithful to the moments when He comes down to deliver.

Yes, in facing our own sin, we can feel discouraged because we will never be perfect enough.  However, God’s plan has taken this into account.  Through death and resurrection, God will perfect us into beings who are not sinful by nature.  Even now, we can live as spiritually fruitful trees in this world.  We can image the life-giving source of God Himself to our world.

So, what did fruitfulness and multiplying look like for Jesus?  “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain.”  John 12:24.  Dying to what I can do in the flesh will help me to come alive to what the Spirit of God wants to do through me.  We serve a God who sets people free!  When we whine to God about fixing the government or the world, He responds by saying, “Let’s talk about you first.”  Don’t be threatened by this.  God loves you and wants to use you to help the world around you!

Tribute to God audio

The Acts of the Apostles 20

Subtitle: Run-in with the Law #2

Acts 5:17-32.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 9, 2022.

In today’s passage, the leaders of Israel are going to haul the apostles in because they continue to preach salvation and forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus.

It is important to pay attention to the attitude of these men as they disobey earthly authorities in order to obey God.  Some people use the idea of obeying God rather than man as a moral cover for selfish reasons.  The fruit of their life bears out the message that they are simply using it as a license for immorality. 

May God help us to be led by the Holy Spirit, rather than man.  But, may we also understand that His plan is always to give a witness to all those who are watching, whether leaders or not.  This is a holy matter and we should be careful not to muddy the waters of what God wants to say to others.  If we attempt to use this as an excuse, we will one day stand before Him with no excuse.

Let’s get into the passage.

The apostles are imprisoned (vs. 17-21)

The first arrest of any of the apostles was at the beginning of chapter four.  Peter and John were arrested, questioned, threatened and then released.  Now we have a second arrest.

It is the high priest of Israel and his religious party, the Sadducees, are filled with indignation that these men continue to teach in the name of Jesus.  The word translated “indignation” is often translated as “zeal.”  It refers to the heat and passion to defend or pursue something.  In this case, they are going to defend their actions with Jesus, and pursue the goal of shutting up these disciples of Jesus.

We must always hold our passions in check before the Lord to determine whether they are motivated by righteousness and His Spirit, rather than by our own flesh and the world around us.

The phrase “they laid their hands on the apostles” simply means that they had them arrested, most likely by the temple guards.  It is most likely that all of the apostles are arrested this time since Luke made it clear in chapter four that it was only Peter and John.  He only says “apostles” in this chapter.

The apostles are held over night in the common prison.  However, God has different plans in mind.  He sends an angel to release them that night.  The angel simply “opens the doors,” with no mention of the guards in these verses.  In a bit, we will see in verse 23 that the guards are still outside the jailhouse and don’t know that anything has happened the next morning.  Most likely a spiritual sleepiness came over them because there is no mention of them being afraid and running away as in the case of the resurrection of Jesus.

Of course, angels don’t need keys.  In Acts 12, an angel will rescue Peter from prison and it basically says that the “chains fell off his hands,” and that a large iron gate opened “of its own accord.”  The word is the Greek term automate that has the idea that it opened by itself, without the intervention of something else.

Thus, the disciples found themselves freed late at night without the soldiers and the high priest knowing what had happened.

The angel then gives them a message from the Lord.  They are to go to the temple, and “speak to the people all the words of this life.”  It is most likely a reference to the eternal life that Jesus promised to his followers and those who believed upon him through their preaching.  However, we should not separate this eternal life from the here and now.  Christian believers already have the eternal life of Christ welling up in them like a spring.  The Christian life is itself an expression of God’s life flowing through us day by day, and will climax at the resurrection when this mortal flesh is overwhelmed by the power of God’s eternal life!

When it comes to angels, the bible is clear that angels are ministering spirits on behalf of those who are being saved (Hebrews 1:14).  Their work is generally unseen.  However, from time to time and as it suites God’s purposes, they operate in a way that enables people to see them, or recognize after the fact that they have been active.  We shouldn’t address them, pray to them, or try to direct them.  We pray to God and let Him decide how we should be helped!

The apostles then waited until the temple opened that morning.  They then boldly marched up onto the temple mount, no doubt setting up in Solomon’s Colonnade, and began to declare the words of life through faith in Jesus!  At this point their lives are totally surrendered to what Jesus has for them.  There is no discussion about what is wise and what is foolish.  If the Lord gives a command, then we need to obey.  May God help us to develop and walk in such courage.

There is a sense of humor that the apostles are preaching in the temple as the Sanhedrin is gathered in order to question them, and determine their fate.  God doesn’t always do things the same way.  These men are sprung from jail, whereas, Daniel was protected in it.  Others went on to be executed, and have their heads cut off.  We need to learn to trust Jesus, to exercise our faith in him no matter what may happen.

The apostles are on trial again (vs. 22-32)

As we see, they are going to be arrested again and brought before the council of Israel, but first, there is the question of where they are.  When the council sends for the apostles to be brought before them out of the prison, the officers cannot find them.  They go back to the council and report that everything looks like it should, officers are still guarding it, the doors are locked, and yet there are no apostles.  Wasn’t that nice of the angel to lock up after they left? 

This leaves the council wondering what was going on.

At this point, someone comes from the temple and reports that the apostles are preaching on the temple grounds!  Of course, this can’t be allowed to stand, so they are arrested again “without violence”, mainly because they were afraid that the people might stone them.

This is a common problem among those who stand in the place of the law.  The power to arrest is supposed to be done in service of righteousness, and doesn’t always require violence.  However, some men do require strong force to bring them into custody.  Yet, at the same time, power can go to people’s heads, even law enforcement officers.  Those giving arrest orders, and those carrying out the arrests, can completely overstep their proper authority when their ego gets over-involved.  Thus, you can lawlessly execute a lawful order, or even lawlessly execute a lawless order.

The apostles are set before the council and the high priest addresses them.  He reminds them that previously they had been commanded not to teach “in this name.”  Apparently, he doesn’t even want to say the name of Jesus.   Yet, they have gone out and filled Jerusalem with their teaching, and appear to be intent on making “us guilty of this man’s blood.”

Think about it this way.  A lawful execution of a wicked man is not murder.  This is what the leaders want to be the official narrative.  However, the apostles are saying that the execution was not valid and that God had overturned it through resurrection.  This means that the leaders are guilty of the blood of Jesus.  His blood is on their heads in the way of guilt.

Peter serves as the spokesman for the group and gives their answer.  You can compare this answer with the one that he gave last time in Acts 4:19-20.

In Acts 4, he used the verb “listen,” but here, it is “obey.”  Also, in chapter 4 it is put forward as a question for the council to decide upon, but now Peter makes a statement.  Here are both forms.  Chapter 4: “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges!”  Chapter 5: “We must obey God rather than human beings!”    The question should never be, “What do men want me to do?”  Rather, it should always be about what God wants!

Peter then details what God has done and what He is doing just as he did in chapter 4.  God raised up Jesus whom they murdered by hanging.  Of course, the Romans did the killing, but it would not have happened without the rulers pushing it.  To add insult to injury, they chose hanging to be the form of death knowing that the Law of Moses claims that a man who hangs on a tree is cursed of God.

God then exalted Jesus to His right hand in order to make him two things.  First, it is in order to make him to be Prince.  The word prince is used here in the sense of the principal leader of a something and is synonymous with king.  This is connected to Daniel 9:25 where Messiah the Prince is prophesied to be executed.

Second, Jesus is raised to the right hand of the Father in order to make him to be Savior.  Remember that this term involves more than just dealing with sins.  It may better be translated as Deliverer- like the Judges of old.  Just as Israel needed a savior all those years ago, we too need a Savior today.  Praise God that He has already given us Jesus!

Jesus was also giving to Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.  That is a powerful statement.  How long had they gone as a society without repenting for their past and present sins?  It had been a long time.  Through Jesus God was granting them repentance.  I would that God would grant to the United States of America repentance and forgiveness of sins for it seems that we are bent on doubling down on our sins.

Peter declares again that the apostles are witnesses of all of these things.  They don’t just have two or three witnesses, but twelve!  On top of that, there are two classes of witnesses.  The apostles are the human witnesses, but the Holy Spirit bears witness as well by healing powerfully through the disciples.

Peter ends with the statement that God is giving the Holy Spirit to those who obey.  In a sense, this is put before them laden with potential.  If they simply dropped the ego and admitted they were wrong, then they too could participate in the blessed promise of the Holy Spirit.  Alas, it was not to be so.

May God help us to make the choice today.  We will either be a part of the remnant that is receiving the Spirit of God and moving forward into blessing or we will be part of the larger group that is receiving the judgment of God and moving forward into His wrath.  Choose this day whom you will serve!

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A Bondage by Our Own Hands

Romans 1:21-28,32; 13:1-2,4.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 4, 2021, Independence Day.

The Declaration of Independence of the United States was adopted by the Second Continental Congress at a meeting in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.  It is 245 years old today.  Of course, the British couldn’t have cared less about our declarations, and sent a large force to crush the rebellion, as they would say.

When you read the Declaration and the Constitution, ratified in 1788, you realize that these were not rebels who wanted rid of government so they could embrace anarchy.  These were not brigands who resented the rule of law.  Instead, these were men who were watching their society be reduced to bondage under a tyrannical despot.

We will talk more about this in a bit, but first, we must recognize that there is a bondage that is worse than political bondage, and it often is the source of the political bondage.

We are in a bondage of our own making

We cannot blame God for the mess we find ourselves in as a Republic.  It is the result of our choices and actions, both spiritually and politically.  We have crafted this fine mess by our own hands.

In Romans 1, Paul explains the bondage that comes upon those who cast off belief in God, and a fear of the Lord.  This is just as true today as it was with the original Gentile nations that came into being after The Tower of Babel judgment.  They quickly turned away from the God of heaven and towards created things, both material and immaterial. 

Have we not done the same thing, but in a more sophisticated way?  We have continually cast off a fear of the Lord, and even the belief that He exists.  This is the same God who has proven Himself over the millennia.  Socially, we are busy chasing Him further and further away from public visibility, and the halls of power.  The average person gives no heed to God and lives for their own pleasure, even many so-called Christians.

Paul then points to the fact that they then began to serve and worship created things more than the Creator.  The ancients interacted with fallen spiritual beings, and began to worship them.  They fashioned idols and performed rituals to localize the “deity’s” power in them.  Their whole purpose focused on being fruitful in every way.  They wanted to be fruitful with offspring, crops, and in military power.  They would do anything these fallen “gods” asked in order to have the good life.  All along, they were ignoring the One True God.

Is this not what we are doing today?  We may not fashion idols, but we have all manner of little trinkets that we spend our money on, thinking they will give us the good life.  We ignore the One True God, and Jesus Christ, His Anointed King.  Instead, we give honor and worth (worship) to things that are not gods, and wonder why things get so bad.

When people ignore God and value the creation over the top of Him, He gives them over to those things they are embracing.  In trying to be free from God, they end up being in bondage to the things they think will bring freedom. 

The same is true for us today.  This bondage that God has given us over to has manifested itself in all manner of problems in our society and our politics.  Our people have cast off true religion.  We sacrifice our babies at the altar of Planned Parenthood so that we can have the good life.  We sacrifice one another at the altar of business so that we can have the good life.  We sacrifice our sexuality and gender, in order to gain an ever-elusive satisfaction without the One True God.

Three times in Romans chapter one, Paul uses the phrase, “God gave them up,” or “God gave them over to” the evil things that they sought over the top of Him.  We cannot cast off the fear of God, and worship the things of this creation, without the judgment of God giving us over to those things.  In fact, Paul specifically states that we are given over to impure or sinful desires, vile passions, and a debased mind.  A debased mind is a mind that is without any value, or worth; it doesn’t work like it is supposed to any more.

This is where many people find themselves as individuals, and where we all find ourselves as a people that are collectively the United States of America, or better yet, “We the People of the United States.”

This brings up the issue of Romans 13.  Our founding fathers knew Romans 13 well, and they even believed that they were operating in full obedience to it.  So, let’s look at some of it.

We were not made for bondage

Some loyalists tried to make the case that it was sinful to rebel against King George of Great Britain.  However, the majority of the colonists understood that there was more to the Bible’s teaching on governance than Romans 13:1, and that Romans 13 makes it clear why God has ordained that there be human government.  It is “for the good of the people (verse 4).”

True government is to be a bane to those who would operate in wickedness against their neighbors, and a boon to those who lived righteously.  They were supposed to protect the good of the people.  Yet, King George was not doing this.  He was doing something that was itself a wickedness.  He was placing the people in bondage for his own purposes, and we were not made for bondage.

Though the Declaration of Independence is not the Law of the Land, it shows us the mindset and thinking of the founders.  Theirs was not a rebellious, ungodly mindset, but one that made its case before God and man.  Let’s look at their case, which doesn’t ignore Romans 13, but in fact, is based squarely upon it.

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

They go on to list a rationale for their declaration.  First, they see that it is self-evident that God made all men equal.  They did not mean equal in the sense that they had the same gifts, abilities, and inheritance.  Rather, they were all equal in the essence of their being.  No human is more or less valuable than another.  We are all created by God to be His image bearers, whether a king or a peasant.

Next, they stated that the Creator has endowed all men with unalienable rights.  Unalienable means that they can’t be separated from us.  Sure, tyrants can use force to obstruct our rights, but they didn’t give us those rights, and they have no authority to take them away.  They still belong to us as long as God is God!

Then, they point out that governments are instituted among men to secure those unalienable rights, deriving their power from the consent of the governed.  Romans 13 focuses on God raising up governments, but the Bible in its totality, shows that the power of a government is based as much upon the consent of those governed, because the government is supposed to be for their good!

The next point is that, if any form of government becomes destructive of the good of its people, the people have the right to alter, or abolish it in order to form a new government that will work properly.  The government was made for the people, not the people for the government.  Notice that these men are not pushing anarchy and lawlessness.

They then point out that prudence dictates that a government long established should not be changed for light and transient causes.  This kind of action shouldn’t be happening very often.

However, experience shows that people are more disposed to suffer than to right themselves by abolishing the forms of government that they are used to.  Most people will blame God and rail at the government for generations before they ever get around to thinking about abolishing a government.

Lastly is the statement, “But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”

The “but” is critical here.  They had experienced a long suffering, and were prudently responding to a long train of abuses that had only one design, to reduce them to absolute despotism.  It is not just a right, but a duty to throw off such a government.  Rights are things that we can choose to exercise or not, but duty is something you should never shirk.  If you do, you do so at your own peril.  The new guards were not federal bureaucrats.  The new guards started with the Articles of Confederation, which were replaced later by the Constitution.

They end the declaration by appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of their intentions.  Jesus Christ is the Supreme Judge of the Heavens and the Earth.  In short, if Jesus thought their endeavor was just, they are asking for His help.  If He thinks that their endeavor is unjust then He would stand against them and help Britain to subdue them.  Of course, we know how it went.

We find ourselves at a time where many people are gathering in groups and complaining about bondage.  Some are advocating anarchy, which is unbiblical and folly.  Some are advocating socialism, and ultimately communism, which is a false promise and folly as well.  Some are advocating armed resistance, pointing to the founding fathers as an example.

The problem is that we have something today that they didn’t.  We have a constitution that limits the federal and State governments.  Each of the States also have a constitution that limits them and the municipalities within their borders.  Yes, we may be being pressed into absolute despotism by an elite oligarchy.  However, what they are doing is illegal and unconstitutional.  They are not our king, or emperor.  They are our servants created by our constitution, by us, in order to secure our rights, not to enrich themselves out of the people’s treasury, which is full of “YOY’s” (You Owe Yourself) from the thieves we’ve hired.  We do not need armed resistance against our government.  Instead, we need to hold them accountable to the Constitution, for once!

How have they been able to pass unconstitutional laws and operate on lawless laws?  We have been asleep at the watch for several centuries now.  We have been apathetic to the duties that we have as a free people.  Yes, Congress, the Presidency, and the supreme Court are supposed to act on our behalf, but in the end, it is our job to watch them and hold them accountable to the Law when they won’t.

Over time, the federal level, state level, county level, and even city level politicians have created structures and mechanisms that rob the people’s treasury for their own benefit, and the benefit of those who are greasing their gears.  Yes, the government is a mess, but it is that way because we have been lazy, and ignorant.  We ourselves are a mess and have crafted this bondage we see.

What do we do?  It starts with repentance in the heart of each citizen in these United States.  As Christians, we should be leading the way because we are called by Christ to be living a daily walk of repentance already.  Stop being apathetic and ignorant, and start asking God to help you to see the duties and actions that demonstrate true repentance, that go beyond just showing up to vote (sad to say, too many don’t even do this).

Just as our country needs to return to living according to the Constitution, so Christians need to return to our spiritual Constitution, the New Testament.  Forget about how the lost are living.  The average Christian barely gives lip service to the duties of being a child of God who is spiritually free.  It is not enough to claim that the death of Jesus takes away your sin and yet keep choosing the same sin every day.

The duties of a free child of God begin with daily repentance.  Repentance always has two sides to it.  I am turning from the bad thing, and turning to what I should have been doing in the first place.  We must then become daily worshippers of God, praising Him, and calling out upon Him in prayer, instead of worshipping the things of this world.  Your life declares what is valuable to you. Is it really Jesus?  We must also quit being ignorant of God’s Word.  If you don’t know God’s Word then how can you bring Him honor?  These are the words of Life!  We must take our discipleship seriously.  In college, you would be asked to leave if you were always partying and never did the work while failing the tests.  Yet, many Christians float along as if they don’t have to lift a finger to become like Jesus.  Lastly, we must take the destiny of the lost seriously, and share the good news of Jesus Christ with them.  The good news is not just that he can absolve them of any guilt, but that He can lead them in living a life of freedom.  To modify Rousseau, “Man was made to be free, but everywhere he is in chains.”  Let us return to the New Testament life of Christ, and to a constitutional form of government in these United States of America!

Bondage audio