Tyler Lynde: I am so privileged to be able to bring the Word of God to you from 1 Peter.
Tyler Lynde: We're in the middle of a sermon series called Grace Under Fire, and Neil did a great job last week of sharing about the importance of our lives being built on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Isn't that the truth?
Tyler Lynde: That's the most primary thing.
Tyler Lynde: And then he also talked about because the passage of scripture mentioned it that we are living stones that are being built together into the body of Christ, and so God places us in walls within communities so that we can make a difference, and so we are so grateful for the body of Christ and, in particular, this church, trinity Community Church, because that's where he's placed us, in a wall here, as a part of the building of what God's doing.
Tyler Lynde: So this week we're going to look at 1 Peter, chapter 2, and I'm going to be talking about a proper view of authority.
Tyler Lynde: And I just would ask, because a lot of times when we look at these kinds of passages, we immediately want to jump to contextualization, which means making it make sense in our culture, in our day.
Tyler Lynde: We are going to get there, but I ask that you would always let the principles of the Word of God instruct us first, if that makes sense.
Tyler Lynde: So, as we go through this, I know that our Western mindsets are going to be thinking about America and how things are done in America, but let's not forget that there are really important principles that are found in these scriptures that need to be applied regardless.
Tyler Lynde: If they fit perfectly within our system of governance and things like that.
Tyler Lynde: Does that make sense?
Tyler Lynde: All right?
Tyler Lynde: So let's look at 1 Peter 2, verses 13 through 25, and this is the word of God through 25, and this is the word of God.
Tyler Lynde: Be subject, for the Lord's sake, to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors, as sent by him, to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
Tyler Lynde: For this is the will of God that by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
Tyler Lynde: Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
Tyler Lynde: Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God and honor the emperor Servants, be subject to your masters, with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust, for this is a gracious thing when, mindful of God.
Tyler Lynde: One endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
Tyler Lynde: For what credit is it If, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?
Tyler Lynde: But if, when you do good and suffer for it, you endure?
Tyler Lynde: This is a gracious thing in the sight of God, 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.
Tyler Lynde: He committed no sin.
Tyler Lynde: Neither was deceit found in his mouth.
Tyler Lynde: When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.
Tyler Lynde: When he suffered, he did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to him.
Tyler Lynde: Who judges justly?
Tyler Lynde: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
Tyler Lynde: By his wounds you have been healed, for you were straying like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.
Tyler Lynde: Let's pray together this morning.
Tyler Lynde: Father, I thank you for your precious word and, lord, I thank you that your word is life and light, and I ask that you would give me the ability to communicate the things that you want me to share from your precious, timeless word with the people that are listening.
Tyler Lynde: I pray that each of us, lord, would have open hearts and open minds to see and to understand areas in our lives where we need to be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Give us grace that we need the working of the Holy Spirit to change us and especially to change our desires.
Tyler Lynde: Father, we cannot do that without you, and so we just ask that you would bless this and cause it to be used for the building of your kingdom and for your glory and honor.
Tyler Lynde: In Jesus' name, I pray Amen.
Tyler Lynde: So for any of us who have had any dealings with small children, if you've raised children of your own or if you've been involved in activities where children were growing, one of the things that's interesting is when they just start to begin to learn some words, right?
Tyler Lynde: And so what do you, what do we as parents do when our kids are starting to learn a few little words?
Tyler Lynde: Well, all the moms are saying what Mama say, mama, and all the dads are saying dada or whatever the words are.
Tyler Lynde: They're trying to get them to mimic, to say their name back to them, right?
Tyler Lynde: And why is that?
Tyler Lynde: Because they want a closer connection.
Tyler Lynde: They want a personal connection with their child, right?
Tyler Lynde: And they also want bragging rights, to be able to say they said my name first, or they said you know, whatever the case is, but how many of you know there's one word that none of us as parents or grandparents by the way, my wife and I now we teach our babies Pops and Mimi, because that's who we are.
Tyler Lynde: We're not mom and dad anymore, we're Pops and Mimi, so that's what we try to get them to say, but mom and dad anymore.
Tyler Lynde: We're pops and Mimi, so that's what we try to get them to say.
Tyler Lynde: But anyway, regardless of all of that, how many of you know there's one word that you do not have to teach your children how to say, or what to say, and what is that word?
Tyler Lynde: That word is no, and there are varying degrees of the word.
Tyler Lynde: No, right.
Tyler Lynde: So, for example, bedtime no, can be particularly exciting, right.
Tyler Lynde: All kinds of patience to be embraced during that.
Tyler Lynde: There's nap time no.
Tyler Lynde: There's diaper change no.
Tyler Lynde: There's sharing with friends no.
Tyler Lynde: You know, there's all of these things that we are teaching our children how to be obedient concerning, and yet they find this one word that seems to be just deposited within them and they use that word over and over and over again.
Tyler Lynde: Thank God, that's only children that deal with that, right?
Tyler Lynde: Somebody just said no, all right, thank you for my point.
Tyler Lynde: But you know this starts out.
Tyler Lynde: It can start out when your kids first say no, it's kind of cute.
Tyler Lynde: You know it's a cute thing.
Tyler Lynde: Look at them, we laugh at them.
Tyler Lynde: Oh, how cute they're being so silly.
Tyler Lynde: But if left untrained and untouched by the grace of God, how many of you know that mindset, the no mindset, can lead to a life full of resistance to authority, and the Bible calls it rebellion, rebellion, right.
Tyler Lynde: We don't have to look far to see the evidence of this and the way things are going in our culture.
Tyler Lynde: Consider the college students across this country who are becoming radicalized to the point of insanity.
Tyler Lynde: In the name of protest, many are spewing hate, rage and prejudice against people simply because they are Jewish.
Tyler Lynde: This is insanity and it starts as simple as no.
Tyler Lynde: These same individuals are not only shouting out and protesting against people based on their race, they are cursing those who are sworn to protect them and attacking the very institutions that have espoused the coddling mindset that has unleashed this kind of hellish behavior.
Tyler Lynde: It's going to be a great message, but we have to start with truth, don't we?
Tyler Lynde: But in the year 2024, none of us should be surprised by this.
Tyler Lynde: This shouldn't be something that we are amazed by, or that we are shocked by.
Tyler Lynde: Troubled, yes, discouraged, yes, encouraged to pray more than ever before, yes, all of those things.
Tyler Lynde: But we shouldn't be shocked or surprised.
Tyler Lynde: Before we lose all hope and think that this is just a 21st century problem, let's go back a little ways, like a long ways, back to the very beginning, when God created Adam and Eve and placed them in a garden.
Tyler Lynde: He gave them one rule you can eat from every tree in this garden that produces fruit, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Tyler Lynde: Don't eat from it.
Tyler Lynde: And so what, do we know, happened?
Tyler Lynde: Satan came and tempted them and they took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Tyler Lynde: They ate from it and they received a curse and they died physical deaths over time.
Tyler Lynde: Right, they died physical deaths, which was not the original intent.
Tyler Lynde: We were built and made and created to live forever, and so sin came upon this earth.
Tyler Lynde: And that would be one thing if it was just Adam and Eve, but how many of you know that every person born after them, except for Jesus Christ, has been born dead?
Tyler Lynde: In our trespasses and sins, all of us have found the word no easy to say, because we are born dead to God.
Tyler Lynde: We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Tyler Lynde: So against that backdrop, let's talk now about what Peter says in these verses.
Tyler Lynde: That is really impactful to not only the people he was speaking to but to us as well.
Tyler Lynde: He starts by kind of talking about the fact that God is our supreme authority.
Tyler Lynde: He says be subject, for the Lord's sake.
Tyler Lynde: So why are they supposed to be subject or be obedient to those who are in authority over them?
Tyler Lynde: Because of God, the supreme authority, the ultimate ruler of heaven and earth.
Tyler Lynde: You see, the supremacy of God is his state of being that is superior to all others in authority, power and status.
Tyler Lynde: There's no one and nothing that even comes close to God in his authority.
Tyler Lynde: Do you believe that what he says goes period?
Tyler Lynde: It does not matter what I think, what anybody else thinks.
Tyler Lynde: If God says it, that settles it.
Tyler Lynde: He has that kind of control and authority and rule and he has the ability to do that and he does do that based on what he feels is right.
Tyler Lynde: So, whether we agree with him or not, how many of you know he's in charge?
Tyler Lynde: He is in charge and father knows best, he does know best.
Tyler Lynde: So not only is he supreme in authority, but he also.
Tyler Lynde: Nothing comes close to his power.
Tyler Lynde: In all of creation, in all of time and history Anything that comes to your mind right now when you think of power none of it is anything in comparison to the power that our God has, is, is and manifests.
Tyler Lynde: His power is greater than anyone can dare to imagine, and when it comes to his status, there aren't even titles that are appropriate.
Tyler Lynde: Especially, it seems that we're lacking in the English language to find enough words to be able to declare, to say, to sing, to express the greatness of our God.
Tyler Lynde: We are so limited.
Tyler Lynde: Even just the word love is so seems so small when we talk about the love that God has toward us and the love that we have in return toward him.
Tyler Lynde: His status is greater than that Toward him.
Tyler Lynde: His status is greater than that.
Tyler Lynde: Peter has already expressed in earlier chapters in his book the fact that we are sojourners in this world, we are aliens, we are citizens of another kingdom, and so, before we even consider the fact that God has placed us under certain rule here in this life, in this earth, we must understand that, first of all, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are not of this world.
Tyler Lynde: We have a king that is above all kings and a Lord that is above all Lords, and he is supreme, and our allegiance must be always first and foremost and last to him.
Tyler Lynde: We are resident aliens in this earth as we await the kingdom of God to be fully recognized at the soon coming return of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know that there will be a day when Jesus will return to this planet and he's going to make everything right, the way that it's supposed to be, and everything that is crazy and out of whack and insane and stupid about the way that this life and this earth exists is going to be fixed.
Tyler Lynde: Peter goes on now to expound upon how God exercises his authority in the earth.
Tyler Lynde: He uses examples here of government and workplace.
Tyler Lynde: Next week we're going to talk about the family as well, but you could put anything that equates to authority that God has placed in our lives.
Tyler Lynde: You can use these verses kind of as a roadmap, as a means to an end as far as understanding the attitude that we should have towards those who are in authority and the way that we respond to authority in our lives, because, you see, god places rulers and authority.
Tyler Lynde: Peter goes on to say be subject, for the Lord's sake, to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors, as sent by him, to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
Tyler Lynde: Who is Peter writing to here?
Tyler Lynde: Who are the recipients of his words?
Tyler Lynde: Are they under what governance are they under?
Tyler Lynde: They're under Roman governance, aren't they?
Tyler Lynde: And Nero happened to be the emperor of the time.
Tyler Lynde: He was emperor from AD 54 to 68.
Tyler Lynde: He was not exactly the type of leader that you and I would choose if we had a choice to make.
Tyler Lynde: In fact, in his latter years, he became a cruel persecutor of Christians.
Tyler Lynde: And yet Peter is writing these words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to people who found themselves, at this current stage in their lives, underneath a government and a governance that was not conducive to them being Christians.
Tyler Lynde: It's a very difficult thing that he was asking from, even from an attitudinal standpoint of the Christians that he was writing to, but we must understand that human governments are instituted by God.
Tyler Lynde: Rulers are God's servants first, even if the rulers are not believers or they're worse than that, they are anti-believers.
Tyler Lynde: They are against everything that we believe in.
Tyler Lynde: They are still God's leaders, officially, officially, even if they are dictators and tyrants.
Tyler Lynde: Their rule is often better than no rule at all, and all of us right now are thinking of the exceptions, and please, let's not get lost in that mindset or mentality, because that will take us away from the basic principles that we're needing to talk about today.
Tyler Lynde: The complete absence of rule is anarchy.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you have ever experienced anarchy?
Tyler Lynde: If you don't believe me, take a trip to Haiti right now, and as you enter into Haiti, you will understand.
Tyler Lynde: There is no governing authority that's in control here, and because of that, there's literally utter chaos.
Tyler Lynde: You do not know from day to day whether you're going to live or whether you're going to die, whether you're going to be able to work, whether you're going to be able to earn money, whether that money is going to be taken away from you, whether you're going to be able to work, whether you're going to be able to earn money, whether that money is going to be taken away from you, whether you're going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Tyler Lynde: It is a country that has been overtaken by mob mentality and mindset, and it's a cruel place to live today.
Tyler Lynde: So, even though government at times can seem very bad, any government is usually better than no government at all.
Tyler Lynde: Order is better than chaos.
Tyler Lynde: So let's look at the passage again.
Tyler Lynde: Peter goes on to say that governments have two roles.
Tyler Lynde: According to this passage, first of all, those in authority should punish those who do evil, and we all say amen to that right, unless we see some blue lights in our rearview mirror.
Tyler Lynde: And then what do we say?
Tyler Lynde: Those people who do evil over there?
Tyler Lynde: Not this one right.
Tyler Lynde: But it's true.
Tyler Lynde: Governments are placed in positions in order to create a means to punish those who break the law.
Tyler Lynde: Law and order are some of the seminal principles of any civilized culture.
Tyler Lynde: Even when men and women do not fear God, often the fear of repercussions that come from disobeying the law will keep them in check.
Tyler Lynde: Currently in America, we are seeing the lines get blurred, aren't we?
Tyler Lynde: Criminals are becoming emboldened because of the fact that, in many cases, they are not being held accountable for their crimes, and so this is creating the kind of mindset that says if nobody's going to punish me, if it doesn't matter what I do or don't do, then I might as well do whatever it is that I want to do and Jesus even said that in the last days that there would be many, that their heart of love would grow cold and that they would cast off all restraint and they would do whatever was pleasing to them.
Tyler Lynde: The second thing that those in authority should do, according to this scripture, is should praise those who do good, those who do well, those who are good citizens.
Tyler Lynde: Those who display citizenship and are subject to the laws of the land should be celebrated and looked upon as examples for others to follow.
Tyler Lynde: They should be considered for positions within the governments where needed.
Tyler Lynde: Locally, regionally and nationally.
Tyler Lynde: Those who do the right thing for the right reasons should be exalted, should be praised and should be encouraged, and those around them should see them as an example.
Tyler Lynde: The next step in Peter's discourse is he says believers should obey authority whenever possible, and those last two words are important and we're going to get to the definition of that in just a minute.
Tyler Lynde: He says for this is the will of God that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
Tyler Lynde: Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a coverup for evil, but living as servants of God Powerful.
Tyler Lynde: Paul goes on in Romans, chapter 13, speaking to Roman citizens about their very government, and he says let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Tyler Lynde: There's a doubling down, and we see this carried out throughout a lot of scripture, especially in the New Testament, over and over and over again, this same sort of thought.
Tyler Lynde: We're supposed to pray for our leaders, we're supposed to be submitted to those that are in authority over us.
Tyler Lynde: We're supposed to maintain the proper attitude right.
Tyler Lynde: Believers should submit to every human institution whenever possible, for the Lord's sake.
Tyler Lynde: In doing so, what are they doing?
Tyler Lynde: What are we doing?
Tyler Lynde: We are fulfilling God's will and doing the thing that pleases him.
Tyler Lynde: It's interesting here, because you heard that word freedom, as Peter was describing who we are, that we are free people, and we know that in this country in particular, freedom is something that is seminal, that is of highest importance to us.
Tyler Lynde: But Peter gives some definition to that.
Tyler Lynde: We are free people in the sense that Christ has set us free.
Tyler Lynde: Let's not forget what true freedom is.
Tyler Lynde: True freedom is not legislation necessarily.
Tyler Lynde: True freedom is a gift from God, and I don't care if you're under the harshest government on the face of the earth.
Tyler Lynde: If you have been born again, you have received the greatest freedom that is possible to humanity.
Tyler Lynde: I care, I don't mean to say that I don't care that people are under that.
Tyler Lynde: I'm saying that it is the greatest freedom of all to be free from the bondage of sin, to be free from Satan's dominion, to be free from the wrath of God.
Tyler Lynde: That is the freedom that we should cherish, honor and celebrate all of our days.
Tyler Lynde: But we shouldn't use our freedom as an excuse to live rebellious lives.
Tyler Lynde: We shouldn't use our freedom to stick our thumb in our mouths and to join with the choir of babies as we sing no, no, no.
Tyler Lynde: Sorry, I just pictured myself doing that.
Tyler Lynde: It was really funny.
Tyler Lynde: After all, even our master, even if our master is not the government, christians do have a master, don't we?
Tyler Lynde: Even if our master is not the government, christians do have a master, don't we?
Tyler Lynde: Our master is God, our master is God, and he is the one who we serve and he is the one who we ultimately answer to.
Tyler Lynde: So freedom does not mean getting to do whatever you want to do.
Tyler Lynde: Freedom means getting to do what you ought to do.
Tyler Lynde: We have been made free so that we can say no to no and say yes to yes.
Tyler Lynde: We have been made free so that we can be obedient to the commandments of God and to his word and by his spirit.
Tyler Lynde: Obedience to authority is a good witness, and that's one of the reasons that we should obey.
Tyler Lynde: If you think that Judaism and its followers are the only group that is under attack, you are very wrong.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know that around this globe today, there are millions of people who are in dangerous situations simply because they named the name of Jesus Christ?
Tyler Lynde: How many of you recognize that for years and years, the universities of our nation have become a breeding ground for attacking Christianity in every aspect?
Tyler Lynde: They are attacked in the classroom, they are attacked in the science laboratory, we are attacked even from pulpits who are preaching false gospels in this nation and around the world.
Tyler Lynde: And if you think that the mob mindset that we are seeing across our nation today is the end of things and you think Christianity is going to remain away from that and out of it and out of the scope of it, you're I believe you're completely mistaken.
Tyler Lynde: My friends, persecution is coming to the church of America and our job as leaders within this church is to do the very best thing that we can, the very, very, very best things that we can to prepare all of us to face persecution when it comes and to stand, having done all to stand.
Tyler Lynde: Stand, therefore, in the evil day.
Tyler Lynde: Words of Peter should speak volumes to us, not because of the situation that the believers found themselves in in the early century, but because we're facing similar things even in our life and in our time.
Tyler Lynde: We need to be ready for it.
Tyler Lynde: Ancient Roman society condemned Christianity because of the fact that Christians wouldn't worship the gods of Rome.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know that the emperors even set themselves up and the people deified them?
Tyler Lynde: They considered them to be of the gods, or even God little g, god themselves, and because of that, christianity was under attack by the Romans and by those that were in authority.
Tyler Lynde: The general population viewed Christians as enemies of the state.
Tyler Lynde: Because of this, without giving into societal pressures to worship false gods, peter urges the believers to be model members of society as much as possible.
Tyler Lynde: So what is the antidote?
Tyler Lynde: Be the best citizen that you can possibly be.
Tyler Lynde: Such godly behavior will serve to shut down the ignorant criticisms leveled against Christianity.
Tyler Lynde: You know, what's disturbing to me is that you can take any kind of statistic that you find in the culture of this world and apply it to the church and almost all of the statistics find themselves pretty equal within the realms of the church world.
Tyler Lynde: Negative statistics I'm talking about marriage and divorce, sexual abuse you could name all of the different things that you can name and, unfortunately, because the body of Christ has not been filled with people who are truly converted, one thing and the other thing is because we have not experienced the fear of God in our lives, the way that we need to the church in America looks not very different from the world around us, and how many of you know?
Tyler Lynde: We have a chance, we have an opportunity to not be like that, to not live like that, by the grace of God.
Tyler Lynde: Titus 2, 7 and 8, this kind of fills this out.
Tyler Lynde: Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works and in your teaching, show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Tyler Lynde: The next thing is that we should respect the position that a person has.
Tyler Lynde: That's an authority, even if it's hard to respect the person in authority.
Tyler Lynde: I remember just a few years ago when people stopped calling the president by that title and started using last names in the place of that.
Tyler Lynde: And I'm here to tell you I found myself at times in that same place and it's not a healthy practice.
Tyler Lynde: In my opinion, we are supposed to honor and respect the position of authority, even if we are not able to completely respect the views of the person who finds himself in authority.
Tyler Lynde: Peter was careful to point out that Christians in society are representatives of Jesus Christ first and foremost.
Tyler Lynde: We should respect.
Tyler Lynde: Because of that.
Tyler Lynde: We should respect the office, even when we can't respect the person.
Tyler Lynde: For example, remember when Jesus was questioned about taxes.
Tyler Lynde: Remember they brought and they questioned him whether we should pay taxes or not.
Tyler Lynde: And what did Jesus say?
Tyler Lynde: It was brilliant.
Tyler Lynde: He said show me a coin.
Tyler Lynde: And what did he say about the coin?
Tyler Lynde: Whose picture is on it?
Tyler Lynde: Whose inscription is on it?
Tyler Lynde: And they said Caesar's.
Tyler Lynde: And what did he say about the coin?
Tyler Lynde: Whose picture is on it?
Tyler Lynde: Whose inscription is on it?
Tyler Lynde: And they said Caesar's.
Tyler Lynde: And what did he say?
Tyler Lynde: Those powerful words give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God.
Tyler Lynde: And not only that.
Tyler Lynde: You think, oh, that's just a great something that he said for the crowd to hear, because there were people that were listening trying to catch him with messing up.
Tyler Lynde: No, jesus then sends Peter fishing.
Tyler Lynde: And what does he send Peter fishing to do?
Tyler Lynde: To catch a fish with a coin in his mouth so that he could pay taxes as well.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus was not only preaching, and Peter and all of the rest were not only preaching these concepts, but they were also living them.
Tyler Lynde: If Jesus himself could say of Caesar what he said of Caesar, how much more should we be able to do the same?
Tyler Lynde: And then this one is one that we're all hoping that we could get to.
Tyler Lynde: So just breathe a little bit.
Tyler Lynde: When authority is in conflict with God's word, we should obey God.
Tyler Lynde: We should obey God.
Tyler Lynde: This one's a little bit easier to embrace because it's right up our alley right.
Tyler Lynde: As much as possible, we should seek to cooperate with the government and obey the law, but we must never allow the law to make us violate our conscience or disobey God's word.
Tyler Lynde: You can say amen to that.
Tyler Lynde: That's the truth.
Tyler Lynde: Peter was very familiar with this exception clause.
Tyler Lynde: Do you remember the story of Peter and John when they were going up to the temple to pray and they passed by a lame man who was a beggar?
Tyler Lynde: And I'm sure that they had passed by him many times before Jesus probably even passed by him.
Tyler Lynde: But on this day the man asked them for some alms.
Tyler Lynde: He asked them to give him some money.
Tyler Lynde: And what did Peter and John say Silver and gold we don't have, but such as we have we give to you in the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk.
Tyler Lynde: And what did the man do?
Tyler Lynde: Did he shake his can again and ask for some alms?
Tyler Lynde: Or what did he do?
Tyler Lynde: It says he went walking and leaping and praising God.
Tyler Lynde: And here's the problem.
Tyler Lynde: The Jewish rulers didn't like it.
Tyler Lynde: And so what did they do?
Tyler Lynde: They arrested Peter and John.
Tyler Lynde: And what did they say to Peter and John?
Tyler Lynde: What were the consequences of their actions?
Tyler Lynde: They said we're going to have to release you because this has become such a popular thing that this man that everybody had walked by all of these years knew that he was lame.
Tyler Lynde: And now that he's walking around, we can't dispute that.
Tyler Lynde: So we can't really keep you in prison, but we're going to release you and command you to never use the name of Jesus again.
Tyler Lynde: What did Peter say?
Tyler Lynde: Yes, master, no.
Tyler Lynde: Acts 4, 19 and 20.
Tyler Lynde: Peter and John answered them.
Tyler Lynde: It's kind of interesting that they even used some.
Tyler Lynde: They were careful in how they said this.
Tyler Lynde: Even Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.
Tyler Lynde: You know what they were actually saying.
Tyler Lynde: You'd have to kill us because we can't help it.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus has impacted our lives so much that, no matter where we are, no matter what we're doing, we can't help it.
Tyler Lynde: We're going to be using the name of Jesus, to be using the name of Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: Please remember this today.
Tyler Lynde: Christians are never required by God to compromise our loyalty or obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: We're never required by God to do that.
Tyler Lynde: So obviously, context matters, and we've been talking about the Roman emperor and the government that was in place during Peter's time.
Tyler Lynde: It's obviously much different than the American government.
Tyler Lynde: What the emperor said was what was law, so whatever he said was the way it went.
Tyler Lynde: Everybody did what the emperor said, or there were repercussions right.
Tyler Lynde: We, because of the foresight of our founding fathers, are part of a representative government that gives we, the people, the power to let our voices be heard about the things that we feel are good for the nation or bad for the nation.
Tyler Lynde: We have the ability to speak up for the things that are good and godly for the nation and for the things that are bad and not godly for the nation.
Tyler Lynde: That was the foresight of our forefathers.
Tyler Lynde: That gave us that right and ability, and I don't care what iteration we find ourselves in.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know that was the original intent.
Tyler Lynde: That's part of our constitution and our declaration of independence.
Tyler Lynde: And we should, because it's within the realm of the law of our land.
Tyler Lynde: We should take advantage of that.
Tyler Lynde: Christians at times should speak out against the decisions of the government in the United States of America.
Tyler Lynde: Does that make sense?
Tyler Lynde: Let me give you an example.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you have ever been involved don't raise your hands but how many of you have ever been involved in a peaceful protest about abortion?
Tyler Lynde: Many of us in this room have marched for life.
Tyler Lynde: We've done prayer walks.
Tyler Lynde: We have stood in front of abortion clinics and prayed and begged God to change the hearts of individuals.
Tyler Lynde: We have also heard stories of people who were getting ready to enter into the abortion clinics that have had a chance to talk to somebody who was there, that was praying for them and made a decision.
Tyler Lynde: Many, many, many people made decisions not to enter into the abortion clinic because there was light that was shining in the darkness of that scenario.
Tyler Lynde: Does that make sense?
Tyler Lynde: So peaceful protest in that way is something that our government allows for.
Tyler Lynde: It's a part of the very fabric of who we are as a nation, fabric of who we are as a nation.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know?
Tyler Lynde: If some justice freak enters into an abortion clinic, it begins to kill those who are performing abortions.
Tyler Lynde: That is not lawful and that is not something that should be applauded or should be.
Tyler Lynde: That we should say is a good thing.
Tyler Lynde: Does that make sense?
Tyler Lynde: Do you see the difference in the distinction there?
Tyler Lynde: Civil disobedience remains a right within the governmental policies of most Western democracies, which we are, and it is considered legitimate social behavior.
Tyler Lynde: Some acts of civil disobedience are even perceived by society as a good thing.
Tyler Lynde: It's a good thing.
Tyler Lynde: It enables us, as Christians, to be both non-compliant to those things that are against our conscience or that are also against the word of God primarily.
Tyler Lynde: Yet within the parameters of good behavior, we can still act as good citizens of this nation, even though we are protesting or standing up against something that we disagree with, that the government is either allowing for or that is attempting to bring about a change within our nation.
Tyler Lynde: We have the chance to talk to our representatives.
Tyler Lynde: We have the chance to write letters.
Tyler Lynde: I remember when our church recently, when we had the I wish that I could think of all the terms right now but basically they were trying to pass something within the city of Knoxville that was to basically say that the Jewish people in Israel were involved in genocide, and so they were wanting to pass a like a what's the right word?
Tyler Lynde: Resolution, yes, and so many people within our church stood up against that, and also our eldership wrote a letter that was sent to the commissioner's office that stated biblically why we were in disagreement with that, and that was something that we felt like that we were supposed to do as an elder team, as a part of this community, and I'm not saying that we do everything exactly right when it comes to that, but there are times when the church needs to be heard and not just be seen right and again, that letter was written very respectfully.
Tyler Lynde: It was written with not any malice or hatred or trying to blame anybody in the scenario.
Tyler Lynde: It was just saying we don't believe that this is the right approach to take and thankfully, that thing was snuffed out twice now, right, twice now.
Tyler Lynde: That thing was taken out of the.
Tyler Lynde: It was not allowed to move forward.
Tyler Lynde: Thank God for that.
Tyler Lynde: That's an example of what I'm talking about.
Tyler Lynde: So the key to all of this is, by the grace of God, to maintain the proper attitude.
Tyler Lynde: How easy is it for us to transition to having the wrong attitude?
Tyler Lynde: And here's a good way to define that when you hear the name President Biden, where does your mind go?
Tyler Lynde: Are you praying for him or are you just spouting out words of hate?
Tyler Lynde: I believe the Lord spoke to me back in 2020 that he was going to be elected into office and I said Lord, why would you do that?
Tyler Lynde: And I felt like the Lord spoke to me that he was going to use it as a means to expose more things, to cause more things to come into the light, and I believe I'm shocked, looking back on that now, how true that has become.
Tyler Lynde: And I don't mean exposing things just based on one party.
Tyler Lynde: I don't mean that.
Tyler Lynde: I mean exposing the depravity of human beings and also the grasp at absolute power and control that all of humanity faces on a daily basis.
Tyler Lynde: If you and I were in the same condition and had the same potential, who knows what you and I would do?
Tyler Lynde: Hopefully we would represent Christ.
Tyler Lynde: So Peter gives four exhortations.
Tyler Lynde: I got to move here Number one.
Tyler Lynde: He says to honor all people.
Tyler Lynde: Honor or value all people.
Tyler Lynde: We cannot always honor their words or their behavior, but we can remember that every single life matters to God and it's of more value.
Tyler Lynde: Every person's life is of more value than all of the world combined.
Tyler Lynde: Every person was made in the image and likeness of God.
Tyler Lynde: Every person was made in the image and likeness of God and we must never forget that Jesus Christ bled and died for even those that are the most unworthy, just as we are and were, must honor all people.
Tyler Lynde: Secondly, we must love the brotherhood.
Tyler Lynde: Love is a stronger word than honor.
Tyler Lynde: Love is something that is a word that describes a connection that is not willing to give up on something.
Tyler Lynde: We are to love all people, but we're especially obligated to love the members of our spiritual family.
Tyler Lynde: This is a love like God's love for us.
Tyler Lynde: It is utterly undeserved, it looks for no reward and it is stronger than death itself.
Tyler Lynde: My friends, if there's ever a time that we needed the body of Christ, it is now.
Tyler Lynde: It is now.
Tyler Lynde: Do not allow yourself to become an isolationist that says it's just me and Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know that the predators of the animal kingdom itself understand that the way to get fed is to single out the isolated, weak, sick, individual animal and take them out?
Tyler Lynde: Satan is a predator and that's what he attempts to do.
Tyler Lynde: Do not find yourself in this moment of time, wavering on whether or not to be a part of the body of Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Third, fear God.
Tyler Lynde: We fear him when we reverence him as the supreme Lord, glorifying him.
Tyler Lynde: When that then becomes our number one priority, we fear doing anything that would displease him.
Tyler Lynde: Not because we're concerned that we're going to fall out of good standing with him because Jesus paid the price for that, but because we have his heart so much as a part of our heart that we want to do everything that we do for him, for him and for his glory and for his honor.
Tyler Lynde: And we also should fear misrepresenting him before men and before people.
Tyler Lynde: And fourth, honor the king.
Tyler Lynde: Peter returns to the subject of human rulers for a final reminder.
Tyler Lynde: We are to respect our rulers as officials appointed by God for the maintenance of an ordered society.
Tyler Lynde: God is to be feared, but the emperor is to be honored.
Tyler Lynde: There is a distinct difference between the two.
Tyler Lynde: Right Kind of moving towards our conclusion, believers should face persecution with grace.
Tyler Lynde: Servants be subject to your masters, with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust.
Tyler Lynde: For this is a gracious thing when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
Tyler Lynde: For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?
Tyler Lynde: But if, when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
Tyler Lynde: So Peter moves on here from government and he's talking about household.
Tyler Lynde: He's talking about working underneath the authority of somebody else as a master and a servant relationship.
Tyler Lynde: In our context this would be an employee relationship, right, peter goes on to address these things, but the principles apply to all kinds of people.
Tyler Lynde: The basic appeal is to submit to the master.
Tyler Lynde: With all respect, obedience should not vary according to the temperament of the employer.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you have ever defined your boss as a jerk?
Tyler Lynde: How many of you are the boss that others define as a jerk?
Tyler Lynde: Right, just because your boss is a jerk does not mean that you have the right to not be a Christian.
Tyler Lynde: Does that make sense?
Tyler Lynde: God's given us his grace to be an example in the middle of all of that stuff.
Tyler Lynde: Anyone who can submit to an employer who's good and gentle, but believers are called to go beyond and be respectful and obedient to the harsh, overbearing boss.
Tyler Lynde: This stands out as distinctly Christian behavior.
Tyler Lynde: Now I want to make clear one thing, because this is an absolute truth If there are people that are in violent situations and they are victims of violence, especially in the home life, with children and things like that, we are not saying that the Bible is teaching that that person should remain under that form of abuse.
Tyler Lynde: Does that make sense?
Tyler Lynde: We believe that there are other scriptures that, in line with this one, give reasons why there needs to be a way of escape made for somebody that finds themselves in that situation.
Tyler Lynde: So we're not talking about taking abuse.
Tyler Lynde: That is unjust in that way.
Tyler Lynde: If that makes sense, right, but it does mean that we should put up with a boss that has a bad attitude sometimes or that overlooks us or that, you know, says something about the fact that we're Christians and persecutes us in that way.
Tyler Lynde: Says something about the fact that we're Christians and persecutes us in that way.
Tyler Lynde: One thing that has always struck me as an interesting thing is that people often call persecution something that isn't persecution at all because it's self-inflicted.
Tyler Lynde: So if you are a bad employee, for example, if you steal from the company, if you say that you're working while you're playing what's the new game on the phone?
Tyler Lynde: Is it still the old game, solitaire?
Tyler Lynde: I don't even know.
Tyler Lynde: Right, I'm not saying I'm holier than thou.
Tyler Lynde: I sometimes play spades on my iPad, but whatever the game is that draws you in and you seem like every moment that you're awake, you've got to get to that game, even if you've got a few minutes left on the clock, right?
Tyler Lynde: So persecution isn't persecution if it's self-inflicted.
Tyler Lynde: My first job was at Toys R Us and, as I was there, one of the things we were taught this is a strange time for our young people Back then, if people came in to steal from the store, we were supposed to stop them, attempt to stop them from stealing and call them to account, and so we did that.
Tyler Lynde: There was a couple of guys that came in, young guys that came in.
Tyler Lynde: It was in Florida in the summertime and they had winter jackets on.
Tyler Lynde: So here's your first thought that popped into my head Something's not right here.
Tyler Lynde: So I was following them around and they went to the model aisle.
Tyler Lynde: This was hilarious to me, because you could steal anything, right, if you're going to just steal something.
Tyler Lynde: But they went to the model aisle and they started sticking airplanes and remote control cars underneath their jacket, and so you can imagine how funny that would have looked.
Tyler Lynde: Right, I don't care how big the jacket is, a rectangular box that's underneath it is still going to be pretty obvious.
Tyler Lynde: Then the other thing that they did is they started running towards the entrance to leave instead of the exit, and so I followed them and pursued them and stopped them.
Tyler Lynde: And they were young, don't worry.
Tyler Lynde: If this would have been a 20-something year old, I'm not sure what I'd done it, but these were like 9 or 10-year-olds, right.
Tyler Lynde: So I wasn't as brave as I'm coming across as.
Tyler Lynde: But my manager called the police, called the parents, the parents came down and you know what the parents said.
Tyler Lynde: Why are you being mean to my kid?
Tyler Lynde: Seriously, they got mad that we had attempted, that we had called the cops, that we had called in the parents, that we had stopped these children who were just playing.
Tyler Lynde: That's self-inflicted and we as believers can't do things.
Tyler Lynde: I'm not saying that exact thing, but we can't act in that way and then blame everybody else for the persecution that we're getting.
Tyler Lynde: God is pleased when we endure suffering for his name's sake, anticipating that their masters might persecute them.
Tyler Lynde: Peter reminds the servants that God finds favor with those who endure suffering that stems from doing what is right.
Tyler Lynde: Faithful endurance when suffering for doing good is something to which God has called all believers.
Tyler Lynde: This is clear why?
Tyler Lynde: Because Jesus himself walked this very road.
Tyler Lynde: He was perfect in every way.
Tyler Lynde: He didn't deserve any of the ill treatment that he received, and yet he took it as a servant of Almighty God.
Tyler Lynde: When we meekly take unjust treatment, we display Christ this supernatural way of living gains.
Tyler Lynde: God's well done.
Tyler Lynde: We're going to take communion together here in just a minute.
Tyler Lynde: Peter ends this whole passage by talking about the fact that Christ is our perfect example of grace.
Tyler Lynde: Under fire, he says for to this.
Tyler Lynde: You have been called.
Tyler Lynde: Listen to these words Because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.
Tyler Lynde: He committed no sin.
Tyler Lynde: Neither was deceit found in his mouth when he was reviled.
Tyler Lynde: He did not revile in return.
Tyler Lynde: When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly?
Tyler Lynde: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live for righteousness.
Tyler Lynde: By his wounds you have been healed, for you were straying like sheep but have now returned to this shepherd and overseer of your souls.
Tyler Lynde: You know before you and I came to know Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: And, by the way, if you're here this morning and you've not yet said yes to Jesus, I encourage you to do that right now, just between you and him.
Tyler Lynde: Just have a conversation.
Tyler Lynde: Just say to him I've messed up, I'm a sinner and I need a savior and ask the Lord Jesus to come into your life to change you, save you.
Tyler Lynde: But all of us before we were Christians, before we were converted, we were like sheep, going astray.
Tyler Lynde: We were lost and torn and bruised and bleeding.
Tyler Lynde: Peter talks about the straying sheep as he talks and quotes from the Old Testament, in Isaiah 53,.
Tyler Lynde: All of the references that you find here that Peter's re-quoting in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 53, all of the references that you find here that Peter's re-quoting in the New Testament, are references from Isaiah 53, which is all about the suffering servant.
Tyler Lynde: In verse 21, peter says that Christ suffered for us.
Tyler Lynde: That's found in Isaiah 53, four and five.
Tyler Lynde: He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth Isaiah 53, 9.
Tyler Lynde: When he was reviled, he did not revile in return Isaiah 53, 7.
Tyler Lynde: Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree?
Tyler Lynde: Isaiah 53, 4 and 11.
Tyler Lynde: Verse 24, by whose stripes you were healed Isaiah 53, 5.
Tyler Lynde: By the way, just as a little aside here, many people have used this verse to speak exclusively about physical healing.
Tyler Lynde: But in the context of what Peter's saying here, he's talking about eternal life.
Tyler Lynde: I'm not saying that these same truths can't apply to healing, because we know that they can, but let's not downgrade the importance of what he's saying here.
Tyler Lynde: He's talking about eternal life.
Tyler Lynde: Verse 25, for you were like sheep going astray Isaiah 53.
Tyler Lynde: Verse 6 when we are saved, we return to the shepherd.
Tyler Lynde: The good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep.
Tyler Lynde: The great shepherd who tends with sweet, unwearied care for the flock for which he bled and died, and the chief shepherd who will soon appear to lead his sheep into green pastures from which they will never stray.
Tyler Lynde: One of the hardest things for me to change from a theological standpoint was the idea of suffering.
Tyler Lynde: To reconcile was the idea of suffering, because I grew up in a church that believed that any form of suffering was meant that you were out of the will of God.
Tyler Lynde: So what that meant for me and others like me was that if we were ever sick or had something difficult happen in life, that we didn't have enough faith to overcome that.
Tyler Lynde: What I discovered as I took the time in my early 20s to research the scriptures for myself as a whole, not just one piece here or one piece there what I discovered is that God never promises us that we will not suffer in this life.
Tyler Lynde: In fact, he promises us that we will, but you know the promise that's greater than that that he'll be with us.
Tyler Lynde: The great shepherd of our souls never asks us to do anything that he is not promising to do with us, and he does it by the work of his holy spirit.
Tyler Lynde: That's what grace is.
Tyler Lynde: When you think of the word grace, it can be some kind of like religious term that we throw around, but it's really god intervening in our lives to give us the strength to do what we can't do in our own ability.
Tyler Lynde: Saying no to sin and saying yes to Jesus is only by the grace of God.
Tyler Lynde: Being willing to suffer for righteousness' sake is not something we can do in our own just willpower.
Tyler Lynde: It must come by the work of the Holy Spirit, because of the price that Jesus paid.
Tyler Lynde: So today, let's stand to our feet and we're going to take communion together, and I want us to, as Jesus in the upper room with his disciples in the last supper he instituted this and when he gave the bread, he said this is my body, which is broken for you.
Tyler Lynde: When you take and eat of this, do this in remembrance of me.
Tyler Lynde: So, my friends, I want to encourage you.
Tyler Lynde: If you hear nothing else today, I want you to hear that we can say yes to God.
Tyler Lynde: We can say no to this world and the things of this world that are sinful.
Tyler Lynde: We can submit to the authority that's around us, even if they're not perfect or if they are conflicted in the reasons why they do what they do.
Tyler Lynde: We can do all of these things because Jesus loves us and he's with us, and so my prayer for all of us is that we experience a very present revelation of the presence of the Lord Jesus even now as we partake of the bread and the cup.
Tyler Lynde: So, father, we thank you for the broken body of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: We don't take it for granted today.
Tyler Lynde: We understand that your life and your example is a motivation and the power that we need to be able to live out the words of truth that are found in your Bible.
Tyler Lynde: So, lord, we pray that your presence would be found, especially huge and big and impactful, in our lives today.
Tyler Lynde: So we take this bread in remembrance of Jesus Christ and on the old covenant, the prescription that God gave for the sins of the people, so that there could be just a semblance of relationship kept with him, was that animals would have to be sacrificed on a regular occurrence and that that blood could be applied to cover over sins.
Tyler Lynde: But Hebrews tells us that we have a far greater sacrifice in the person of Jesus Christ, because not only does the shedding of his blood once and for all cover over sins, but it removes them from us.
Tyler Lynde: The Bible says that our sins are cast as far as the east is from the west, cast into the sea of forgetfulness.
Tyler Lynde: That is the truth, that is the gospel that we believe.
Tyler Lynde: So when we take this cup today, let's remember and be thankful with gratitude for the precious blood of Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: Lord Jesus, we do this in remembrance of you.
Tyler Lynde: Thank you, lord.
Tyler Lynde: I pray that the Lord would bless you and keep you, cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
Tyler Lynde: He would lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Tyler Lynde: In Jesus' magnificent name, I pray Amen.
Tyler Lynde: God bless you guys.
Tyler Lynde: Have a great week in the Lord.