Fear God, Honor the King

Driving home: The words, fear God, honor the king, will have a lot more biting relevance than they would have had had I preached them two months ago.

Martin quotes Proverbs 16:9 (or a similar rendering) to illustrate God's sovereign direction of his steps, despite his own plans for preaching through 1 Peter.

Or as one newer translation renders it, in his heart a man plans, or plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Now certainly this has been true with my purposes of heart to preach through the book of 1 Peter. It was true in terms of when we began that endeavor, and it has been true with respect to the rate at which we are accomplishing that endeavor.

2:10 - 2:41 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The words, fear God, honor the king, will have a lot more biting relevance than they would have had had I preached them two months ago.

Martin shares his personal experience of unexpected foot surgery, illness, and guest preachers frustrating his plans to preach further in 1 Peter, illustrating God's providential control over his schedule.

And in recent weeks, though my purposes of heart were to be much further along in our studies, an unexpected foot surgery and some unusual post-operative complications, a vicious upper respiratory bug, some planned guest preachers whom God knew would sound notes that we needed to hear when we hear them, all of those have conspired to understand. Score the truth that Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, wrote that a man's heart does devise his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

2:41 - 3:23 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The words, fear God, honor the king, will have a lot more biting relevance than they would have had had I preached them two months ago.

Martin notes that the sermon's message, 'Fear God, honor the king,' has more 'biting relevance' after recent impeachment proceedings, illustrating the timeliness of God's providence in his preaching schedule.

And I'm convinced with increasing understanding we will see the wisdom of God even in the frustration of the plans and purposes of our own heart. We've seen that many times over the years, when in regular consecutive exposition had the passage been expounded, when the preacher purposed to expound it, it would not have been anywhere near as kindly a word. I think you'll see that even this morning with post-impeachment proceedings. The words, fear God, honor the king, will have a lot more biting relevance than they would have had had I preached them two months ago.

3:23 - 4:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Abstain from fleshly lust and have a becoming pattern of behavior.

Martin uses the analogy of a camera lens (35mm to 70mm) to describe moving from the 'larger context' to the 'more immediate context' of the passage.

We've looked at the larger context. We've taken our cameras and we've set the lens at 35 millimeters. Now we move up to 70. We move in to the more immediate context.

8:43 - 8:56 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin briefly summarizes his previous sermon on the first two imperatives of 1 Peter 2:17 ('Honor all men, love the brotherhood'), explaining their meaning and the possible…

Martin describes the four imperatives in 1 Peter 2:17 as 'stentorian,' like a 'drill sergeant barking his orders,' to convey their terse, authoritative nature.

Peter could have moved from the first subset of a God-ordained sphere of authority, human government, at the end of verse 16, he could have moved immediately to the next category. But he didn't. Under the guidance of the spirit of God, after setting out our duty and underscoring the motivations to perform the duty, before he moves to the second subset, servants, be in subjection to your masters, he gives us these four very terse, succinct, forgive me using the word, but it's this, stentorian. They come like a drill sergeant, barking his orders.

12:15 - 12:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second imperative, 'Honor the King,' is explained. Martin clarifies that this means honoring the king's position as God-ordained, not necessarily his person or policies, and…

Martin recounts looking up 'Nero' in Webster's dictionary, finding him described as 'notoriously cruel and wicked,' to emphasize the challenge of honoring such a king.

In this case it was that scoundrel Nero. And I said well maybe Nero gets bad shrift among God's people. So let me see how he's looked upon in the eyes of the secularists. So I took down my Webster's New Collegiate Third Edition Dictionary.

29:51 - 30:08 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second imperative, 'Honor the King,' is explained. Martin clarifies that this means honoring the king's position as God-ordained, not necessarily his person or policies, and…

Martin quotes John Brown, a Scottish commentator, to beautifully articulate the distinction between honoring the king's office versus his personal character or policies.

And so we're to honor him in his position. Listen to John Brown, that astute, godly, Scottish commentator who's written a series of expositions to his sermons on 1 Peter. He stated this beautifully. The honor referred to here is that which is due to the office, whatever may be the personal character of him who fills it.

37:16 - 37:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Chiefly exercise a conscientious and a cheerful obedience to all of the magistrate's lawful commands.

Martin draws a parallel between the historical contempt for magistrates and the contemporary 'demigration of the office of the president,' illustrating that such challenges are 'no new thing under the sun'.

Yes. Yes. Whatever he may be in his private capacity, which is always to be regretted, especially as it's apt to bring the magistrate into contempt. Sound contemporary?

38:27 - 38:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Be as honest to the penny on your tax forms as though you were under threat of jail.

Martin uses the example of a Christian honestly filling out a 1040 tax form, even to the penny, as an illustration of honoring the king out of the fear of God, not just fear of punishment.

I don't do it. That's why the Christian when he sits down with his 1040, he's as honest to the penny as though he were under a threat that if he cheated uncle out of a penny, he'd go to jail for 100 years. Why?

45:58 - 46:15 Read in full sermon

Driving home: For the child of God, the fear of God is the necessary limitation of his honoring the king.

Martin references Daniel 3 and Daniel 6 to illustrate how the fear of God limits honoring the king, as these men refused to violate God's law despite royal commands.

Go back and read Daniel 3 and the three Hebrew children. They were so loyal to Babylonian administration that they are given responsibility as governors in several provinces.

49:15 - 49:31 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Let Caesar's dues be ever paid to Caesar and his throne. But consciences and souls were made to be the Lord's alone.

Martin quotes a couplet from Isaac Watts ('Let Caesar's dues be ever paid... But consciences and souls were made to be the Lord's alone') to capture the essence of the fear of God limiting obedience to human authority.

Did you know that Isaac Watts used to compose a hymn every Lord's Day for his people?

51:06 - 51:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not let sarcastic and scurrilous language about leaders go in your ear, lest it get into your soul and give you a bloody conscience.

Martin uses the example of listening to radio personalities like Bob Grant and Rush Limbaugh to illustrate how sarcastic and scurrilous speech about leaders can violate the spirit of honoring the king.

there is an order but there is an inseparability. No one there in Asia Minor could have heard the reading of that epistle and gone out with the spirit of indifference, the spirit of a riotous rebel against the government. He could not have gone out and in the altar ego for Bob Glantz and Rush Limbaugh while naming the name of Christ, speaking sarcastically and scurrilously of Mr. Clinton in spite of his blatant sins.

52:40 - 53:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not let sarcastic and scurrilous language about leaders go in your ear, lest it get into your soul and give you a bloody conscience.

Martin contrasts John the Baptist's direct confrontation of sin with Paul's respectful address to Roman leaders (Agrippa, Festus, Felix) to illustrate how to point out sin without being 'cheeky and snotty'.

Yes, we may have to point out the sins of leaders like John the Baptist did, but there's no indication John, was put in prison because he was cheeky and snotty. It's because he isolated the man's sin and said it's not lawful for you to have her. You re-read this afternoon Acts chapters 25 and 6, 24, 25 and 26. I speed-read them in preparation for the sermon and Paul is in the presence of ungodly Roman leaders, Agrippa, Festus, Felix and we read that in two minutes, in two instances he's even addressing them about their sins.

53:28 - 54:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not let sarcastic and scurrilous language about leaders go in your ear, lest it get into your soul and give you a bloody conscience.

Martin uses the example of Roe v. Wade to illustrate the distinction between acknowledging an unrighteous law and taking personal, unlawful action against it, emphasizing that individual threats against doctors are also sin.

I care nothing for Caesar. The Christian who feels he's got a right to resist every law that is unrighteous while he is not personally responsible for making it or implementing it. There's no justification for that in the light of the word of God. Is the Roe v. Wade

54:48 - 55:06 Read in full sermon

The point: Face reality, that closed fist will carry with you into hell till you get on your face and cry out oh God have mercy on me.

Martin quotes a hymn ('My God how wonderful thou art...') to help unbelievers see the beautiful and worthy nature of God, which should inspire fear and love.

You know why you think that way? Because you've never seen what a beautiful worthy being God is. If you could but see what we see. My God how wonderful thou art.

57:40 - 57:57 Read in full sermon