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A circle by Peter and chapter two. We commence our reading tonight at verse ten of first Peter chapter two. Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained nashesh, but now have obtained nashesh. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and children, abstain from fleshly lusts which were against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that where I have to speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or as his governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God that with well-doing you be put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants be subject to one, to your master with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the slower.
For this is thankworthy if a man for conscience toward God endures grace, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your fault, you shall take it patientless? But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patientless, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteousness.
To his own self bear our sin in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness, by his stripes ye were healed. For you were a sheep going astray, but on our return unto the shepherds and bishops of your soul. We have divided the first epistle by Peter into five sections corresponding to the first five books of the Bible, commonly termed the Pentateuch. We have already considered Luke's first twelve verses as the Apostle Peter's book of Genesis. Then from verse thirteen up to verse ten of chapter, of verse 13, rather, of chapter twelve up to verse 21 of chapter one.
let's repeat that, verse thirteen of chapter one up to verse twenty one of chapter one we have considered this as Peter's book of Exodus. From verse twenty two of chapter one up to verse ten of chapter two, we have considered this as the Apostle Peter's book of Leviticus. We got so far last night as to consider verse nine of chapter two. so that strictly speaking, right, we commence at verse ten, the last verse of the Apostle Peter's book of Leviticus. And having thought of this verse, we should go to think of Peter's book of Numbers, which is from verse eleven of chapter two out to the end of chapter four. The reason why I want to see what it was in verse ten is this.
That the Apostle Peter in verse ten which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which have not obtained that faith, but now have obtained that sex. This verse has caused some to think that the cicuta was in fact not written to Jews, but written to Gentiles, because as Peter said, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God. But of course, the setting of this verse is taken from the book of Hosea, and when we turn back to the book of Hosea, then these verses have a decidedly Jewish setting. Let me just remind you of the setting of this verse in the book of Hosea.
You may remember that by divine command, Hosea takes an adulterous wife. That adulterous wife was called Gomer. And Gomer, of course, of course, speaks of the nation of Israel. You may remember the language of Matthew chapter 12, verse fifty nine, the words of the Lord Jesus concerning the nation of Israel, an evil and an adulterous nation. You will remember the language of James in his epistle in chapter four verse four, ye adulterers and adulteresses. I doubt most of you will notice that the word adulterer, strictly speaking, is omitted there, and Peter is addressing himself to these Jews in this way, ye adulteresses.
And it was this Gomer speaks in the book of Phasia. The result of taking to him these less adulterous wives, there were three children born. The second was a daughter who, by divine command, was called Lo Ruama, which name means not having obtained. For says the Lord, I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel. I will no more have pity upon the house of Israel. The third child was a son, and by divine command his name was called Loame, which name means not my people.
For said the Lord, ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Then in Hosea chapter one, there follows a delightful account of Israel's future restoration. Hosea chapter one, verse ten says, yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured in their numbers. And it will come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, you are not my people. There shall be said unto them, ye are the sons of the living God. And the result of all this is brought before us in Hosea chapter two. Say unto my brethren, Amu.
The prefix lo is omitted, and abi means my people. And unto your sister, Ru'ama. And again, the prefix lo is omitted, and this name means having obtained mercy. So then is the teaching in the Kings that it is coming when the nation of Israel shall become the subject of divine city, and from being Lo Ru'ama, not having obtained mercy, they shall have obtained mercy, and from being noame, not my people, they shall once again be the people of God.
What then is the setting in and first Peter chapter two and verse ten, The teaching is just this, that these believing Jews, when the Apostle Peter was writing, they are anticipating for Israel to let it see them according to Haggai chapter two. They are anticipating in this day of grace what in fact shall be the future experience of the nation of Israel, when that nation shall be the subject of divinity and again be called the people of God. I believe this is what we have in Galatians chapter six, when the Apostle speaks of the Israel of God, referring to those believing Jews in the early days of that history.
Or as the Apostle Paul speaks of the typical Romans, the remnants of the mission of Israel according to the election of grace. I believe that, of course, to be the setting of verse ten of First Peter chapter two. Having said that, we commence tonight a consideration of the Apostle Peter's book of Numbers from verse eleven of chapter two up to verse nineteen of chapter four. You may remember that I described the book of Numbers like this. It is a book in which God's people are seen in their wilderness setting. It is at the same time the popular book, and I use the word popular in this sense, the book of the people, where the problems of the people in the wilderness were dealt with.
I would discover that in this particular section, God's people are seen in the wilderness second. That's what he says, dear beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. There they are in this great and terrible wilderness, designated pilgrims and strangers. And the problems of the people in the wilderness are dealt with in this section. The problem of the pilgrim and stranger in relation to the powers that be. The problem of the children and the strangers as a servant towards his master. And then the problem of a believing wife that has an unbelieving husband.
The problems of the people are dealt with in this section. Now then stop right then. Let us think tonight of the verses just left. That's eleven: dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and children abstained from life with us, which were against the soul. Let us speak in this word dearly is omitted, and Peter addresses them as beloved. Again, he uses this delightful expression in chapter four, verse twelve, when he says, beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which you're about to overtake me. And having addressed them as beloved, he designates them in a twofold way as strangers and children.
Now, what is meant by this twofold designation of God's people, strangers and children? The idea of what stranger here is a settler having a house in a city without being a citizen, that is, in respect of his right of citizenship. That is a definition of this word stranger, a settler having a house in a city without being a citizen of that city, in respect of the right of citizenship. Stephen, in fact, uses this word concerning Moses in Acts chapter seven. He was a stranger in the land of Moab.
But what of this word, children? The word is sojourn, the same word that we have in chapter one verse one, which is rendered in authorized version, stranger. And yet there, when we consider that word in chapter one verse one, it has this significance, a person who is staying for a short time in a foreign land. My dear brethren, what does all this mean? Peter is writing to people who have been called by God to heaven. God has called them to heaven. We saw in chapter one that God had given to them this living hope, and they were here in this world just waiting the fulfillment of this divine call to heaven.
And they're waiting this world as strangers and children, like a person settled in a city, not having the rights of citizenship, like a person finding himself in a foreign land and brought for a brief while. You see, this wasn't their unhappy lot as Jews of the dispersion, scattered from the land of Palestine amongst the five provinces mentioned in chapter one. This was their blessing as Christians. And my dear brethren, this is something we have to remember as well. We have been called to heaven, divinely called to this living hope, this inheritance reserved in heaven, and we're here not to exercise the rights of citizenship.
We are here, it's a foreign country. I'm but a stranger here. Heaven is my home. Heaven is my fatherland. Heaven is my home. I wonder, my brother, my sister, how much you feel that? Is it not through this materialistic age? Our thoughts have wavered, and we've settled down, and we've forgotten that we're here just as strangers and children. Hence, we'll come to the thought of the powers that be. Peter enjoins upon them submission, for strangers and children can do nothing but submit.
You can't contain an exception for any authority for a child of God to participate in the government of any country. It is there's only a strangers and children to submit. My dear brothers, let me say that. I may say more about, more of it in a few moments. It isn't ours either to elect any government, nor to share in the overthrow of any government. How can we? We're strangers. We're pilgrims. We do not exercise the right to fellowship and not discuss, unless we were in a foreign land.
For here drops a little fire, waiting the call to have no bath. Drops of Peter are strange improvements obtained from fleshly lust, which was against the fall. So the thought for Peter, he keeps off fleshly lust. Remember that in chapter one that closely we dealt with the expression former lust. Where Peter speaks of the former lust of his ignorance. Now he speaks of fleshly lust. When we're dealing with that one of First Peter chapter two, having laid aside all malice, we observe that each of these expressions have to do with disappearing.
Malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, evil speaking. These can all be summed up as bitter feelings. But now in verse awakened, abstain from fleshly love. This is not bitter feelings. This is bad desire. And my dear brethren, we have to learn to deal drastically with both bitter feelings and bad desires. Remember, well, the language of Paul in Galatians chapter five, that the works of the flesh are manifest which are these, adultery, fornication, and so on, and we have to abstain from these bad desires, these that Peter speaks of as fleshly love.
We shall see in a few moments that Christianity brought about amongst the saints of God an intimacy that could be exploited, an intimacy that the flesh finds it easy to exploit. But to Peter, he remembers your children and strangers, and you have not only to deal with every bitter feeling, you have to deal with every bad desire. That's the speaker to war against the soul. Most important, leave bad desires, leave flesh without war against the soul. The speaker is saying is just that, that we, flesh of us, are continually on active service against the soul.
We shall never give up this warfare. We shall never cease from this active service, no matter how old we might be, no matter how spiritual we might be. Peter said, learn to obtain from these bad desires, which are continually on active service against the soul. What is that? How, in fact, do I abstain? My dear brethren, I believe the answer is this. We have to deal with the inner sin. Did not the Lord Jesus say, for from within, out of the heart proceeds adultery, fornication, and so forth.
We have to begin with the inner life, with inner strength. These things do not commence in the body. These commence within. Thus says the Apostle Paul in Colossians chapter three set your mind on things above where Christ sitteth. Then he goes on to say, mortify the deeds of the body, adultery, fornication, and so on. And we shall never be able to mortify the deeds of the body if, first of all, we have not set our mind on things of God. I sometimes illustrate this point like this. Christians put their monks and their nuns behind these large walls of monasteries and convents.
But behind these walls, these men and women might live sanctified lives. But those who know better than I do tell me that anything but a sanctified life occurs behind these walls, and we're not surprised. For the simple reason, walls might soften the body, but walls can never shut out the thought, and it's a thought cycle to deal with. And that's how we abstain from these bad desires, these fleshly thoughts, which are an act of service against the soul. Then Peter continues in the next verse, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles.
So Peter has a great deal to say about the Christian conversation, the Christian manner of life. It would be a subject in itself. In chapter one verse fifteen it speaks of a holy conversation. Chapter one verse seventeen he it speaks of a vain conversation. Here it speaks of an honest conversation. Chapter three verse 1, a winning conversation. Chapter three verse two, a chaste conversation. Chapter 3, verse thirteen, a good conversation. Thus, Peter has a great deal to say about the believer's manner of life, and much of the teaching belongs to Peter's good of number. But Peter is impressing upon us that are strangers and children.
In the great and terrible wilderness, we must give solemn attention to our manner of life. Talk with Peter, having your visible conduct, having your daily walk. That's the idea in the word conversation, honest. We might render the expression like this, having your behavior beautiful. My dear brethren, I love you. A As strange as and it feels pilgribleness in this love world. We locked ought to the character of by beautiful behavior.
This Madonna spirit, I love the word, it means charming. It, it means good. It's the same as the cardinal self in verse, where Peter speaks of good works. It's the word that speaks of our Savior, of himself in John chapter ten, I am the good shepherd. It's a word that James uses in James chapter two when he speaks of that worthy name by which you're called. It's a word that's used of the goodly stones of the temple, Luke chapter something marvelous. and the word simply means attractive. Having your conduct, your daily walk, good, beautiful, and attractive.
But for us to speak against you as evildoers, it is evident that the early Christians, as are the Christians today, very often maligned. And because Christians are too often maligned and spoken against as evildoers, it was so necessary that they placed themselves above suspicion by having beautiful behavior. These are the Christians, people thought of them like this. They are a secret society. They break bread in the evening.
Women have been elevated amongst them from being slaves and shackles of man. I repeat, Christian intimacy exposed them to evil thinking by those who desire to criticize. Thus the speakers that desire to speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works quit the behold. Being eyewitnesses of your beautiful wife. Am I your brother, another letter for that? The world is continually looking on. And have a right to see in you and me beautiful behavior, good wife, wives that are above the special.
Did not our Lord Jesus say in the so-called Sermon on the Mount, let your light so shine before man, that we see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. But here it is, glorify God in the day of visitation. Now this word visitation, of course, is an interesting word. In Luke chapter nine, when the Lord Jesus said of Jerusalem that it knew not the sign of it. It's the same word as it used in one Timothy chapter three, if a man desire the office of a bishop, overseership. It's the same word that Peter uses in chapter five of the Catechism, taking the oversight, not by constraint, but willingly.
It's the same word that the Habakkuk Hebrews chapter twelve. look diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God. The word conveys the thought of inspection. Thus, do they glorify God in the way of inspection. But I would like to say another word here. Interesting, my dear brethren, to observe that this word oversight or persuasion purifices us. Here in one Peter two and verse twelve, when they glorified God in their visitation. Chapter five, taking the oversight, not by constraint, but willingly.
An overseer is an inspector. Something you're trying to forget. Not, of course, like the inspector in a factory, who is always inspecting for faults. One doesn't have to be very spiritual to inspect for fault. The overseer is an inspector who continually watches in order to be able to bring relief. How does he do it? He does it by visitation. It comes from the same word, I was sick, and he visited man. It came in the hearts of Tom and Barnabas to visit their brethren, and so on. And I believe the noble peer is one who must visit.
And his visitation has induced infection with a view to bringing relief. So what is the infection that's induced here? It is infection for judgment. But in the infection for judgment, we will have to admit how wrong we were in the judgment of you and in the slander of you. Some take this, of course, as referring to the impending trial under Nero, that we may glorify God in the visitation when you're visiting judgment under Nero. But I came to the thought that he also had in mind here the day of inspection of judgment for the ungodly, but in that particular day, they will have to glorify God, rebuking their judgment and tremendously sorry for the slander, and they will as by a good one we glorify God.
Now the apostle goes on to say in verses thirteen and fourteen, I want to leave a little word with regard to your relationship to the perverted, remembering still that you're children and strangers. And what does Peter just say? Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, for which the Lord says, whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors. Submit. The subject is the air sense that's employed here. It is not once and for all. The same as you have in verse eighteen, servant the subject. But if that's what Peter says, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man.
What do we understand by every ordinance of man? Well, this expression simply means every human creation, every human institution. Now, there's a lot of numbers here. Peter says, submit yourselves to every human creation, to every human institution. Peter is saying, submit to every law that man may pass. The Christian can never submit to any law that conflicts with loyalty to God. But Peter is saying he regrets. Submit to every office, every office of authority that man may establish.
It's submission to the office or the authority, not every law that they might establish or every legislation. That may be. The Christian cannot submit when involved the prior claim of loyalty to God. This is what the Peter in Romans chapter thirteen, the subject to the higher power, that's it, the higher ordinances, the higher creation, and that Peter do it for the Lord's sake. Why for the Lord's sake, Paul for the Lord's sake, Romans thirteen.
why for the Lord's sake? So it should then no distress upon his name? Now, says Peter, first of all, to the king as supreme. The word king here conveys the sense of emperor. Needs to express the sovereignty of the Caesar. The Caesar's word supreme. It's the same word that we have in Romans chapter thirteen. the higher power, the supreme power. And that is the member of that avian minor that Paul Peter speaks of in chapter one and verse one. There was in fact in the Roman Empire. And the emperor, he was not just the power, he in fact was the only ruler such as Peter submits to the emperor.
So let's pause for a moment to think of that. As you would find this tremendously difficult. To submit to a man like Nero. There was a Gentile, an idolater, a man who was both true and a threat, but Peter said, good luck. Romans thirteen again, whether they shall be subject unto the higher path, and we might find that the land in which we live is governed by people who might be disturbed, I'm sure, but we have to submit.
My dear brethren, honesty Unless he is not woman the mind in the of dawn. God. Better above government than no government. And a poor little stranger will enjoy the permit, not enough to permit. Then it says, or unto governors as of the them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil words and so on. Now they this call is the word warden of me. and Unto the governors governor. This with permit. relates to all officers entrusted with the administration of sovereignty. Both pilots and seers, and in part officers ascend governors with the same law.
Or as the governors ascend by him, sent by whom? Not by the Allah, laws, but that are ascend sent by the Caesar. seers. If the Caesar Allah, why does the Caesar not say that the king was sent by him, that the governor has having been sent by the emperor? Surely that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose right we were sealed, by his will, by his rising, you were healed. I wonder why Peter speaks of that here.
It's against the background of these positive standards, and that's the suffering of Christ here are presented to us in this exemplary fashion as an example for the social servant who was a prophet. And finally, for we were as sheep going astray. The word for explains the reason for their need of healing. They have been a sheep going astray, but are returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your fold. Now let me just explain that. The word return here does not mean that one turned to the shepherd on the left hand. The word is simply inverted, turned and being wrong in a contrary direction.
And to whom? To the shepherd and the bishop of your soul. Why the shepherd and bishop of your soul? The one who in these circumstances was able to protect them. The shepherd and the bishop of your soul. You.