Hello, and welcome
to "Books Of The Book".
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My name is Deyvy Rodriguez
and with us is Dr. Tom Shepherd.
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He is currently a professor
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of New Testament interpretation
at Andrews University.
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And now we are studying
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the writings of
the apostle Peter.
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Welcome back
again, Dr. Shepherd.
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Could you outline it for us
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how this section
of the book unfolds?
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Okay. Now, just to review,
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if we look at the
outline of the book of Peter,
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here we have a
graphic that shows us this.
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We have been studying the
first section of the book,
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which is Chapter 1:1-2:10
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that's establishing
the household of God.
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We've seen the beautiful lay out
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that he has of the
rebirth experience,
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the metaphors of
growth, the household of God,
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and now we come to the
second section which is part B.
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And in this second
section of the outline
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we see that he has--
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"how Christians are
to live in the world."
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This central section of the book
goes from chapter 2:11-4:11.
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And he's going to talk about
relating to people around us,
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who are mostly
out side the church,
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vindication that is
coming and then more instruction
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about living as a Christian.
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Then we'll see later on where
he'll come to the last part
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about facing trouble
and facing each other,
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that's the very
last section of the book.
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But right now
we're just entering
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in to this central
portion of the book.
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And so we want to take a look
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and see what the
apostle Peter has to say here.
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Okay, where are
we picking up on?
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So we're gonna pick up in
verses 11 and 12 of chapter 2.
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So, if you'll read
for us 1 Peter 2:11, 12.
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"Beloved, I beg you as
sojourners and pilgrims,
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abstain from fleshly lusts
which war against the soul,
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having your conduct
honorable among the Gentiles,
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that when they speak against
you as evildoers, they may,
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by your good works
which they observe,
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glorify God in the
day of visitation."
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Okay, Now have you-- did
you notice any words in here
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that we've heard
before in this book.
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Yeah, conduct, I think we
read that verse previously.
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Conduct or conduct
among the gentiles,
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any thing else that it
said. Sojourners, pilgrims.
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Sojourners,
pilgrims, that's exactly right.
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You are the Sojourners
and pilgrims you see--
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Now in this verse
he uses Sojourners
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whereas at first
he only said pilgrims.
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Yeah, he has--
he has several terms
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that he uses for
this kind of experience
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of not fitting in with the world
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and being, you
know, strange to them.
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So remember it is because
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you are the chosen people of God
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that you are a
stranger in the world.
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So, now he is
reminding them of this again,
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he is transitioning
from the first section
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where he's defined
the church, the people--
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the household of
God, and now he is saying,
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"Okay, so now, tell
what are you supposed to do
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in relationship to them?"
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And of course he
makes this emphasis
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on conduct once
again, doesn't he.
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He says to abstain from
the passions of the flesh.
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Well, he talked about those.
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They wage war
against to your soul.
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He says, "Keep your conduct
among the gentiles honorable.
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So that when they speak
against you as evil doers
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they may see your good deeds
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and glorify God on
the day of visitation."
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So, your good
deeds as a Christian
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has some kind of
impact on the world around.
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Now, it doesn't
mean that every body
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in the world
around will be saved.
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But there are
those who will be saved,
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will be drawn into
this fellowship of faith
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as they see your conduct,
you know, that stands out.
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So this
transitional part, you know,
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leads us into the next part.
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And he talks about the contrast
of the Christian to the world
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and he talks about the
role of our way of life.
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And that's gonna
become an important theme
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in this second
section of the book
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that we turned to now.
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And that starts in Chapter 2:13
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so we want to read verses 13-17.
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"Therefore submit yourselves
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to every ordinance of
man for the Lord's sake,
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whether to the king as
supreme, or to governors,
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as to those who are sent by him
for the punishment of evildoers
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and for the praise
of those who do good.
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For this is the will
of God, that by doing good
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you may put to silence
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the ignorance of
foolish me as free,
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yet not using
liberty as a cloak for vice,
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but as bondservants of God.
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Honor all people.
Love the brotherhood.
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Fear God. Honor the king."
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So, seems like our life style
is a form of witnessing them.
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Absolutely. Yeah. Definitely.
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That's
important theme for Peter.
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This is part of the answer
to this question of holiness
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and connection or linkage
or facing the world, you see?
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And that is that
the holy lifestyle
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is to face the worlds.
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The world around
us-- now people might say,
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"Well Peters, people,
couldn't escape the world
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because, you know,
they were 1 in 100.
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So, 99% of the people
around them were not Christian."
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You know, but,
there is no excuse
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for going often
being hermits, you see?
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Peter doesn't have
that kind of approach.
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He talks about a holy
lifestyle that faces them,
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that is in contact
with them all the time,
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is in touch with
the world around.
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We separate ourselves
too much from the world.
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We go often to little
enclaves, you know, or ghettos,
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you know, and stay to ourselves.
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No, we need to have contact
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with people that
are part of the world.
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Because guess what,
the light has an impact.
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The light has an influence.
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It draws people, you know?
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Now, of course
there are some people
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who don't like the light.
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Jesus said that. You
know, they like the darkness.
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But, those who are
attracted to light,
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boy, when the light comes,
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they're just
really touched by it.
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Remember, Peter called it
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"marvelous
light, "marvelous light.
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Now, we've got to think some
about the government officials
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that are mentioned
here in these verses.
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It's very interesting. He
uses--my translation says,
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"Be subject for the
Lord's sake," in verse 13.
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What does yours
say? "Submit yourselves."
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"Submit yourselves." Yeah.
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This is going to be
an overarching theme
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in this section, the
concept of submission.
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It's kind of a dirty word
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for some people in the
Christian church today.
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They don't like
this idea of submission.
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But Peter has said-- he
makes this quite a big theme,
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and frankly all of us in life
who are in one place or another
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find ourselves in a position
where we have to submit.
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For most of us
it's in the work place.
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There is a boss.
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And he says, "I
want you to do this."
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And you say,
"Okay, boss, sure we do."
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You're submitting to the boss.
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So, interestingly, Peter
says that we are to be subject
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for the Lord's sake
to every human, what?
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What's the term in your passage?
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"For the Lord's sake,
whether for ordinance of men."
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Ordinance of men.
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A lot of these mind sets
to every human institution.
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Now, the word institution
here is a very interesting word.
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It is the word creation.
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Institution is for creation--
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The underline Greek word Ktisis
means creature or creation.
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Okay.
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Now, this is--some
people say, "Well, you know,
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it's a human creation so then
it must be a human institution
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and then he is talking
about government officials,
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so he must be talking
about institutions of the state.
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Right?" Well, yes and no.
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All right. The word
creation implies, what?
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A Creator? Creator.
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Right. A creator.
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So, the human creation
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or creature is not the creator.
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Now, you and I
would say, "Well, duh."
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Obvious, right?
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That all humans are under God.
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One nation under God
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is in the American
Pledge of Allegiance, right?
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That idea is such a radical
idea that God is the creator
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and all of
creation is below him.
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Now, in the ancient
world, particularly in the east
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and of course we are
talking about a place
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that was in the east,
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they had some thing
called the emperor cult
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where they would
worship the emperor.
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And so, actually this
becomes more of practice,
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I think as time goes by.
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In the second century we
have an interesting story
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of a man named Polycarp
who refuses to offer incense.
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Now, what was this
incense that they were offering?
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If you read his
story-- it's a beautiful story.
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You can find it on the
web if you want, or in books,
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"The Martyrdom of Polycarp."
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He was the bishop of
the Church of Smyrna.
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He was in his
80's, 86 years old.
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And they bring him--
they're gonna force him-
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they're gonna either kill him
or force him to offer incense.
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What's the incense? What
is he offering incense to?
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He is offering
incense to the guardian deity
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of the emperor
called the genius.
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The genius of the emperor
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was the guardian
deity of the emperor.
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And so you would offer
incense-- it was kind of like
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pledging allegiance to the
flag or it was kind of like,
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you know,
showing that you were--
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you accepted the
state, you were patriotic.
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But a Christian
couldn't do that.
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Because Christians didn't
believe in these false gods.
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So, they
couldn't offer the incense
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and so the roman
officials took this as rebellion
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against the state, you see?
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So, here is this
institutions of the state
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and they are not supreme.
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That's the important
idea. They are not supreme.
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Now, Peter takes and he reorders
all of powers structures.
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You have to study the whole idea
of power all through his books.
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But we have graphic that shows
three different power structures
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within the state
and the first one
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is the
super-ordinate power structures.
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There you see at the top is God.
And Christ, the Holy Spirit.
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The devil is there, so
are spirits and angels.
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These all appear
somewhere in 1 Peter
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and they all have
different descriptions
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and they are all supporting
concepts that support them.
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These are structures that
are above the human level,
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Then next one of a slide
shows ordinate power structures.
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And these are kings and
masters and husbands and elders.
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These are people who are in--
00:12:04.51\00:12:05.88
we might called
middle management.
00:12:05.91\00:12:08.29
They are above
the rest of us humans
00:12:08.32\00:12:10.51
but they are below God. Okay?
00:12:10.54\00:12:13.18
Then the group that he
has the most to say to,
00:12:13.21\00:12:15.76
are the subordinate people,
00:12:15.79\00:12:17.71
the people who are at
the bottom of the totem pole,
00:12:17.74\00:12:20.19
you might say.
00:12:20.22\00:12:21.59
And these include
you, as a Christians,
00:12:21.62\00:12:24.12
all Christians,
the savants, the wives,
00:12:24.15\00:12:26.50
and the young people
and they are all called on
00:12:26.53\00:12:28.96
to submit to the
powers that are above them.
00:12:28.99\00:12:31.46
But there is one
important concept
00:12:31.49\00:12:34.80
that we have to keep
in mind here about this,
00:12:34.83\00:12:37.83
and that is the God
is at the pinnacle power
00:12:37.86\00:12:41.50
and every thing
else is below him.
00:12:41.53\00:12:43.58
So, Peter subverts
the power structures
00:12:43.61\00:12:48.67
of the Roman Empire
while at the same time telling
00:12:48.70\00:12:54.29
the Christian people to submit
to these power structures.
00:12:54.32\00:13:00.00
It's amazing.
00:13:00.03\00:13:01.45
You know, he
subverts the power structures
00:13:01.48\00:13:04.41
while at the same time telling
people to be good citizen.
00:13:04.44\00:13:09.14
Well, why don't we
talk more about this--
00:13:09.17\00:13:11.33
this power structure and
submitting to authorities
00:13:11.36\00:13:15.08
after we take a short
break and we'll be right back.
00:13:15.11\00:13:18.44