Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 24

 We Believers are to show Respect to all People for Christ Sake

1 Peter 2:17-20 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. KJV Note: ESV=English Standard Version

The idea of any person honoring or paying respect to men 🚹 or women 🚺 who desire to hurt or even kill them goes against the sinful nature that every one of us human beings are born with. However, the Kingdom of Christ and God is different, for God calls His adopted sons and daughters to respect all of humanity, even those who hate Him and His children 🧒. The Apostle Peter just finished telling those scattered Jewish converts to our Lord Jesus Christ and it is likewise written to we converts to Christ today and those of every era to submit to human rulers for the Lord's Sake alone, so now he continues on to declare to them and to us these words, "Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God." (1 Peter 2:17-20) (KJV). Some might ask, Why is this God's command to us? The answer is because God is the Creator of all human beings and He sees all human motives and actions down to every detail and He is the avenger of that which is done with evil motive and intent against we His children as He writes to us through Paul the Apostle with these words, "Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:17-21) (ESV). I must say that this is a hard teaching for me and it has been so ever since my Lord Jesus Christ saved me over 19 years ago, however, I have submitted myself to this truth and continue to do so by the grace that I pray for from my Father in Heaven that I may be enabled by Him and His grace to do His will.

It has been right at 2 weeks since I penned my last commentary/Bible Study and during that time period someone tried to assassinate the former President of the United States Donald Trump. What ever you think of the man 👨, whether he truly belongs to Jesus Christ or not, he has shown remarkable restraint in his verbal commentary since the event of July 13, 2024. I sight this because our Lord Jesus Christ is saying to us through Peter and through Paul above to give these people over to God that His wrath against such evil as this will be done against every human instrument responsible directly or indirectly with carrying out such a blatant act of violent evil against the former President. You can be sure and certain that God/Jesus knows all the details of the plot, purpose, and plan carried out on that day. So, when you see such an act of intentional violence carried out, you know that the person and other people responsible for this act of violence had and have no honor for all men and women, for two other people in that crowd that day were seriously injured by bullets and one man lost his life shielding and protecting his wife and daughter from bullets. The Apostle Peter tells us to honor all men and to even honor the king 👑 and in our case here in the United States that means the current President and even former Presidents. The English word 'honor' Peter uses here is translated by the Greek word timaō meaning to prize, that is, fix a valuation upon; by implication to revere: - honour, value. All men 🚹 and women 🚺 are made in the image of God. If all of humanity would look at one another in this very manner, then there would not be violent conflicts or wars or any such things as these, but we know that this is impossible with man being separated from God by sin. During the time in which the Apostle Peter lived human slavery was a common thing, that is, some human beings owning other human beings was prevalent throughout the land. The Apostle Peter (by inspiration of the Holy Spirit) commands born again slaves or domestic household servants to be subservient to their master's will and commands whether the master is kind or unkind. Why? For the Lord's sake fearing that He would be displeased by their/our conduct, remember what Paul wrote to brother Titus, "Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior." (Titus 2:9-10)(ESV). In so responding in this manner of having a complete desire of  pleasing our Father in Heaven when we suffer unjustly because we are simply obeying His Word which is His will, however, when we ourselves sin against our Father in Heaven, there is no honor for us in patiently persevering in our trials, trouble, and tribulation for our sin, but only a quick response of repentance and turning away from that which is evil and back to the truth of God found in the Word of God and being cleansed by the powerful grace of God, as it is written for us by the Apostle John with these words, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. Whoever says 'I know Him' but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in Him, but whoever keeps His Word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in Him: whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked." (1 John 1:9 - 2:6) (ESV).

Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of 1 Peter 2:17-20, "The Apostle concludes his discourse concerning the duty of subjects with four admirable precepts: - (1.) Honour all men. A due respect is to be given to all men; the poor are not to be despised (Proverbs 17:5); the wicked must be honoured, not for their wickedness, but for any other qualities, such as wit, prudence, courage, eminency of employment, or the hoary head. Abraham, Jacob, Samuel, the prophets, and the apostles, never scrupled to give due honour to bad men. (2.) Love the brotherhood. All Christians are a fraternity, united to Christ the head, alike disposed and qualified, nearly related in the same interest, having communion one with another, and going to the same home; they should therefore love one another with an especial affection. (3.) Fear God with the highest reverence, duty, and submission; if this be wanting, none of the other three duties can be performed as they ought. (4.) Honour the king with that highest honour that is peculiarly due to him above other men. II. The case of servants wanted an apostolical determination as well as that of subjects, for they imagined that their Christian liberty set them free from their unbelieving and cruel masters; to this the apostle answers, Servants, be subject, 1 Peter 2:18. By servants he means those who were strictly such, whether hired, or bought with money, or taken in the wars, or born in the house, or those who served by contract for a limited time, as apprentices. Observe, 1. He orders them to be subject, to do their business faithfully and honestly, to conduct themselves, as inferiors ought, with reverence and affection, and to submit patiently to hardships and inconveniences. This subjection they owe to their masters, who have a right to their service; and that not only to the good and gentle, such as use them well and abate somewhat of their right, but even to the crooked and perverse, who are scarcely to be pleased at all. Learn, (1.) Servants ought to behave themselves to their masters with submission, and fear of displeasing them. (2.) The sinful misconduct of one relation does not justify the sinful behaviour of the other; the servant is bound to do his duty, though the master be sinfully froward and perverse. (3.) Good people are meek and gentle to their servants and inferiors. Our holy apostle shows his love and concern for the souls of poor servants, as well as for higher people. Herein he ought to be imitated by all inferior ministers, who should distinctly apply their counsels to the lower, the meaner, the younger, and the poorer sort of their hearers, as well as others. 2. Having charged them to be subject, he condescends to reason with them about it. (1.) If they were patient under their hardships, while they suffered unjustly, and continued doing their duty to their unbelieving and untoward masters, this would e acceptable to God, and he would reward all that they suffered for conscience towards him; but to be patient when they were justly chastised would deserve no commendation at all; it is only doing well, and suffering patiently for that, which is acceptable with God, 1 Peter 2:19-20. Learn, [1.] There is no condition so mean but a man may live conscientiously in it, and glorify God in it; the meanest servant may do so. [2.] The most conscientious persons are very often the greatest sufferers. For conscience towards God, they suffer wrongfully; they do well, and suffer for it; but sufferers of this sort are praiseworthy, they do honour to God and to religion, and they are accepted of him; and this is their highest support and satisfaction. [3.] Deserved sufferings must be endured with patience: If you are buffeted for your faults, you must take it patiently. Sufferings in this world are not always pledges of our future happiness; if children or servants be rude and undutiful, and suffer for it, this will neither be acceptable with God nor procure the praise of men."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 23

 We Believers are to Submit to Human Statutes

1 Peter 2:13-16 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto 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 ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

The Apsotle Peter just finished telling us that we must subdue our old fleshly appetites by submitting and surrendering our entire selves to the leading and guiding of God the Holy Spirit who at all ⌚ times and always leads us into Biblical truth, as it is written, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:12-15) (NKJV). Now we find the Apostle Peter declaring to us that we must submit ourselves to all the statutes of man 👨, even those made by evil and wicked rulers, for at the time ⌚ of Peter penning this letter to the scattered Jewish born brothers and sisters 'in Christ', Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus was the Roman Emperor and he was one of the most vile, vicious, and violent haters of God notorious for his monstrous vice and fantastic luxury (was said to have started a fire that destroyed much of Rome in 64 A.D.). Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus hated all of the children 🧒 of God who had been born again by our Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter wrote these words to those other Jewish converts to our Lord Jesus Christ of whom many did not make it out of Judea and Jerusalem because they were murdered or martyred by Nero and the evil human instruments under his command, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto 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 ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God." (1 Peter 2:13-16) (KJV). We must always remember that no ruler or any people are in authority except God has allowed them to be, for He is ultimately the One who allows them into that position of authority and at any time ⌚ can and does remove them from their authoritarian positions. Therefore, when we submit to these human rulers, we are simply doing so for the 'Lord's sake' alone because He and His will is our only authority. The desire to please our Lord Jesus Christ never should cause us to seek the overthrow of human Governments at any level, for Christ did not come the first time to accomplish that, but He came to save sinners from their sin and from the wages of their sin which is eternal seperation from Him in hell and the lake of fire. Because Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus thought himself to be a god, the worship of the Romans during his time ⌚ of ruling was heavy into all of the occult practices and their alliance was clearly with God's enemy the devil 😈. This is why those Jewish Christians were so persecuted back then and why those of us of every era and generation since the Cross of Christ are likewise because everything is always spiritual warfare between those who truly belong to Jesus Christ our Lord and those who do not but are children of satan (1 John 3:8). Those who are still on the side of satan are so because of their ignorance, not their intellectual ignorance, for some are of the highest level of human intelligence on the planet 🌏, but their ignorance is that they don't know God (as we know Him personally through Christ) and that blinds them to all that is right, good, and holy in the site of God, as it is written, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:12-14) (NKJV). There are the men/women who are foolish and ignorant who are the natural ones being spoken of by Paul above and this same Apostle Peter described them in detail in his second letter with these words, "But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children." (2 Peter 2:12-14) (NKJV), but there are spiritual men/women who are taught truth by the Spirit of God.

Here is what the Expositor's Bible Commentary had to say of 1 Peter 2:13-16, "The Apostle now turns to one illustration of Christian behavior wherein the converts might be tempted to think themselves absolved from some portion of their duty. They were living under heathen rulers. Did their freedom in Christ release them from obligations to the civil powers? The question was sure to arise. St. Peter supplies both a rule and a reason: 'Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.' Christians, just as other men, hold their place in the commonweal. All that the state requires citizens to do in aid of good government, order, the support of institutions and the like, will fall upon them, as upon others. Whether the demands made upon them in this wise be always for ends of which they would approve; they are not to discuss so long as their rulers provide duly for the social order and welfare. This is the apostolic rule. The reason is men are to submit thus for the Lord’s sake. The powers that be are ordained of God, and He would have obedience yielded to them. The Bible knows nothing about forms of government; these are to be ordered as men at various times and under various conditions deem most helpful. But the Bible doctrine is that God uses all powers of the world for His own purposes and to work out His will. Of Pharaoh, who had deliberately despised God’s messages through Moses, the Divine voice declared that he would long ago have been cut off from the earth, but was made to stand that he might show God’s power, and that His name might be declared throughout all the earth; (Exodus 9:15-16) and of the Assyrian at a later day (Isaiah 10:10; Isaiah 10:12) God tells how he was used as the rod of the Divine anger, but that the fruit of his stout heart and the glory of his high looks would surely be punished. God employs for His ends instruments with which He is not always well pleased. These can inflict His penalties, yea, even may be made to advance His glory. Pilate was assured by Christ Himself that the power which he was about to exercise was only by Divine permission: 'Thou wouldest have no power against Me except it were given thee from above'; (John 19:11) and St. Paul enforces obedience to authorities equally with St. Peter: 'He that resisteth the power withstandeth the ordinance of God." (Romans 13:2) Be subject, therefore, 'whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise for them that do well.' The order under which these converts were living was superintended by some officer appointed by the Roman emperor, and to this the form of the Apostle’s words applies. The king is the Caesar; the governor is the procurator or subordinate official by whom the imperial power was represented in the provinces. When St. Peter wrote, Nero ruled in Rome, and was represented abroad by ministers often of a like character. How extreme must after this be the case of those who would claim freedom to resist the rulers under whom they live. God has allowed them to stand, He is using them for His own purposes, they may be the ministers of His vengeance, and to Him alone does vengeance belong, He intends them also to recognize the merit of the doers of good. It may be that they do not fulfill God’s intent in either wise, yet while He suffers them to keep their power the Christian’s duty is obedience to every civil enactment, for anarchy would be a curse both to him and to others, bringing in its train more hurt than help. When Christians shall be found among those who abide by the law of the lands wherein they dwell, even should their faith not be accepted by their rulers, their good citizenship will hardly fail to disarm hatred and abate persecution. And so they are to range themselves ever on the side of order. 'For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.' For this end believers are to abide in the world, that through them the world may be renewed. The opponents of their faith suffer, says the Apostle, from lack of knowledge. As he says in another place, 'they rail in matters whereof they are ignorant.' (2 Peter 2:12) Had men known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; and did they know, they would not persecute His followers. But knowledge will not come without a preacher. Such preachers of the excellence of their faith shall the law-abiding Christians in each community be made. They shall publish the lessons of their own experience; they shall win favor by their example. The world will recognize that these men have a secret which others do not possess, will find that they yield obedience to earthly rulers because they are above all things servants of God. It was through convicting them of their ignorance that Jesus put the Sadducees to silence. 'Ye do err,' was His argument, 'not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.' (Matthew 22:34) And when men are made sensible of such ignorance, they are silenced forever. (1 Corinthians 15:34) This word 'silenced' is very expressive both in the Gospel and here. It implies that a bridle or muzzle is put upon the mouth of ignorance, so that it may either be guided into a better way, or, if not so, be checked from doing harm. For some there are who not only will be ignorant, but foolish also, whom no teaching will profit. But even these will in the end be silenced. So, as says the brother Apostle, 'be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.' (Rom_12:21) The first part of the Apostle’s exhortation in our verse had in view, it may be more especially the Gentile converts. Their past life had been one of evil-doing in the sight of God; those whom they had left, and who were most likely to be their adversaries, were still walking in the same ways, and were to be won over and conquered for Christ. He now turns more directly to those who had been Jews. These were no longer bound to the observance of the ceremonial law, and we know from the New Testament as well as from Church history that with this release there were exhibited in the lives of many such excesses as made them a disgrace to the Christian name. We find much about these in the Second Epistle. St. Peter would not keep the Jewish converts under the burden of the Law, but he warns them against their besetting danger: 'as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.' There were bad Jews, even as there have been bad Christians. These would welcome a rule which set them at liberty from the Mosaic observances, to which their adherence aforetime had been in outward seeming rather than in earnest zeal. To these St. Peter preaches that to lay aside Judaism is not to embrace Christianity. The Leader of the new faith had ever taught a different lesson. He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it, and to set forth God’s will in a nobler aspect. Those who would follow Him must take up the Cross. His service is a yoke which restrains from all evil. Those who come to Christ come as bondservants of God, free only because they are bound to the observance of the noblest law. They must lay aside the flesh, with its affections and lusts, and not vindicate their freedom by using it as an occasion to riot and self-indulgence."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…