Unlikely Leaders

Our Duty to the Government

The apostle outlined the attitude that believers should have toward civil authorities. “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” ULe 191.5

Those who were servants were to remain obedient to their masters, “for this is commendable,” the apostle explained, “if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. ... Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in His steps: ‘Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.” ULe 191.6

The apostle encouraged the women in the faith to be modest. “Do not let your adorning be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” ULe 191.7

The lesson applies in every age. In the life of the true Christian the outward adorning is always in harmony with the inward peace and holiness. Self-denial and sacrifice will mark the Christian’s life. In the way we dress, people will see evidence that our choices are converted. It is right to love beauty and desire it, but God wants us to love first the highest beauty, the one that is imperishable—the “fine linen, white and clean” (Revelation 19:14), that all the holy ones of earth will wear. This robe of Christ’s righteousness will make them beloved here and will be their badge of admission to the palace of the King. ULe 191.8

Looking ahead to the dangerous times that the church was about to enter, the apostle wrote: “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you” (NRSV). Trial is to purify God’s children from the impurities of earthliness. It is because God is leading His children that hard experiences come to them. Trials and obstacles are His chosen methods of discipline and the condition of success. Some people have qualifications that, rightly directed, they could use in His work. He brings these followers of His into various situations and circumstances where they can discover the defects they don’t even know they have. He gives them opportunity to overcome these defects. Often He permits the fires of affliction to burn so that they may be purified. ULe 192.1

God permits no affliction to come to His children except what is essential for their good now and eternally. Everything that He brings in test and trial comes so that they may gain deeper devotion and greater strength to carry forward the victories of the cross. ULe 192.2

There had been a time when Peter was unwilling to see the cross in the work of Christ. When the Savior made known His approaching sufferings and death, Peter exclaimed, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (Matthew 16:22). It was a bitter lesson, one that he learned slowly—that the path of Christ on earth went through agony and humiliation. Now, when his once-active body was stooped with the burden of years, he could write, “Beloved, ... rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” ULe 192.3