Feed My Sheep” (7 Of 21)

He said, "I bet you I can!” He tilted his head back and placed the raw oyster on his tongue and let it slide down. He said, “Now give me the five dollars.”

This lady was DETERMINED that she was going to get her money back plus more. She said, "I'll bet you ten dollars you cannot keep it down for five minutes." He said, "I will take that bet also."

After about a minute, with a puzzled look on her face, she said, "That's really amazing, I do not see how you do it. I swallowed that same oyster three times and it would not stay down.” When she said that, up came that oyster. That woman was determined to win her bet, and she did.

Nothing that is really worth while can be acquired without some exercise of DETERMINATION, and many things require a great deal of DETERMINATION.

For one thing, a good marriage requires a great deal of determination. Proverbs 18:2 says, “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing...”

Illus: Now while perhaps some of you ladies may not want to be called a “thing”, the message is still clear. God’s Word says, “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing…”

Illus: A man was asked why he called his wife, “Sweet thing.” He said, "It is because when she pleases me I call her "Sweet Thing" but when she does not please me I just call her “Thing.”

The greatest thing a man can find in his life next to salvation is a godly wife.

Contrary to what some believe, God's Word lets us know that Peter was not only a GODLY man, he was a MARRIED man.

The Bible clearly states he was a married man. Look at Matthew 8:14. We read, “And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.”

The Bible tells us he was married, but even if the Bible did not tell us he was married, as you read his writings you know he was a married man. Peter knew some things about marriage that a lot of married men today do not seem to know.

Notice how he tells a husband he is to treat his wife. Look at 1 Peter 3:7. We read, “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered.”

Notice these words, “…dwell with them according to knowledge…” Peter instructs the husbands to dwell with their wives with a certain acquired knowledge.

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY PETER SPEAKS TO MEN ABOUT KNOWLEDGE? It is because some men do not have enough sense to have a wife. Some men treat their dog better than they treat their wife.

Illus: Some husbands remind us of the little girl that was showing her friend their new house. She showed her the den, and the little girl said, “Why do you call it a den?” She said, “I reckon because my father sits in his chair and growls at my mother all the time.”

The reason some women are leaving their husbands today, is because of the physical and verbal abuse they are constantly having to endure. But when a man treats his wife with common decency and respect, you couldn’t run her off.

Some of these men will take the family income and selfishly spend it on themselves. Then, when they come home drunk and the wives say something about their condition, or about spending the family’s income on themselves, they want to slap them around.

When, after several years of living with a bum like this, the wife can’t take anymore and leaves him, he has not got enough sense to realize why she left him.

Divorce courts across this land are booked to overflowing capacity, and many of the cases involve husbands who have not acquired sufficient knowledge of how to hold a marriage together.

What is this acquired knowledge? It is:

I. KNOWLEDGE OF A POSITION

The husband has a vital position in the home.

Illus: We have some men running around like tomcats, and they think that the only the reason God placed them here on earth is to be sperm donors.

No! God placed him in the home because he has a position to fill.

(1) He is a DWELLER (Not a forsaker)

Notice the foundation of this knowledge. Peter says, “... dwell with them…. ”

Today the attitude seems to be, try it and if you do not like it, leave!

A young couple should never enter a marriage until they are willing to say, “We are going to get married and we are determined we are going to stay married!”