"Peter, Feed My Sheep” (18 Of 21)

Why? There are several reasons.

(1) Often when preachers select one verse they will take it out of context.

That is, in order to properly interpret scriptures we need to know:

• What comes before the verse

• What comes after the verse

• Why it was written

• To whom it was written

These are only a few things we have to consider, so we may interpret scripture correctly.

(2) Another reason most Bible preachers do not like to select just one verse for a text is because they like to load people’s spiritual “plates” down with as much spiritual food as they can get on them.

However, many verses are so rich that it takes a whole sermon to deal with them.

Such is the case in 2 Peter 2:9, our text for this message.

We read, “THE LORD KNOWETH HOW to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”

Look at the words, “The Lord KNOWETH HOW...”

WHY DOES IT SEEM STRANGE TO READ THIS? Because we know that the Lord KNOWS HOW TO DO ANYTHING and EVERYTHING!

Illus: The song writer had it right years ago when he said, “My God can do anything, anything, anything...”

We know God can do ANYTHING!

All you have to do is look at this beautiful planet we live on each day, and any intelligent person can only conclude THAT GOD CAN DO ANYTHING!

Scientists have debated for centuries about how this all came into existence.

Listen, if they really wanted to know, all they would have to do is turn their Bibles to Genesis 1:1, which tells us, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”

Illus: God knew how to take the water and mountains, weigh them in His hands, and place them exactly where they should be so that the earth is precisely balanced as it rotates on its axis.

Look at Isaiah 40:12. We read, “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?”

Notice that the word “hand” is singular, it did not take two hands, only one of his hands, to measure the oceans, lakes, ponds, and all the creeks. He did the same thing with the mountains.

The Word of God is absolutely correct, GOD KNOWETH HOW TO DO ANYTHING.

However, we need to ask ourselves something. If this is such an obvious fact, why does the Word of God have to proclaim this?

It is because we all say that we agree that the LORD KNOWS HOW TO DO EVERYTHING, BUT EVERYONE DOES NOT REALLY BELIEVE IT!

There are people in this congregation, yes, even Christians, who do not really believe that God knows how to do everything and anything!

WHY DO I SAY THAT?

As soon as they face the turmoil of life, you would never know that they were children of God. Why? They worry, and take things into their own hands the same way lost people do.

THE BIBLE TELLS US THE LORD KNOWS HOW!

This verse teaches us TWO things He knows how to do.

I. GOD KNOWS HOW TO DELIVER HIS SAINTS

Look at 2 Peter 2:9 again. We read, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations...”

This verse of scripture is written in the Bible especially for Christians, so that we might know that He knows - “...how to DELIVER THE GODLY OUT OF TEMPTATIONS...”

Look at several things in this clause.

Look at the word “deliver.”

It is just another word among thousands of words. But, when we find ourselves entrapped by something, it becomes the most important word in our vocabulary. For example,

• When the soldier falls into the hands of an enemy and becomes a prisoner of war, the word “DELIVER” becomes the most important word in his vocabulary.

• When a man suffers financial loss and begins to lose everything he has ever worked for, the word “DELIVERANCE” becomes the most important word in his vocabulary.

• When we lose our health and go from doctor to doctor, we are trying to find a doctor that can DELIVER us from the disease that has attacked our bodies.

Also, to Christians, the word “DELIVERANCE” is one of the most important words in our vocabulary. Why?

(1) We are TRAPPED IN A FLESHLY BODY that desires to sin.

We need a God who can DELIVER us from the temptation of sin. But another reason we need someone to deliver us is:

(2) We are TRAPPED IN A WORLD that is full of all kinds of “temptations”, and we need deliverance.