"Peter, Feed My Sheep” (19 Of 20)

Illus: This passage reminds me of the story of the fellow that went to the doctor. The doctor examined him closely, and told the patient, "I have some bad news and also some real bad news to tell you. But before I can tell you the bad news and the very bad news, you will first have to pay me.”

He said, “All right, I will write out a check right now.” And he did.

The patient said, "Doctor, tell me the bad news first."

The doctor said, "The bad news is that you are going to die.

The patient said, "Good grief, what could be worse news than that?"

The doctor said, "The very bad news is, you probably will not live to get home!”

In our text, as Peter continues to warn God's people, he tells the bad news, and then some very bad news.

But before he shares the bad news, he shares some very good news with them.

WHAT IS THE GOOD NEWS?

I. THE LORD KNOWS HOW TO DELIVER THE GODLY OUT OF TEMPTATIONS

In the last message (verses 3b-8), Peter gave examples of how God delivered the godly out of temptation.

A. HE GAVE THE EXAMPLE OF NOAH

Look at verse 5. We read, “And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness…”

The people of Noah’s generation were exceedingly wicked.

Look at Genesis 6:5. We read, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

This verse plainly tells us how terrible the sin of Noah’s day was - “…every imagination…was only evil continually.”

Yet, in the midst of all of this, God saw one righteous man whose name was Noah.

Look at Genesis 6:8. It says, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."

When God sent judgment in the form of that terrible flood, killing every evil person alive in that day, He DELIVERED THIS righteous man, Noah, and his family.

He KNEW exactly how to do it, and He did it! He gave us the example of Noah, but also-

B. HE GAVE THE EXAMPLE OF LOT

Look at verse 7, we read, "And delivered just Lot..." The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were cesspools of sin. Lot had chosen to live in the fertile valley where these cities were.

The Bible says in Genesis 13:12, "Lot…pitched his tent toward Sodom.”

He not only pitched his tent in their direction, but Peter lets us know that he lived very close to these sodomites!

Look at 2 Peter 2:8. “For that righteous man DWELLING AMONG THEM, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.”

Notice the Bible says his living among these sodomites “…Vexed his righteous soul…”

The word "vexed" is translated from the word that means: "To torture."

A righteous man does not enjoy being around sin. It is pure TORTURE for him.

Lot chose to live in Sodom because he thought it might be more profitable for his herds, but he was very unhappy there.

God was so displeased with the sin of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, that He chose to turn them to ashes.

But before judgment fell, God made sure that Lot had a chance to escape.

The Bible is right; GOD KNOWS HOW TO DELIVER THE GODLY FROM THE TEMPTATIONS THEY FACE EACH DAY!

The Bible is full of accounts of God delivering His people from all kinds of temptation, when they would let Him.

The Lord not only knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, but-

II. THE LORD KNOWS HOW TO RESERVE THE UNJUST UNTO THE DAY OF JUDGMENT TO BE PUNISHED

Look at verse 9. 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.”

This wicked society is living in sin in such a way, that we are bewildered as to why the Holy God of heaven does not send down fire and brimstone and destroy this society.

But God’s day of vengeance is coming. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:19, "…Vengeance is mine: I will repay, saith the Lord."

The Bible gives us a little insight as to how God intends to take care of the wicked.

Look at Isaiah 47:3. We read, "Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.”

Notice, two things in this verse:

• No matter what sin you try to hide, God says He is going to uncover all THY NAKEDNESS one day, and all will be ashamed of their unrighteousness. We will see ourselves as God sees us.