"Peter, Feed My Sheep” (5 Of 21)

Illus: This is exactly what a young lady in college did when she was having problems with her grades and finances. She dreaded having to inform her parents of her situation, so she composed this letter:

“Dear Mom and Dad, I just thought I’d drop you a note to let you know of my plans. I've fallen in love with a guy named Jim. He quit school due to some trouble he had with the law. About a year ago he got a divorce from his third wife. Jim has a paper route, and has a very hard time providing for his nine children, but things will get better. We've been going steady for six weeks, and plan go get married in the fall. Until then, I've decided to move into his apartment since I think I am pregnant.”

“At any rate, I knew you would be glad to hear that I am doing so well. I have decided to drop out of college for now, although I'd like to finish sometime in the future.”

Her parents received this letter and they were devastated as they read it, but on the bottom of the page, the daughter had written, "Please turn over." The second page stated:

“Mom and Dad, I just want you to know that everything you read on the first page is false. NONE of it is true. But Mom and Dad, it IS true that I got a C in French, and flunked math. It IS true that I'm going to need some more money for my tuition payments.”

This young lady was sharp enough to know that bad news can sound like good news if it is compared to something worse.

God told Peter, “Feed My Sheep”, and before he fed them the GOOD THINGS he gives them an appetizer to prepare them for the main course.

For example, in verse 9, he told them they were, "A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people... ".

But also in verse 9 he tells them why they were blessed this way, “... that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”

God has always wanted a people who would let their light shine out to a lost world.

Look at verse 12, we read, “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

But let us look at verses 13-25. In these verses he begins to feed God’s sheep some spiritual meat and potatoes. The first thing he wants to talk to them about is-

I. OUR SUBMISSION

Look at verses 13-14, we read, “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.”

Notice, OUR SUBMISSION is not to be determined by whether or not we like the person we are supposed to submit too. Our submission is determined by our love for Him who commanded us to do it.

Submission is a very vital part of the Christian life. Peter shows us four basic ways we are to submit:

(A) WE ARE TO SUBMIT TO ORDINANCES

We are to submit to, "every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake." Notice the words “every ordinance.” Peter is acknowledging that we must accept the good with the bad.

Illus: For example, in our country we have freedom of speech. But we realize that this freedom is not just for Christians. If it were, then it could not be said that we have freedom of speech for everyone. There are times we would like to silence those who do not think the way we think, but if everyone had their way, then no one could express their views on anything. But we have to remember, they also would like to silence us.

Likewise, Peter recognized that a society cannot choose which "laws" they are going to obey, and which laws they will disobey.

You will never find a nation whose laws you will agree with entirely, but as Christians it is unbecoming to the Lord, when we proudly strut before a lost world saying, "We serve the true and living King, and our Kingdom is not of this world, and we do not intend to obey these laws."

Illus: How would you feel toward an Ambassador that came from another country to our country, and violated every written law we have? We would have no use for such an ambassador or for the country he represented.