"Peter, Feed My Sheep" (9 Of 21)

He made it clear that these things in the remaining part of the chapter apply to "ALL". He admonished them in verse 8, to:

(1) "All" be of one mind

(2) "All" have compassion

(3) "All" to love as brethren

(4) "All" be tenderhearted and humble in mind

Again in this passage, he is addressing everyone as he shows us the different kinds of relationships we face in the Christian life.

For example, let us look at-

I. OUR RELATIONSHIP TO SIN

Look at verses 11-12. We read, "Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."

We, as Christians, are to have a different attitude toward sin than the LOST WORLD.

What kind of attitude should we have? Look at Verse 11. We are to “Eschew evil”. The word “Eschew” is the Greek word, “Ekklino” which means to shun, to avoid, to decline.

We are to “Eschew evil” for two reasons.

A. BECAUSE SIN DESTROYS

Have you ever seen anyone that played with snakes? If you are a sensible person, your first thought is this, “WHY ARE THEY PLAYING WITH SOMETHING AS DANGEROUS and DEADLY AS A SNAKE?”

This is the kind of reaction we Christians should have with sin.

God tells us that as Christians, our eyes to sin have been opened and we should develop a hatred for sin, BECAUSE WE RECOGNIZE SIN WILL DESTROY!

Illus: Samson played with Delilah, but Delilah was not playing with Samson.

Many children may think that parents sit down with a piece of paper and make lists of all the things that they can imagine their children shouldn’t do, just to make their lives as miserable as they can make them. But the only reason these loving parents tell their children not to do certain things is because they love them. They know that there are things out there that can bring misery and death to their lives.

For example, a loving dad tells his son, "Do not put your finger in that electric light socket!" Why? Because that dad knows what will happen if they do such a thing, and they do not want their child hurt. This dad is saying this, not to make this child’s life miserable, but to keep him from becoming miserable.

When God created man He did not just randomly decide certain things would or would not be sin.

When God tells us not to do something, it is because in His wisdom, He knows it will hurt us or even shorten our lives.

SIN DESTROYS. It destroys happiness and lives.

Illus: We should avoid sin just as we would avoid someone with a contagious, deadly disease.

But another reason we should "Eschew evil" is-

B. BECAUSE SIN DISPLEASES

Look at verse 12b, we read, “... but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."

God hates sin, but He loves righteousness.

The Word of God says, “...the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers...”

Did you know, I can’t do one good deed without God seeing it?

Illus: Every time one of His children does a good deed He is like a proud father; His face lights up with joy.

On the other hand, when we do something evil, God sees it, and the Bible says, “...the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.”

Peter also tells us that when we disobey God, He will not hear our prayers. He hears the prayers of the obedient, “…and his ears are open unto their prayers.”

Our relationship to sin is that we "shun" it like a plague, because we know that it DESTROYS and it DISPLEASES God the Father.

This should be our relationship with sin. We should strive to stay away from it as far as possible. But let us look at-

II. OUR RELATIONSHIP TO OUR ENEMIES

Look at verses 13-14. We read, "And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy. are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled."

People display two kinds of reactions to a righteous life.

A. SOME ADMIRE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

The Bible says in verse 13, "And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?"

There are people around us who know they are displeasing God the Father. They have nothing but admiration for those who joyfully serve the Lord.

Illus: One Christian man has two grown sons. One of the sons faithfully serves the Lord. The other lives for himself and the world. He has no room in his life for God. However, this rebellious man made this statement about his Christian brother, "My brother has shown me one thing: you can be a Christian and have a good time serving the Lord."