Book of 1 Peter, Ch. 2 - 12/05/2021

1 Peter 2, beginning at verse 13. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, for the

Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto the governors, or as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

For so is the will of God, that with well -doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Now for me at least, these three verses present what might be the most difficult task for me to complete, especially when we look at the current state of leadership in this country.

However, it is the will of God that we do that.

I'm going to re -read it. And just kind of look before we go any further, and then what it's saying.

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.

For so is the will of God, that with well -doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

As free, and not using your liberty as a cloak for maliciousness, but as the servants of God, honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear

God, honor the king, servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the fraud.

For this is thanksworthy, if a man for conscious toward God endure grief, suffering wrongly, for what glory is it, if when you be buffeted for your faults you shall take it patiently?

But if when you do well, and you suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

For even hereunto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in His steps.

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Who, when

He was reviled, reviled not again when He suffered. He threatened not, but committed

Himself to Him that judgeth righteously, who

His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes we are healed.

For ye were sheep going astray, but now are returned unto the shepherd and the bishop of your souls.

Let us pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to meet again here today, person to person, and also for giving us the technology that we can reach out and touch those people that cannot be here today for whatever reason.

Bless and keep us. Go through the services today. Put Your blessing on us and put

Your blessing on Your Word. Thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit that will allow us, will help us to understand what

You have in store for us. And let every person here, whether in person or on the

World Wide Web, get exactly the message You want them to get.

Thank You for making it Your responsibility that they get the message, not mine.

Because if it were up to me, I could never speak so eloquently that I would bring anybody to You.

But thankfully, the Holy Spirit does not rely on me. He only asks me to do what

I do. And He will take care of the rest. Bless us and keep us. Go through all the services today.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, I told you at the very beginning that this was a hard passage for me to submit myself to every ordinance of man for the

Lord's sake. Now the motivation for the obedience is not to avoid punishment, but is for the

Lord's sake. I want to read that verse again. I've read that and read that and it never occurred to me the primary point of this part of a sentence.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man. Okay, I got that. But for whose sake?

For my sake? For the Lord's sake. That's why we should submit to every ordinance of man, not to avoid punishment.

It's for the Lord's sake. To honor God who ordained human government,

Christians are to observe man -made laws carefully as long as those laws do not conflict with the clear teaching of the

Scripture. If we're told something clearly in the Scripture and we understand it and we're asked by powers above us, earthly powers above us, to do something different than what the

Scripture tells us, we've got to ignore that commandment. But as long as the laws do not conflict with the clear teaching of the

Scriptures, we're to do them. Now there's an example of this exception involving

Peter and John in Acts 3 -4.

I want to read a little bit of Acts 3 starting at verse 1 and then I want to go to the basics of this passage a little bit later.

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple.

So there he is laying on the door of the temple. He is there to ask the people that went into the temple to give him something.

Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked alms. And Peter fastened his eyes upon him with John and said,

Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

So he asked for alms. They said, Look at me. And so he looked at him, and he's got his hand out.

He wants something, right? Then Peter said, Silver and gold have

I none, but such as I have, I give thee.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

Now, you notice something. He didn't say, Rise up and walk. He didn't say,

I, Peter, command you to rise up and walk. He didn't say, I, we,

Peter and John, command you to rise up and walk. He says, By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

He gave credit to the great healer. He was not a healing preacher. He was a preacher that taught a healing

God. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up.

And immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength. Do you think had

Peter not picked up the man and lifted him up, do you think this miracle would have occurred?

I don't think so. I think Peter had a role to play. I think he had to do the lifting. He lifted the man up.

And when he lifted the man up, what happened? God healed him. He could have healed him.

God could have healed him without Peter and John. And immediately he took him by the right hand and lifted him up.

And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaped up and stood and walked and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising

God. And how many people walked by him just five minutes earlier as he was laying on the door of the temple asking alms, some of which gave him presents and some didn't.

But everybody saw him. He asked everybody that went in. And now he is doing what?

He's not just walking. He's walking and leaping and praising God. He knows where his salvation, his healing came from.

And they knew that he set up for alms at the beautiful gate of the temple. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to him.

And as the lame man, which was healed, held Peter and John, all the people ran unto them on the porch that is called

Solomon's, greatly wondering. Now that's the miracle that John and Peter performed at the temple.

We go down a little bit in Acts to chapter 4, verse 8.

And now Peter and John have been called before the temple masters, the leaders of the temple.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if this day we be examined for the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means is he made whole?

So if you got us here to talk with us about why this man was healed, you tell us.

You tell me. You tell John and I. You tell us by what power was he healed.

And then he tells them, Be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom

God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

Now he's talking about Jesus. This is the stone, which was set at naught by you builders, which has become the head of the corner.

Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

So what's your alternative? Your alternative is Jesus or nothing. Your alternative is

Jesus or nothing. If you don't accept Jesus, you won't be accepted.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled.

Peter's not talking like Peter the fisherman. And they marveled.

And they took knowledge of them, of Peter and John, that they had been with Jesus.

Okay, why are these unlearned men able to do what they're doing? Because they've been with Jesus.

They knew that. It's not enough to know. We're going to find out it's not enough to know.

I guess you got to know, but knowing is not enough. And that's the problem of people that study

Scripture. A lot of them study to know. But they don't study to know

Jesus. They study to know theology. And if that's what their goal is, that's what they'll know.

And if what their goal is to learn about Jesus, they'll learn that too.

But you know who sets your goal? You know who sets the goal of the scholars that study the

Scripture? God does. You don't. He's either got you studying because he wants you to learn about Jesus, or you're studying because you want to learn about religion.

And there's a difference. They took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus, but they didn't like it.

And beholding the man which was standing with them, they could say nothing against it. They can't say, you didn't do anything.

This man is standing there. The same man that they saw running in the temple. The same man that everybody in Jerusalem is talking about now.

Okay. So now what do they do? But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council...

Now who's the they? The they is John and Peter and the hill man.

And when they commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying,

What shall we do with these men? For it is indeed a notable miracle that hath been done by them, for that indeed a notable miracle has been done by them is manifest to all that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

Everybody knows that we can't deny it. But that it spread no further among the people.

Let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.

Okay. So they said, Okay. We're going to call them back in and tell them not to speak of Jesus' name anymore.

And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus.

And then verse 19. This is what we were going for the whole time. But Peter and John answered and said unto them,

Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto

God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak of the things which we have seen and heard.

Now, there's going to be another little passage in Luke, not

Luke, in Acts chapter 5, verse 29. I'm going to read it because in that passage,

Peter says more clearly what he just said there. Acts chapter 5, verse 29.

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said,

We ought to obey God rather than men. We ought to obey

God rather than men. Okay. I want to kind of sum up the first part of chapter 13.

Not chapter 13. Chapter 2, verse 13, first part. Half a verse to sum it up.

Though a Christian's true citizenship is in heaven. That's where all

Christian citizenship really exists. Not here in heaven. But he still must live in this world.

Until the Lord takes us out, we have to live in this world. And you must be an obedient citizen in this world to the extent that we can.

Brother David last week did a passage that I think I'm going to get to today. But it said basically this,

So far as it is within us, let us live at peace with all men. I have bungled that a good bit, but that's the gist of it.

As far as it is possible, be at peace with all men. Now, it's not always possible.

Sometimes you've got to be disobedient. But you've got to live in this world. And as much as you can, live as an obedient citizen.

So that God will be honored and glorified. Not so you won't be punished. You may still be punished.

But you live as an obedient citizen in this world so that God will be honored and glorified.

Rebellious conduct by a Christian brings dishonor on Christ. And that's so easy for us to do.

It is so easy for me to say, no, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to wear a mask when

I know that the holes in the mask are like this and the things that are being screened out are like that.

If I rebelled, I would be rebelling with regard to my knowledge of science, knowledge of the size of things, the size of the virus which you're trying to screen out to the size of the holes in the mask.

If you're breathing, the virus can get through. If you're not breathing, the virus can't.

You want a mask that works? A plastic bag over your head, tied tight. That will keep the virus out.

It will also keep the air out and you won't last very long. But it'll work for its purpose.

So I could say it is foolish. I've often thought about doing this. Out on the back of our ranch, there is a series of telephone poles, the big poles that have the double poles and the bars going across.

And when an animal dies out in the back, the buzzards come and sit on the post.

And I thought about taking a photograph of the buzzards on the post and saying,

Coronavirus, sitting on a mask, waiting to pounce. Just a place for the virus to rest.

But that's neither here nor there. I shouldn't have done that. You can edit that out. You can leave it on if you want to.

I am not ashamed of what I said. But I am trying not to be rebellious.

Okay. Rebellious conduct by Christian brings dishonor on Christ.

But this in no way implies that they must follow directions or directives that are in direct conflict with the commandments of God.

Now, if you've got one of those, when you're commanded to do something by the government that the

Scripture says you can't do, or you've got something the government says you can't do that the

Scripture says you can do, that's when you are within your

Christian right to refuse to submit. But submit, but refuse to submit graciously.

And then I had my little verse of Acts 5, which I'll read again. It's not too long. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said,

We ought to obey God rather than men. Okay. Now we're ready for the next part of verse 13 and the first part of verse 14.

I'm going to read the whole thing. 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.

Now this section of Peter makes many people believe that organized persecution had not yet reached into Asia Minor.

That they were not at this point killing Christians and feeding them the lions and all of that kind of thing.

That organized persecution through Roman laws had either not yet begun or had not yet reached the provinces of Asia Minor.

At this point, Christians were facing lies and verbal abuse, not torture and death.

Christians were still enjoying some protection from the legal system that commended those who obeyed the law.

So if you obeyed the law, the law said good things about you. So at this point, the believer's best defense against slanderous criticism was good behavior.

Christians are to live in obedience to every institute of civil and social order on the earth.

This includes obedience to the national government, to state government, to the police, and to judges.

Only when the government tries to force Christian to do what is against the law of God, explicitly stated in the

Scripture, should he refuse to submit. That's when you should refuse to submit. When the government is asking you to do something that the

Scripture says clearly and explicitly you shouldn't do, or to keep you from doing something the

Christian Scripture says you can do. And the Holy Spirit will help you to understand whether you're interpreting the

Scripture correctly or not. That doesn't mean you won't be punished. That doesn't mean you won't suffer abuse.

It only means you won't suffer abuse from the Creator, from God. He will be on your side.

And if God be for us, who can be against us? Verse 15,

For so is the will of God.

Evidently, at this point in time, Christians were being slandered and falsely accused of evil.

For Peter stresses that it's God's will that through excellent behavior they should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

Verse 16, As free, not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as servants of God.

Submission to lawful authority does not negate

Christian liberty. Civil laws should be freely obeyed, not out of fear, but because doing so is

God's will. Christian freedom is always conditioned by Christian responsibility and must never be used as a cloak or as a cover -up for evil.

You can't say, you look out around you and you see something going on that you know is wrong.

You know it's wrong, but the government says it's right. And you know it's wrong because you look at the

Scripture and the Scripture clearly tells you this is wrong. But the government says it's okay.

You can't say, well, I'll be protected by the government's edict since they told me

I got to do it, and since the Scripture tells me that I need to obey civil authorities, then I can just ignore what

I know is wrong. You can't do that. You can't use your submission to lawful authority can't be used as a cover -up for evil doing.

You've got to call it out. You've got to lay it out. You've got to spell it out. Because we live in liberty, but we also live...

It says servant, that word, but as servants to God. That word servant is a little stronger than somebody that brings coffee to your table at a restaurant.

That word is doulos. And that word means a bond slave of Christ.

So you're free, but you are free and you freely chose to live as the slave of God.

Now you need to understand something. If you're in this world and you're living, you're the slave of something. You're the slave of Satan, or you're the slave of God.

There is no other choice. If you think you're a free man, if you think you're...

I can't remember the guy's name that wrote Invictus. I thank whatever gods may be for my inconquerable soul.

I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. All of that, you're fooling yourself.

You're not the captain of anything. You're a slave. You're a slave of Satan, or you're a slave of God.

There's nothing else that you can be. Verse 17.

Oh, we're going faster than I thought. We may get through. Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear

God, honor the king. Now that word that is translated in the

King James Version as honor is in other versions translated as respect.

The same Greek word can be used to be translated as honor, value, esteem, respect.

So it says, honor all men. So who does it say to honor?

All men. Every man. Believers should be conscious of the fact that every human, every human, the good, the bad, and the ugly has been uniquely created in God's image.

So you should honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Now that's more than respect and honor.

That's love. That's love with a love that you can't love unless God gave you the ability to love that way.

That's love. That love is agape. That's love without a reason. You two are husband and wife.

You don't even know her. No, I know that you're husband and wife. And when you met her, you didn't fall in love with her the very first second that you met her, did you?

But you saw something there that brought you toward her and you begin to develop a love for her.

Is that right? And the love grew and grew and grew. And it gets to a point. It gets to a point where what they are doesn't define your love anymore.

You love them because you love them. You love them like God loves you without looking at their virtues.

When you first met her, she was younger. She was prettier. Okay, I will accept that.

I would have looked at her and said, she was prettier then, but you don't because you love her with a different kind of love than I would love her.

I would see her as a person that's grown gracefully and mature and is worthy of love.

But I wouldn't see what you see. I wouldn't love her like you do.

You love her like God loves you. We're to love the brothers as God loves us and we can't do that unless we belong to Him.

And that's all I was trying to say and I didn't mean to. I didn't embarrass you, did I? Okay.

Love the brotherhood of believers. Love your brothers and sisters in Christ.

God's family members should love each other the way God loves them. And that's hard to do.

It's not hard to do. It's impossible to do unless you belong to God. Now, third thing, fear

God. That doesn't mean to be afraid of God. That's a different word than be afraid.

That's be in awe and reverence. To be in awe. To be in reverence.

To reverence God. One can never truly honor people.

One can never truly respect people unless they first have reverence.

And honor the king. That's the same word used at the beginning. It's honor and respect due to all, but it's especially given to those that God has placed in you also.

I can say, well, I can honor and respect almost everyone, but what about these knuckleheads that are running the world today?

How can I love and honor them? It's hard to do. I've been dreading this passage for a while, and I actually have gone over this seven or eight times, and the more

I went through it, the more I said, okay, you've got to love, you've got to respect and honor everyone.

And understand that they may be bad. Nero was soon going to be emperor of Rome.

Nero is soon going to be killing Christians, and they still had to respect him.

Now, verse 18, servants, slaves, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only the good and gentle, but also the froward.

The word froward just means harsh. It means cruel, harsh, not very good masters.

Servants and slaves made up a high percentage of the early church. And undeserved punishment and suffering was common for these underlings.

Now, to be sure, there were some good and considerate masters, and it was probably pretty easy for the slaves of good and considerate masters to love their masters.

That would be probably pretty easy. Like it would be pretty easy for me to love and respect leaders that we have that are good leaders.

Peter challenged Christian slaves to submit.

Now, that word, interestingly, comes from the Greek word harsh.

I lost my place. Harsh comes from the Greek word... Oh, I misplaced it further, way further than I thought.

Skolios. Harsh is the Greek word, translated harsh, is skolios.

Do you know what skolios means? It means crooked or bent. And have you heard the word skoliosis?

You know what that is? That's a curvature of the spine. That word, the name for that condition came from this word, crooked, bent.

Verse 19, For this is thanksworthy, if a man fall conscious toward God, endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

For what glory is it, if ye, when buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently.

But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, then this is acceptable to God.

Let's try that again. No credit accrues for enduring punishment for doing wrong.

If I'm doing wrong and I'm caught doing wrong and I'm punished, I get no credit for enduring my punishment patiently.

When I was young and my mom decided that I was behaving so badly that she wanted to punish me, she would send me to get a switch.

Any of you guys ever had to do that? She sent me to cut my switch. I got to a point where I said, you know,

I can beat this. So I went down and I cut a switch. I cut a long switch.

And my idea was she would hold me by the hand like she normally did and take the switch and she would hit me and it would bend over and it wouldn't hurt.

My mother was smarter than me. She said, Bill, she said,

Billy, stand right over there. And she took her switch and she swung it.

And I think the tip of the switch was approaching the speed of sound because it created a great sound when it struck me.

And I learned quickly. Oh, she only hit me one time. And I learned quickly that when she sent me to get a stick, honor her and get the stick that she wanted to get.

I can still see that. It was like a rocket. But the fact that you endure punishment when you're doing wrong, you don't get no credit for that.

It is respectful submission to undeserved suffering that finds favor with God because such behavior demonstrates

His grace. Now look at verse 21.

This was difficult for me too. For even here unto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leading us an example that you should follow

His steps. Now, a couple of things you need to know. It says you were called.

See that? Were you called? Were you called? What were you called for?

Well, we were called to become part of His kingdom. And I know all that. We were called to be children of God.

But you know what it says here? For even here unto were you called. You were called to endure undeserved suffering.

You were called to endure undeserved suffering. And why were you called to do that?

Because people today can't see Christ, can they? What can they see? They can see

Christians. And when they see how you respond to undeserved criticism, to undeserved suffering, they see how

Jesus responded to undeserved suffering. For even here unto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leading us as an example that you should follow

His steps. Now, leading us as an example to what and how?

Leading us as an example of what? How to deal with undeserved suffering.

Not how to deal with deserved suffering. How to deal with undeserved suffering.

The same way that Christ would have dealt with it. We're to show how to behave with regard to undeserved suffering.

Now the word here, Peter supported the exaltation to the slaves by citing

Christ's example of endurance of unjust suffering. In the Williams translation, it renders the opening phrase of this verse,

For you have been called for this purpose, referring to the suffering for doing good.

You're called to endure suffering for doing good. Christians are called or elect to follow

Christ, to emulate His character and His conduct. And because He suffered for them, we should endure our unjust suffering the same way.

Now the word that's an example is a strange word. It's hippogrammon.

And what it literally means is a drawing or a writing by a student of something that his master has shown him.

It would be like as a teacher, I asked my students to draw a sketch of an airplane.

And they would draw a sketch of what they viewed as an airplane. So what we're doing is, the example we're doing is we're being an example of Christ's suffering for all the rest of the world to see because they can't see

Christ's suffering as we didn't see it either. None of us saw Christ's suffering. All we can view is how

Christians that are unjustly suffering, how they handle their suffering.

Now what does it say about Christ who did no sin? Neither was guile found in His mouth.

Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 53. Jesus committed no sin, either before or during His suffering.

He was completely innocent, both in deed and in word.

He did nothing wrong and He said nothing wrong. No deceit.

I Peter 1 chapter 2 verse 1 says, No deceit was found in His mouth.

So what did He do? Who when He was reviled, reviled not again. When He suffered,

He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.

He put His fate in His Father's hand. Christ was a perfect example of patient submission to unjust suffering.

This is the verse I told you I thought I'd get to. Romans 12, 17. This is the one that Brother David read last week in his presentation.

Romans 12, 17. Recompense no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

That word honest is honorable. Everything you do have to be honorable in the sight of men. If it be possible, as much as lieth within you, live peaceably with all men.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourself, but rather give place unto wrath.

For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the

Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink.

For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome evil, but overcome evil with good.

Now speaking as a human, humanly speaking, the provocation to retaliate, the provocation for Jesus to retaliate during His arrest, trial, and crucifixion was extreme.

Yet, here was a man that could have called down a legion of angels and put a stop to it all.

And he didn't. He suffered in silence, committed himself to God.

He left it to the Father to vindicate him. And that in the

Father's own good time. And for the Father's own purpose. We in this world must do the same.

Who by His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye are healed.

Now Peter explains why the one who could have destroyed his enemies with a word, in fact, didn't do that.

He could have destroyed his enemies with a word. He didn't do that. He patiently endured the pain and the humiliation of the cross.

And he had to. And why did he have to? Because he was being justly judged by the

Father, not for what he did, not for what he said, but for what we did and what we said.

Because our sins, he took upon himself, and he suffered and died for our sins so that we could be given protection from our sins.

They've been paid for. Paid in full, it said. And we have access to His glory and His honor as well.

So it's a double. Our sins are paid for by God, and Jesus gives

His honor and glory, some of it to us.

And by the way, the general reference to salvation is what we're talking about here.

His wounds you have healed, that's not, I think I've said that already, that's not physical wounds, that's spiritual wounds.

He's talking about salvation. The salvation that we have is the result of the stripes and the suffering that Jesus did on the cross.

And verse 25, For ye were as sheep going astray, but now are returned unto the shepherd and the bishop of your souls.

Christ not only set the example and provides the salvation, but He also gives us guidance and protection.

Guidance and protection to those of us who are heading away, heading away like sheep going astray, and then are turned around to the shepherd and the overseer.

The shepherd and overseer stress Christ's matchless guidance and management of those who commit

Himself to His care. And then one last passage I'm going to read, and it's going to be about the shepherd seeking out his sheep.

This is in Ezekiel 34, beginning at verse 11. Thus saith the

Lord God, Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out.

As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day, that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will

I seek out my sheep, and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

And I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their own land and feed them upon the holy mountains of Israel by the rivers and in all inhabited places of the country.

I will feed them in good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their foal be.

There they shall lie in a good foal, in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which is lost.

I will bring it again, that which is driven away, and bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.

But I will destroy the fat and the strong, and I will feed them with judgment. Now that passage really is talking about Israel in the

Millennial Kingdom, but it also is applicable to all of God's children. Jesus, like a good shepherd, an overseer, will go out into His flock, seek them out, find them, and turn them back to Him and take them to good pasture.

Any comments or questions? If not, yes,

I am done for today. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank You for all the many blessings that You have given us.

Thank You for allowing us to meet in person once again, and thank You for giving us the technology that we have to reach out.

Bless us and keep us. Go through the other services today and bring Your glory and Your honor upon them.