SILENCE THE IGNORANCE OF FOOLISH PEOPLE

1 PETER 2:13-17

Steve Shepherdhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=138370

1 Peter 2:13 NET Be subject to every human institution for the Lord's sake, whether to a

king as supreme 14 or to governors as those he commissions to punish

wrongdoers and praise those who do good. 15 For God wants you to silence the

ignorance of foolish people by doing good.

16 Live as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God's slaves. 17 Honor all people, love the family

of believers, fear God, honor the king.

Ignorant talk. There is a lot of that going around. Much of

it is in Hollywood. Here is some ignorant talk from foolish

people.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Are you religious?

JODIE FOSTER: No, I'm an atheist. But I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don't believe in God. We celebrate

pretty much every religion in our family with the kids. They love it, and when they say, ''Are we Jewish?'' or ''Are we Catholic?'' I say, ''Well, I'm

not, but you can choose when you're 18. But isn't this fun that we do seders and the Advent

calendar?''

Q: You're an atheist, I know. When did you settle on that philosophical position?

BILLY JOEL: Well, I wasn't raised Catholic, but I used to go to Mass with my friends, and I viewed the whole business as a lot of very

enthralling hocus-pocus. There's a guy hanging upon the wall in the church, nailed to a cross and dripping blood, and everybody's blaming themselves for that man's torment,

but I said to myself, "Forget it.

I had no hand in that evil. I have no original sin There's no blood of any sacred martyr

on my hands. I pass on all of this.”I had some Jewish guilt in me already -

which must have been genetically ingrained since I wasn't raised in a Hebraic religious setting - so I knew I definitely had no room

for Catholic guilt too.

"Then my mother took my sister and me to an Evangelical church, the Church of Jesus

Christ. I was baptized there at the age of twelve, and it was strictly hallelujah time.

But one day the preacher is up in the pulpit unfolding a dollar bill saying, "This is the

flag of the Jews." Whoa, fella! We left that flock.

(1982 book Rock Stars)

JOHN MALKOVICH: “I believe in people, I believe in humans, I believe in a car, but I

don’t believe something I have absolutely no evidence of for.” (NEWSMAX By Paul Bond)

BILL MAHER: “We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion.

I do believe that. I think that religion stops people from thinking. I think it justifies crazies. I think flying planes into a building was a faith-

based initiative.

I think religion is a neurological disorder. If you look at it logically, it's something that

was drilled into your head when you were a small child. It certainly was drilled into mine

at that age. And you really can't be responsible when you are a kid for what

adults put into your head.”(told to host Joe Scarborough)

GEORGE CARLIN: I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood. Also, I’ve begun worshiping the Sun for a number of reasons.

First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the Sun. It’s there for me

every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food, a lovely

day. There’s no mystery, no one asks for money, I don’t have to dress up, and there’s no boring

pageantry.

When comedian Kathy Griffin accepted her long-awaited Creative Arts Emmy in

September 2007, she said: "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this

award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus."

She went on to hold up her Emmy, make an off-color remark about Christ and proclaim,

"This award is my god now!"

Asked about her speech backstage a short time later, an unrepentant Griffin added, "I hope I offended some people. I didn't want to win the Emmy for nothing." (Reuters LOS

ANGELES Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:31pm EDT)

Fox religion correspondent, Lauren Green, wrote: I just don’t understand comedian

Kathy Griffin. Please understand that I like her.

She’s been on the FOX News Channel quite a bit and for the brief times we’ve

talked, I’ve found her to be funny and self-effacing.

So, it puzzled me at first, then angered me second, that she would accept an award and then insult a man who preached love

and acceptance. Why would someone do that?

(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296683,00.html)

I don’t know what went through her mind and why she would think that was cutting

edge or even funny. But first, I want to actually show you that, in fact, Kathy Griffin is wrong. Jesus had everything to do with

her winning that award. And here’s the reasoning.

Colossians 1:15 NET He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,

16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him — all things, whether

visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers — all things were created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.

Jesus died on a cross 2,000 years ago. His dying words were,

"Forgive them Father for they know not what they do."

He died and they buried him in a rock cut tomb.

Three days later, as the Bible says, he rose from the dead.

That day is what Christians celebrate as Easter.

Hebrews 1:3 NET The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his

essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had

accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

So, you see, Kathy Griffin, Jesus has everything to do with you winning

that award.

"You live in a free country where your abilities can be recognized if you’re willing to work hard enough. That’s at least the dream of America. If you’d been born in many other parts of the world, your daily activity might

involve seeking out a way to survive, or even trying to avoid persecution and death."Luxuries like pursuing a career in the

entertainment industry would never have been realized;

luxuries like being able to insult the founder of a religion of forgiveness and acceptance would not

have been possible.Kathy Griffin, just because you "can" say something, doesn’t mean you "should."

You didn’t just insult Christianity … you insulted the very reason you’ve prospered.

That’s one way to “silence the ignorance of foolish people” I guess. I wonder how successful reasoning with God’s Word with someone who already despises “The Word” Jesus would be.

Our text tells us how to “silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by doing good”

Doing Good includes, but is not limited to what we find in today’s Scripture.

1- Submit to authority2- Live as servants 3- Show proper respect4- Love the believers

SUBMIT TO AUTHORITY

1 Peter 2:13 NET Be subject to every human institution for the Lord's sake, whether to a

king as supreme 14 or to governors as those he commissions to punish

wrongdoers and praise those who do good. 15 For God wants you to silence the

ignorance of foolish people by doing good.

A policeman pulls a man over for speeding and asks him to get out of the car. After

looking the man over he says, "Sir, I couldn’t help but notice your eyes are bloodshot. Have you been drinking?"

The man gets really indignant and says, "Officer, I couldn’t help but notice your eyes

are glazed. Have you been eating doughnuts?"

A man was speeding down a Alabama highway, feeling secure in a group of cars all traveling at the same speed. However, as they passed a speed trap, he got nailed by radar and was

pulled over.The officer handed him the citation, received his signature, and was about to walk away when the man asked, "Officer, I know I was speeding, but I

don’t think it’s fair - there were plenty of other cars around me who were going just as fast, so

why did I get the ticket?"

"Ever go a fishin’?" the policeman suddenly asked the man."Ummm, yeah..." the startled

man replied. The officer grinned and added,

"Did you ever catch ’em all?"

Have you ever been pulled over and given a traffic ticket for speeding or otherwise? How did

you respond to the officer? Did you show respect or did you try to argue your way out of

it?

Romans 13:1 NET Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For

there is no authority except by God's appointment, and the authorities that exist

have been instituted by God.We are charged to submit to every human

authority. What would this include? Our parents, teachers, bosses, managers, the

law, police, the government, etc.

SUBMISSIONWhy is this important? One reason is because if we don’t learn submission to human authority

we will never learn submission to God!

Someone said that in the past, few biographies have influenced young Christians more than that of Hudson Taylor (May 21, 1832 – June 3, 1905) who was a missionary to China for 51

years. (China Inland Mission)

The society that he began was responsible for bringing over 800 missionaries to the

country who began 125 schools and directly resulted in 18,000 Christian conversions.

What was his secret? Taylor wrote: “The Lord was looking for a man weak enough to use, and He found

me.”

Missionary Hudson Taylor was scheduled to speak at a Large Presbyterian church in

Melbourne, Australia. The moderator of the service introduced the missionary in eloquent

and glowing terms. He told the large congregation all that Taylor had accomplished in China, and then presented him as "our illustrious

guest." Taylor stood quietly for a moment, and then opened his message by saying, "Dear

friends, I am only the little servant of an illustrious Master."

The command or charge remains: We must submit to every human authority

as best we can. And by doing this you will

“silence the ignorance of foolish people.”

LIVE AS SERVANTS16 Live as free people, not using your

freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God's slaves.

Matthew 20:28 NET just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and

to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Galatians 5:13 NET For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not

use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve

one another.

To live as servants of God is to live as a servant to others.

The most classic example of a modern servant leader was Sam Walton. He

despised corporate fat cats. He could, and would, handle the cash register as well as stock the shelves in any of his Wal-Mart stores. He drove an old, rusty, dented

pickup not to prove a point but because it still had plenty of good miles left in it.

He told his staff on more than one occasion that "if American management is going to say to their workers that we’re all in this together, they’re going to have to stop this foolishness

of paying themselves $3 million and $4 million bonuses every year and riding around every where in limos and corporate jets like

they’re so much better than everybody else.“If this is true about Sam Walton and I believe

it is, then he had the right attitude.

Someone said: "If you wish to be a leader you will be frustrated, for very few people wish to

be led. If you aim to be a servant, you will never be frustrated."

There was a news item about something that took place in a Searcy, AR, Wal-Mart. What

happened? A young wife and mother recently moved to Arkansas from Michigan to be near some relatives and with the hopes of being

able to find a job to care for her son.

Mary Wadley never imagined the fortune she’d find the night she was checking out at a local Wal-Mart store. In fact, she’d moved to Arkansas, hoping for better luck after she was laid off her job in Michigan. But it was still hard making ends meet for herself and

her son. She said, "I’ve been praying to God, help me, give me a break, send

someone to help reduce the pressure on me."

And that help was found in lane six of the check out area. Wadley was checking out

groceries Tuesday night at Wal-Mart in Searcy. The balance was $139.... But when it was time to pay, the cashier stopped her. “I looked up at her in shock and she said, that guy just paid for your groceries,” said

Wadley.

“The man had been in front of her in line, and smiled at her before he left. And I looked up and he was walking out the door he never

looked back, he just walked out,” Wadley said.So, who is he? Wadley doesn’t know but she’s looking for him. "I just want to say thank you to

his face and you really helped and now me and my son are going to make it ok," said

Wadley. She calls the anonymous stranger an angel.

And she says, even if she never meets him, she wants him to know what a difference he made in her life. And she’ll always treasure

the receipt as a symbol of hope during tough times.

"I’ve had a lot of bad things happen in the past year, it touched my heart, put a smile on my face and a smile on my heart, and let’s me

know there are still good people out there."

She says since it’s just a few days before Valentines Day, and even though she

doesn’t know the man, this is an act that swept her off her feet.

Miracle of miracles, a stranger paid for her groceries. I wonder what kind of stranger? If he wasn’t an angel then he was a servant

or had a servant’s heart.

We all need to live as servants to others. Why? Because being a servant speaks to a lost world

better than pride, arrogance, and fame! True, humble servants “silence the ignorance of

foolish people.”

17 Honor all people, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the king.

SHOW PROPER RESPECT

Someone said: My boss was complaining in a staff meeting the other day that he wasn’t getting any respect. Later that morning he

went out and got a small sign that read, "I’m the Boss." He then taped it to his office

door. Later that day when he returned from lunch, he found that someone had taped a note to

the sign that said. "Your wife called, she wants her sign back!"

RESPECT YOUR ELDERSAt age twenty-six, Pat Moore performed an

unbelievable experiment. An industrial designer, Moore wanted a better understanding of senior

adults, so for three years she frequently disguised herself as an eighty-five-year-old woman. From 1979 to 1982, she utilized the

skills of a professional makeup artist and visited 116 cities throughout fourteen states and two Canadian provinces in her elderly persona.

From her experience, Moore estimates that one of every 25 senior adults is abused, with most victims being 75 or older. She was impressed with the compassion and

care she received from senior adults when she was in character, but she received

harsh treatment from younger generations. Unfortunately, society has widely accepted a practice called “social dismissal” of the

elderly.

Hey! We’re all getting older and sometimes I feel like I’m already elderly! I say to you,

RESPECT YOUR ELDERS! Instead of them opening the door for you,

why don’t you open it for them?Obviously, however, we all must show

respect for one another and for all people: young and old, rich and poor, homely and

homeless.

Did you ever know someone whom you considered to never know a stranger?Steve Shepherd knows of a preacher

named Al Hamilton who fits this description. He doesn’t know him well but well enough to know that he respects all people. Many years ago Steve went to Bedford, TX to try

out for the Bedford Christian Church.

Their previous preacher had been Al Hamilton. They said that Al loved

everybody. He was very friendly and didn’t know a stranger. He was quick to greet and

speak to all people.That’s great but he also went a step further. He would literally find people living on the

street and bring them into his own home to stay in order to help them.

LOVE THE BELIEVERS

Brothers and sisters, when we humble ourselves and show proper respect to all

people, it will help to “silence the ignorance of foolish people.”

17 Honor all people, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the king.

Now when we say the family of believers we must recognize what this means.

All of us have a “natural family” -- a mother and a father. We cannot choose our natural

family, because we were born into it by God’s sovereign choice. However, we can choose to be a part of God’s spiritual family. Our natural families will eventually fall apart.

In fact, many of them tragically fall apart here on earth. But our spiritual family is going to go on forever. It will last forever

and ever.

And so we are going to spend more time with our spiritual family than we will with our physical

family. So God wants us to learn to love them.

Now, why does He want us to learn to love them?

Well, two or three reasons. First, it makes us more like God, because God is

love. Second, he wants His children to learn to get

along together.

Thirdly, it’s practice for eternity. One of the things we’re going to do in

heaven, in eternity, is we’re going to love God. And the other thing we’re going to do is love the other believers that are there. It is going to be a place of love. So God says I want you to learn to practice now learning

to love other believers.

The Apostle Paul reminds the saints in Galatia to pay special attention to those

who belong to the family of faith.

Galatians 6:10 NET So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all

people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.

Several churches in the South decided to hold union services. The leader was a Baptist and

proud of his denomination."How many Baptists are here?" he asked on

the first night of the revival?All except one little old lady raised their hands.

"Lady, what are you?" asked the leader."I’m a Methodist,"

meekly replied the lady.

"Why are you a Methodist?" queried the leader?

"Well," replied the little old lady, "my grandparents were Methodists, my mother was

a Methodist, and my late husband was a Methodist."

"Well," retorted the leader, "just supposing all your relatives had been morons, what would that

have made you?""Oh, I see. A Baptist, I suppose," the lady replied

meekly.

Whether churches get together for special services or not, they should still respect and love one another if those churches believe

in Christ and seek to follow Him.Many years ago Steve Shepherd was highly involved in a ministerial alliance because it was in a small town of 852 people. In that small town there were The Christian, First Baptist, Assembly of God, and Nazarene

Churches.

There was one other church in town, but the preacher never attended the meetings. For the most part the ministerial meetings were very good BUT ONE DAY....ONE DAY one of the

preachers came armed and ready to fight! Not physically, but verbally.

He pointed to every preacher in that meeting and said something about what they believed

according to their particular church or denomination.

Then he quoted scripture, which in his view, contradicted their faith.

HE PURPOSELY CAME TO THAT MEETING TO PUT EVERY PREACHER

AND HIS CHURCH DOWN, WHILE TRYING TO MAKE HIS CHURCH LOOK

LIKE IT WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT WAS PREACHING THE TRUTH.

When he started in on one preacher that preacher wasn’t going to take it sitting

down. And they got into a dandy argument and while they did Steve got up and walked

out. He thought, "This is crazy and that preacher just came looking for a fight.“What he did was wrong, totally wrong,

because every preacher in that meeting believed strongly in Jesus Christ, the Son of

God and Savior of the world.

Now there are times when firm stands must be taken, even between Christian brothers &

Sisters who are like minded in their doctrine. Case & point is Paul taking Peter to task.

Galatians 2:11 NET But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he

had clearly done wrong. It is evident this confrontation caused no lasting ill feelings

because Peter refers to “dear brother Paul” in 2 Peter 3:15 about 10 years after the letter to

Galatia was written.

Another instance is between the Apostles Paul & Barnabas.

Acts 15:37 NET Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 38 but Paul insisted that they should not take

along this one who had left them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them

in the work. 39 They had a sharp disagreement, so that they parted company.

Barnabas took along Mark and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and set

out, commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters.

We know hard feelings are not felt between Mark & Paul as he writes 11 years later in

his letters to Colossae & Philemon that Mark is with him as he writes. We don’t hear of Barnabas again after Acts 15.

Priscilla & Aquila handle things a little more delicately.

Acts 18:24 NET Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus.

He was an eloquent speaker, well-versed in the scriptures… 26 He began to speak out

fearlessly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took

him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately.

There is a difference between arguing & fighting about differences and discussing

them in a loving, nurturing manner searching for God’s way.

I love watching Jay Leno's HEADLINES on Monday nights.

He reads real headlines that have been clipped from newspapers, then gives a

condensed version of the story. Some of them are absolutely hilarious. But then some of them are downright bizarre.

Some of them even leave a bad taste in my mouth. On one show Leno read:

MINISTER ARRESTED OVER DISPUTE WITH MEMBER.

Police were called when the Pastor of a small church and a member got in an argument over the interpretation of Scripture. The disagreement turned into an argument; and the argument turned into a regular knock down drag out, Donnybrook. When police showed up, the minister had a woman pinned against the wall, his arm at her throat, shouting, “Are you going to show me some respect now? Are you?”

John 13:35 NET Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples — if you have love for one

another."

Boy, do we need to practice the words of Jesus! One of the greatest proofs of our faith in Christ is

the fact that we love one another. This doesn’t mean that we agree totally with one another but if we believe in the same Christ and are trying to obey Him as best we can, then we must love one

another!

When we love one another like Christ charged us to do, we will “silence the

ignorance of foolish people.”

They may well say, “Behold, how they love one another!"

When a man was speaking to the Denver Independent Banker’s Association, one of the bankers suddenly hollered out, “You’re stupid!”

Five minutes later, he tried to keep his composure when the banker yelled the same

thing. He noticed a slight slur in his voice. So he was ready for him the third time. When he said, “You’re stupid!” The speaker replied, “Yes, and you’re drunk.” He replied, “Yes, but tomorrow I

will be sober and you will still be stupid.”

Some people will never change. Once stupid, always stupid.

And it will remain that way unless they come to Christ.

We must live and walk with Christ. We must do His will, His way.

And when we do we will, “silence the ignorance of foolish people by

doing good.”