Do Not Be Surprised

1 Peter 4:7-11 ESV

 

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

If we, as the people of God, are at all paying attention to what is going on in the world about us, and to what is happening in today’s modern market-driven “churches,” we should be keenly aware of the times in which we now live with regard to “the end of all things is at hand.” We should see the “handwriting on the wall,” so to speak. And we should see the signs of the times being played out before our eyes in so many different ways.

 

We can see the demise of the church and/or of what is falsely being called “church”, at least here in America. For so much of what is called “church” and/or is the church has gone the way of the world and is blending in with the world and with the culture and is not standing out as different in this evil world of ours. So, rather than going out into the world with the truth of the gospel, so many are attracting the world to their gatherings via the world.

 

Therefore, we the church must all leave worldly living and blending in with the world, and we must be the people of God who God has called us to be. Instead of living lives which are out of control, we are to be self-controlled under the power of God’s Spirit. And instead of taking God and his word lightly, we are to be serious-minded Christians who take God’s word to heart and who are sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of this world.

 

Now, when this says that love covers a multitude of sins, this is not speaking of ignoring the sins in one another nor of helping another to conceal his sins, for this word “love” (agape) is the love which comes from God and which centers in moral preference and which means to prefer what God prefers, which is what is holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, honest, and faithful. And we are to be those who are speaking the truth and not the lies.

 

But love does forgive one another, and love does not hold grudges, and it is not bitter and unforgiving and resentful. And it does not repay evil with evil, but with love. But love also speaks the truth in love, one to the other, so that we are not led astray by the lies of the enemy, and so that we will not be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. So it does not ignore deliberate and habitual sin in the lives of other believers, but it calls to them to repent of their sins.

 

And we who claim to believe in Jesus Christ and to be his followers have all been given gifts of the Holy Spirit, if our faith is genuine God-given faith. And we are to be using these spiritual gifts for the encouragement and strengthening of the body of Christ. And we are to be exhorting one another daily so that we are not led astray by sin’s deceitfulness. And we should be speaking the truth in love so we don’t end up following after the lies.

 

And when we speak the truth, it must be the truth according to the Scriptures, in context, so that we are not guilty of leading others astray to what is not of God. For it is the Word of God which gives us the proper counsel in how we should all be living, and not the thinking of people in their human reasoning. And it is God we should be serving with our lives by the strength which he supplies – all for the glory and praise of God!

 

1 Peter 4:12-19 ESV

 

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

 

‘If the righteous is scarcely saved,

    what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’

 

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

 

Now, when we are following the Lord Jesus in truth and in righteousness, and when we are taking his word seriously, and when we are loving others with the love of God, and we are using the gifts of the Spirit for the encouragement and strengthening of the body of Christ, and we are speaking the truth of God’s word, in love, we are going to be hated, rejected, ridiculed, cast aside, falsely accused, and abandoned.

 

But this should not surprise us, because the Lord told us in advance that this would happen to us. And it should not surprise us, too, if a lot of this persecution comes from within the gatherings of what is called “church,” for all we have to do is look at who Jesus’ opponents were. They were those who were of the same faith as Jesus, or who were purported to be, and they supposedly were those serving the same God the Father.

 

So, when we are mistreated for the sake of righteousness, and for the sake of the gospel of Christ, and because we are living as we ought to live, and because we are taking the message of the gospel to the people of the world, then we are blessed of God. And we are not to be ashamed, but we are to glorify God that we are able to suffer for his name. For God is disciplining us as his children to make us the holy people he wants us to be.

 

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:18-21; Jn 17:14; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13]

 

The Spirit Calling

 

An Original Work / November 12, 2019

 

Hear the Spirit calling.

He’ll keep you from falling.

Tenderly He’s calling,

“Come and follow Him.”

 

Walk with Jesus daily.

Don’t give in to lazy.

Folks may call you crazy.

Fellowship with Him.

 

Follow where He leads you.

Eat what Jesus feeds you.

His love will renew you

If you follow Him.

 

Do what Jesus tells you.

Don’t let your faith fail you.

His love will avail you

If you walk with Him.

 

Jesus, Lord and Savior,

Reigneth now forever.

He gave us His favor

So we’d live with Him.

 

Turning now from our sin,

Holy Spirit live-in.

Holiness we walk in,

Purified by Him.

 

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