1 Peter 4:12-19 (NET) The majority of us have felt the anxiety of watching a forest/grass fire roar through our neighborhood with uncontrolled fury. My personal feeling is, once is enough for a lifetime.
Today's passage warns of the surety of encountering suffering (fiery trial)for the name of Christ. Some of you have and possibly still are suffering for being a Christian. The passage encourages us to continue to be bold and to glorify God in it. In Acts 5:41 the apostles rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ. Then in the following verse we read that they did not cease preaching and teaching Jesus as the Christ.
We need to really examine and understand vs.17. Two judgments are spoken of. Now is our time of fiery trial (1 Peter 4:12); the ungodly will have their fire later. The fire we endure now purifies us; the fire the ungodly will endure will punish them. Yet we always remember that there is never any punishment from God for us in our sufferings, only purification. For the Christian, the issue of punishment was settled once and for all at the cross, where Jesus endured all the punishment the Christian could ever face from God. (1 Peter 4, Enduring Word)
Peter goes on to say that as Christians we will experience tremendous suffering, and that we should keep on, while at the same time entrusting our souls to a faithful Creator. It is really our soul we need to be concerned about. Have you cried out to God to be merciful and save you from sin's punishment? It is better to suffer now than later!
Pastor Paul
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