Sun 9:30a Class; 10:30a Worship; 11:35a Communion
Bible Bites
It Shouldn't Come As A Surprise
"...whoever speaks, as one who speaks the oracles of God." (1 Pet. 4:11)
"...Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though some strange thing were happening to you." (1 Pet. 4:12)
While most of our Bibles have a clear paragraph break between those two verses, the connection between them offers a great lesson for us. Christians are sometimes surprised when our values, our beliefs, and our morals come under attack from the world. We marvel that anyone would disbelieve the Bible, devy the resurrection, or doubt the creation story of Genesis 1. We are shocked that anyone would be offended by certain truths—that acts of homosexuality are sinful, that women have different roles in the church than men do, or that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. And yet, the Holy Spirit clearly told us that it should come as no surprise when God, his word, and his people are come under attack.
When a magazine, TV show, or news program—notably: TIME or Newsweek or National Geographic (among many others)—runs information which targets the truth of God, God's people should not be saying, "I just can't believe our world has gotten this bad." When a sitcom that highlights transgender parenting is produced by ABC Family, Christians should not be caught off guard. Jesus told us 20 centuries ago that the world would hate us because it hated him first (John 15). Paul wrote to the church in Rome about people to whom God could be plainly known, but they rejected him and lived in the filth of sin (Rom. 1).
Christians, we need to know a couple of things with absolute certainty. Firstly, that God's kingdom is not going anywhere (more on that in next week's post). And secondly, that our commissiont is to still be on guard. God has told us how Satan works and how the world works. Those things don't have to catch us unawares. Let us remember that even though a fiery trial is sure to come of it, we still speak! And we still speak the oracles of God!
