November 24th
11: If any man speak, let him speak
as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability
which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Be
proud of Christ
12: Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing
happened unto you: 13: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's
sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with
exceeding joy. 14: If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye;
for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil
spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15: But let none of you suffer as
a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's
matters. 16: Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but
let him glorify God on this behalf. 17: For the time is come that judgment must
begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be
of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18: And if the righteous scarcely be
saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19: Wherefore let them
that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to
him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
Previously Peter had said… As every
man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good
stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Now he is more specific, he says those who prophecy are to do so as
speaking the oracles of God and those who minister let them do so according to
the ministry that God has given. And so we have the two great ministries of the
Spirit – the Elder and the Deacon. The Elder teaches and the Deacon serves. And
both serve in their own God appointed way not in opposition to one another but
in partnership, to the glory of God. Peter again reminds the believers not to
be fazed by the trial which has come to them, but they are to rejoice in the
sufferings of Christ. This is reminiscent of the Beatitudes. Then Peter reminds
these Jewish believers that the judgment of God will begin at the house of God
– The Jewish nation. (This will occur before the judgement of the living
nations Matt 25) And the judgment will fall on those who do not OBEY the
Gospel. What is this Gospel that is to be obeyed? It is the Gospel of the
Kingdom or rather the Gospel of God, Which is a further extension of the Gospel
of the Kingdom to include the death and resurrection of Christ. Those who
suffer commit their souls to the God of the resurrection who will raise the
righteous from the dead to enter the Kingdom.
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