Seeing things as they really are is so very important. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to see the eternal consequences for the temporal circumstances. Peter writes to Christians who were going through terrible persecution helping them to see the eternal picture. Their persecution might have ended with them denying the faith, but if not, then being put to death in a horrific way. The choice was theirs. At a glance and from a temporal standpoint it would appear that one of the options \u2013 (denial of the faith) \u2013 would be the way to avoid suffering. However; Peter writes a clear explanation to Satan\u2019s temptation of denial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13\u00a0<\/sup>but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ\u2019s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14\u00a0<\/sup>If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you,<\/em> for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 15\u00a0<\/sup>But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people\u2019s matters. 16\u00a0<\/sup>Yet if anyone suffers<\/em> as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. 17\u00a0<\/sup>For the time has come<\/em> for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins<\/em> with us first, what will be<\/em> the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18\u00a0<\/sup>Now \u201cIf the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?\u201d 19\u00a0<\/sup>Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him<\/em> in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n (1 Pet 4:12-19)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Peter says in verse 17, \u201cFor the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God\u201d. What is he talking about? Not the final judgment, but the dividing of the faithful and the unfaithful which always begins during persecution. At what price will you sell out your faith? You may declare that the pressures are too great! You say to yourself, \u201cGod would never want me to suffer or be so embarrassed and separated from others.\u201d But that isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
- The truth is God would say, \u201cDon\u2019t think that what you are going through is odd. Many have experienced it (v.12).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The truth is God is resting upon you and blessing you (v.14).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The truth is you have nothing to be ashamed of if you are suffering as a Christian (v.16).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The truth is this is an opportunity for you to choose sides \u201cobey the Gospel or not\u201d (v.17).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The truth is you may feel like you don\u2019t have the spiritual backbone to make it through that moment of pressure, but remember this; \u201cWhere will the ungodly and sinner appear?\u201d You are tempted to avoid a temporal suffering but the end will be eternal suffering (v.18).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The truth is clear. In suffering we prove our commitment to God \u2013 our faithful creator (v.19).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
When suffering, think eternal. Choose in this life how you will suffer, temporal or eternal. Just remember the eternal glory in heaven will make any suffering worth the sacrifice (Rom 8:18). Today, we will be studying SUFFERING.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seeing things as they really are is so very important. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to see the eternal consequences for the temporal circumstances. Peter writes to Christians who were going through terrible persecution helping them to see the eternal picture. Their persecution might have ended with them denying the faith, but if not, then being put… Continue reading When Suffering \u2013 Think Eternal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[178,179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin","category-marks-messages","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3264"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3273,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions\/3273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}