Have you ever had a friend that changed? I mean really changed as if everything they once stood for was no longer important to them. Sometimes, it is because they have a new friend, or it may be a new job that has influenced them. However, the best change is when they are determined to fully surrender their lives to Jesus Christ. Everything about them is different. They change their vocabulary, the places they go, the people they hang with, and even their way of thinking. For me, this is one of the greatest blessings on this earth to observe.
The verses we are exploring today are in I Peter 4:4-6. They deal with how those who are not arming themselves like the former verses talk about. It reveals how they feel and think about those who change and obey. Peter says they think it is strange that their friends are living right. They don’t want to be with them anymore or do the things they used to do.
I Peter 4:4 “Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:”
Their old friends recognize they are different but don’t seem to understand the reasons why. Instead, they speak evil of their former friends. Many commentators believe the language implies they speak evil of them, their religion, and their God. Some even think they spoke evil about God to the point of blasphemy!
I Peter 4:5-6 “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh but live according to God in the spirit.”
In verses 5 and 6, we are reminded that they will be judged for their actions. It is not their choice whether they will be judged, it is set, they will be judged. Those who are alive when Jesus comes and those who have already died will not miss this event. The quick and the dead was a common phrase to signify all will be brought before God one day for their final judgment.
Those who face this opposition need to be patient. You have not been forgotten by God. He will take vengeance for you in His time. Anytime we break away from the norm and do what is honoring to God, there will be opposition. It is our place to keep serving the one who gave His life, no matter what comes our way.
We can bear our trials in a Christ-honoring way. He will supply what we need. We, too, have a payday coming. Our payday is an eternity in a perfect world, with a perfect God forever. Wow, what a payday! No pain we bear here could ever be too much, when compared to the reward we will have one day. Paul said it right in Romans 8:18. I can’t say it better.
Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. “
