Fox Street Church of God

We are naturally suspicious of anger.  Most of that is because of the cultures that we have been brought up.  The ancient Greeks believe anger was a feeling that needed to be overcome, it was subhuman.  This leads to a problem because Malachi is promoting an idea that is often not painted in with the first advent of Jesus.  Malachi is saying, “the refiner is coming, and he is ANGRY because we are not living as we should!”

“And there will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. 26 People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory. 28 So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!”

Let’s put ourselves into the story here today.  A month or so ago we spoke about the Armor of God and how it is armor that is provided by God, that it belongs to God.  So, for that Armor to belong to us, we must belong to him.  When it comes to leaders in the early church, battles occurred frequently.  Timothy is a perfect example of this.

Paused in time is Luke’s record of Paul during his final years.  It seems that most Jews are at odds with Paul in Rome.  However, the Gentiles, pagans seemed very interested in what he had to say that they went to his rented home to see him under guard.  However, as historians dictate, the number of Christians in Rome during this time is very small.  They are the smallest of minorities and soon they will be persecuted heavily.  Of course, Paul already knew this.