^{Oracles Of God}

^“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:  whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; ¹¹whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.” 
I Peter 4:10, 11

Anyone who faithfully and accurately proclaims the Word of God will speak with authority.

It is not our own authority. It is not the authority of the office of the pastor or teacher in the church. It is a greater authority than that. If our teaching accurately reflects the truth of Scripture, it has the full weight of God's own authority behind it. It is a staggering thought but precisely how I Peter 4:11 instructs us to handle biblical truth: "whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles (an authoritative or wise statement or prediction) of God."

To the society that loves its sin and thinks compromise is a good thing, this flies in the face as a threat, doesn't it? Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."  To speak boldly and declare God's truth in our society is neither politically correct nor in style, but if we truly believe God's Word can we handle it any other way?

Many of today's evangelicals claim they believe Scripture, but they seem to me to shy away from proclaiming it with any authority. They give it lip service but in practice they strip it of its authority, treating it as just another opinion amongst the many post-modern ideas we see so prevalent today.

If the Bible is true, then it is also authoritative. As divinely-revealed truth, it carries the full weight of God's own authority. And as such it is the measuring stick by which all things are evaluated.

The Bible is not just another idea to be thrown into discussion and accepted or rejected as the individual sees fit. It is the Word of God and demands to be received as such. As I stated earlier, there is a way which seems right...

It should also be noted that in I Peter 4:11, the purpose, the end result, is to glorify God and not to 'win' an arguement or stroke one's own pride in appearing intelligent or super spiritual.

The bottom line for us fishers of men is that people are dying at a rate of about 150,000 a day and mostly without Christ.  We have the words of life.  Let us use them in bold assurance, amen?