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Fred Evans

The God of All Grace

1 Peter 5:10
Fred Evans May, 3 2022 Video & Audio
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The sermon "The God of All Grace" by Fred Evans centers on the theological concept of God's grace as delineated in 1 Peter 5:10. The key arguments highlight the multifaceted nature of God as the source of grace, including His electing, redeeming, and sustaining grace, particularly in relation to human suffering. The preacher references various scriptural passages, such as Ephesians 1:3-7 and discusses Peter's own experiences of denial and restoration to illustrate how grace is exemplified through affliction, ultimately leading to spiritual maturity and reliance on God. This understanding of grace, especially in the context of suffering, emphasizes its practical significance for believers, as they recognize their dependence on God for strength and perseverance in both trials and everyday life.

Key Quotes

“The God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.”

“He does not say the God of grace. But he says the God of all grace. Why? Because God is the source and foundation of all grace.”

“The only thing keeping me in the faith is the power of God. Anything short of the power of God, there's no way I'm gonna continue.”

“What do you have to do with your redemption? Nothing. It is the God of all grace who has redeemed you.”

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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Take your Bibles and turn with
me to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5. It's my longing every time I preach
the gospel that God the Holy Spirit would
speak to you. that he would give me the liberty
and unction of that spirit that I need, fill my heart with his
word for you, and that you by his same grace would receive
it as it is the word of the living God. And in that you should find
comfort. In that you will find rest. In
that you will find hope. In hearing me, you will not find
anything. I pray that you will not just
hear me. Hear him. I pray he will. Let's go to him in prayer before
I begin. Our Father in heaven, again, we thank you. We thank
you and we praise you and we honor you and we seek to worship
you tonight. We, Father, do this. We seek
to worship you as you have commanded in spirit and in truth, and recognize
our inability, our weakness, the constant wondering of our
minds and hearts, we confess. And Father, this evening we do,
as the scripture says, cast all our care upon you. Because of this, you care for
us. And I pray this night you would
speak to every heart that you would pour out your spirit to
us, open my heart and my mouth, give me the words you would have
for your people, and then open their hearts and fill it according
to your mercy. I do beseech you for this, in
Christ's name, amen. 1 Peter chapter five and verse
10, The scripture says, but the God
of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while,
make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. entitled this message, The God
of All Grace. The God of All Grace. Now the Apostle Peter was a man
acquainted with affliction. He was acquainted with this matter
of suffering and he speaks often in his book about this matter
of suffering saints. You remember he was the most
bold of all the apostles. He was The spokesman, every time
that they would speak to the Lord, most of the time, Peter
was the one speaking for the group. He was so bold. Even at
the night of our Lord's agony, you remember how bold he was.
The Lord had told him what he would do, and he said, Lord,
I will die with you. And we, sometimes we look at Peter
and we mock at that, but he meant it. He meant it with his every
fiber of his being you remember how bold he was he was a fisherman
and he grabbed that soldier's sword and smote off the ear of
the high priest servant he was bold and He wasn't aiming for
the ear just but he did he hit the air, but that's not where
he was aiming This man was bold and And our Lord told him before
the rooster crows this night, you will deny me three times. And you remember what happened
when he did. When it happened, that rooster
crowed, the word of Christ flooded the soul of the apostle Peter. He was convicted with the weight
of his guilt and the scripture says he went out and wept bitterly. He understood affliction. He understood the weakness of
his nature. And Peter was so discouraged,
you remember, that he even left the faith. Christ had died. He was buried. There was no hope
for me. He said, I'd go fishing. He went
back. Can you imagine the despair of
this apostle? Surely those words of our Lord
came to his mind many times. If you deny me before men, I
will deny you before my Father. But what was the result of all
of this affliction? What was the result of this suffering?
Why was Peter not given the ability to overcome? Could not God have
given him the strength, given him the boldness to confess Christ? Why is it that God removed his
presence, his strength from Peter so as he would deny him? What
is the result of all of this? The result of his great affliction.
Why was he given this affliction? Because God would by Jesus Christ
testify to Peter of his grace. He would testify of his grace
because he would show the difference. The difference. Who maketh thee
to differ from another? remember Jesus after his resurrection
he came to those disciples on that boat and they cast that
net over on the other side like he said and those fish came up
and He said it is the Lord Johnson and Peter he abandoned and that
moment he abandoned everything and fled to Christ He fled to
Christ. He jumped in didn't even wait
to get to the boat to get to shore. He fled to Christ and Is this not the story of every
believer? Can you not identify with this? Have you ever forsaken the Lord?
Believers may for a while leave Him, but when He comes to us,
what is always the result? We abandon everything. and we
flee to him. But all the pain, when Christ
came, you remember, then he rebuked him those three times. He said,
lovest thou me more than these. And the first time, Peter, Lord,
thou knowest I love thee. The second time, lovest thou
me more than these. Lord, you know that I love you. And the third time, all the pain,
the heartache, the suffering, the grief of this rebuke. But by God's grace, he was restored
to Christ. But let me tell you, this experience
of Peter was not just for his benefit, but for ours. It is
for our benefit. He suffered these things. Peter
was a man who knew the value and the necessity of suffering
so that the grace of God might be manifest to us. So he begins this epistle, you
remember how he begins this epistle? With wonderful things. He's speaking
of God's great election. He speaks of Christ's redemption,
of the application of his blood to the believer's heart. And
he says in chapter one in verse six, he says, wherein you greatly
rejoice. Do you not rejoice in his election?
Do you not rejoice in his perfect redemption? Do you not rejoice
in his revelation, his quickening power? You rejoice in these things. But you that rejoice in the gospel
of Christ know this. He says, though now for a season,
if need be, you're in heaviness through manifold temptations. that the trial of your faith
being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though it
be tried by fire, might be found under praise and honor and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Believer, remember, we are redeemed
by the blood of Christ, born again by the Spirit of God. Peter tells us, then, listen,
lay aside every weight. Lay aside every sin, abstain
from fleshly lust, submit yourselves to God and the authorities put
over you. That's what he spends the rest
of this book telling us. He's exhorting us. Why? Because
he knows the pain of sin. As a loving brethren, he's trying
to exhort us. Remove yourself from it. Flee
from it. Humble yourselves. Matter of
fact, he gets to the end of this and he says, humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God. That he may in due time exalt
you, cast all your cares, be vigilant, be sober. Because your
enemy walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. These are the words of a man
who had some experience with sin. He's like John. Little children. Sin not. Now why would he say that? Because
we all are prone to do exactly these things. We are prone to
sin. Therefore, he exhorts us to leave
these fleshly lusts. Is this not reasonable? Know
what Paul said? He said, present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. That's just reasonable, isn't
it? Peter had himself experienced failure He had experienced he
had failed in faith and fidelity to his Lord and being guilty
of the same crime As you realize he is guilty of the same crime
as Judas Judas denied the Lord though one time Peter denied
him three times What made the difference Christ said this, but I have
prayed for thee. He understood something about
the grace of God, about mercy, about God's grace. Therefore,
in our text, we see this, he closes his word down. He said,
we rejoice though you suffer, and as you go through this life,
abstain from these fleshly lusts, humble yourself, But, but the
God of all grace who had called us to his eternal glory by Christ
Jesus, after you suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, and settle you. Now, I want us to take this passage
of scripture, understanding the setting of this text. The setting of this text. I want
us to see four things. from this text. First of all,
I want us to see the God of all grace. The God of all grace. Secondly, I want us to see the
effectual calling of the God of all grace. Thirdly, we're
going to see the suffering of saints. And fourthly, we're going
to see the result of these sufferings. The result. Now, the God of all
grace. Now, the apostle, having set
forth the truths of the doctrine of grace, that we should never
abuse it. That we should never give an
occasion to the flesh. In chapter 2, verse 16, he says,
as free, not using your liberty. as a cloak of maliciousness. Now, why would he say that? Because
we are prone to use our liberty as a cloak of maliciousness.
We are prone to these things. So he is exhorting us not to. Don't use liberty as an excuse. As a matter of fact, what Paul
said in Galatians, he said, don't use your liberty as an occasion
to the flesh. Same thing, same thing. He said we should give diligence
to live as become the saints of God. Yet here at the end,
in this epistle, He does not leave it to your strength to
accomplish it. Now what if this text from right
here, verse 10 and down, would just cut out? You would feel
hopeless. to accomplish these exhortations
that he's given you, you and I fail constantly. But what is
our hope? He did not leave it to our own
strength. It's the same thing that Paul
did to the church of Ephesus. When he came to them, he said,
wolves are gonna come in, and of your own selves, damnable
heresies are gonna come in. But I commend you to the word
of grace. I commend you to the word of
God. I commend you to God. That's what Peter is doing here.
He's exhorting you, but yet he's commending you to this. Not in
your strength. You're not gonna have strength
to do these things. But, here's where you find the
source of all strength. The God of all grace. The God of all grace. Now notice
this, he does not say the God of grace. But he says the God
of all grace. Why? Because God is the source
and foundation of all grace. There is no grace apart from
God. God is the God of all grace. Therefore, the only cause of
salvation, the only reason we have experienced the regeneration
of the Holy Spirit and have been enlightened to our sin and fled
to Christ, the only thing that has separated us from the rest
of Adam's fallen race is this, the God of all grace. The God of all grace. Again, I've told you what's the
difference between Judas and Peter. It is this, the God of
all grace. Let me ask you, has God removed
the veil from your eyes to see your sin? Do you know who you really are
by nature? Have you seen the vileness of
your own heart? And then in an act of free grace,
has God opened your eyes to the perfections of Christ? Behold the God of all grace towards
us. He says, as the light shined
out of darkness. God commanded the light to shine
out of darkness. Shined in our hearts to give
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ It was an act of grace it was an act of mercy And he did this because he sent
you he did this by the in this way he sent you a preacher of
the gospel didn't he in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 5 Paul said
we preach not ourselves and Did not God send you a man like that?
Preach not ourselves, but what did he preach? Christ Jesus,
the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Christ's sake. And
then in an act of grace, God commanded, in Genesis, how did
he command the light? He said, let there be light.
And there was what? There was light. Isn't that your
experience? That's what happened. You were
in darkness, and God commanded the light to shine out of darkness
into your hearts. In an act of grace, he saved
you. Do you not see who made the difference? It was the God of all grace. It was the God of all grace. Go to Ephesians chapter one.
I want you to see where this grace begins. When God had grace
on you, do you suppose that was the beginning of his grace? It
was not the beginning of his grace. The beginning of his grace
began before there was anything but God himself. Verse three, you know it so well,
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. With
bless us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Now Paul, how did he do that? According According as he had
chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world Where did his grace begin It
began in a sovereign act of divine will in choosing us. In an act of grace, God chose
a people for himself before there was ever sin, before there was
anyone to object. God himself chose us. He had chosen us in Christ. He
had put you into union with His Son. For this purpose, that, we should
be holy and without blame before Him. That's not how we came into
the world, is it? That's not how we acted. but that's God's sovereign purpose
for us, that we should be holy without blame before him. Here's
the motivation in love, having predestinated us under the adoption
of children. Well, we by nature were children
of Adam. How should then we be children
of God? Because God purposed you to be
his children in a certain way by Jesus Christ. that Christ
should come and pay the adoption price for you. That he should
be your mediator, that he should be your redeemer, that he should
be your high priest in surety. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. In other words, everything
that happened from the beginning of time until your conversion,
listen, it was all predestinated. Everything that took place in
time was already determined to take place in time. One of our members, he is now
with the Lord, but before, J.D. Farmer, he had come in one night,
one Wednesday night at this church, God saved him. God saved him
that night. I believe the Lord touched his
heart, and he was so excited about the gospel. He had never
heard this. He said, what? I've never heard
this before. But tonight, I've heard his voice.
And one time after that, he had come to me, and he had said,
you know, we were out there in the parking lot, me and my brother.
We were playing rock, paper, scissors, seeing if we were going
to go in or not. What if I'd have lost? and we
never would have went in. That's not possible. You were always determined to
go in. You were always appointed to
hear that word that night. You would never have heard it
before until that appointed time. Why? It was predestinated. It was determined that Christ
should come and save you to himself. You got that? In love, God purposed
to save you and bring you to himself. According to the good pleasure
of his will, listen, to the praise of the glory of what? His grace. He is the God of electing grace. He is the God of electing grace. Notice this verse 7. We see this,
He is the God of redeeming grace, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of what? His grace. God purposed you should
be saved and in time He did save you. And you ask, when did He
save you? Now listen, I know there's a
time you experienced it. There's a time He came and revealed
it. But I'm telling you this, He
saved you long before you experienced it. When our Redeemer came into
this world as a man and honored the law of God, He did it in
our stead. Every time he humbled himself,
he did it in our stead. Every time he honored God, he
did it in our stead. Every time he obeyed the law
of God, he did it in our stead, as our surety, as though woving
the robe of righteousness with his own hands. Paul says, even the righteousness
of God himself by the faith of Jesus Christ. That's how righteousness
was made. You want to know how your righteousness
was made? It was made by the faith of Christ.
Now what did you have to do with it? What do you got to do with your
righteousness? Nothing. That's grace. That's the God of all grace.
Forming your righteousness by Jesus Christ. And when Christ
came to his agony, when Christ came to Gethsemane, as he weeped
and sweat as it were, great drops of blood, he did it as the God
of all grace. Knowing he should bear your sins
in his own body on the tree. that he was to be made an offering
for sin, knowing that God his Father should
forsake him, that he should bear the wrath of God alone. And after he had bore the wrath of
God, it is though the blood of Christ extinguished the wrath
of God against us. He redeemed us. What do you have
to do with your redemption? What do you have to do with your
redemption? Nothing. It is the God of all grace who
has redeemed you. He is the God of redeeming grace
according to the riches of His grace. But notice this, that His grace,
which we have heard and believed, we also still constantly need. Is that not right? Do you not
need forgiveness? Do you not need pardon? Do you not need strength to continue
in the faith? We need His grace constantly. We are in constant need of His
grace. How often have we denied Christ
by our works and unbelief? How often have we left Him and
been ensnared in the things of earth and time? Therefore, we
not only see our need of the God of all grace, the God of
grace, but the God of all grace. Simply this, He is the God of
all grace because His grace never ends. How much grace does God have? Well, he has all grace. He has
all grace. An inexhaustible supply of grace. This is why John says he cleanseth
us from all our sins. Why? It's a constant, perpetual
cleansing. If any man say he had not sinned,
he's a liar. Isn't that right? You believers,
have you sinned? Do you need forgiveness? He said,
confess your sins. And he is faithful and just.
Why? Because he's the God of all grace. He's a God of never-ending,
never-ceasing grace. He is the God of all grace, and
His grace has an endless supply. Suppose a man were, I don't know,
imagine the wealthiest man there is. I don't know who that is,
but there's somebody who has a lot more money than anybody
else, whoever that is. And he loves his son so much,
he puts all of his money in a trust for his son. That son has access
to all of his funds. But let me tell you, it is still
a limited amount of funds, isn't it? Not so with the God of all
grace. How much forgiveness do you need? How much of his love do you need? And when you've taken all that
you can, you have not diminished His grace at all. Take as much as you want. He's
the God of all grace. He's the God of all grace. His
grace never changes. Consider the grace of His love.
Do you realize that God never loves you less? You think he does. You feel he
loves you less. But he doesn't. His love is perfect. He said, I am the Lord. I change what? Not. Therefore, what's the result
of that? Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Because God's love is changeless.
God's grace is endless. And just think how much forgiveness
you need. Now consider this. How much does
the church need? And yet all of the church, taking
all of that grace, and yet it is not diminished. He is the
God of all grace. This is why the salvation of
God is likened to a fountain. What about the grace of eternal
life? Listen to what David said. For with thee is a fountain of
life. You know why it's a fountain?
It's not a puddle. It's not a pond. It's not a lake. It's not even
an ocean. It's a fountain. You know why?
Because fountains constantly flow. What about cleansing? He said,
in that day there shall be a fountain open. A fountain open. For what? For sin and uncleanness. You need forgiveness? You need
a cleansing? Well, this fountain's open. It's
never ending, it's never ceasing. Now then, let's see this. The
calling, the effectual calling, look back at your text and see
this, that he is the God of all grace. He's the God of electing
grace, he is the God of redeeming grace, he is the God of continual,
perpetual, constant grace. And what did he do? He who chose
you, he who redeemed you, He also hath called us. Know what
Peter said? The God of all grace hath called
us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. This is always the first work
of God's grace upon the heart of his elect people, is calling
them, calling them. This term calling means spoken
to. It's exactly what happened at
the tomb of Lazarus. You remember, Lazarus was nailed. And yet the Lord spoke only to
him. Am I right? He said, Lazarus,
come forth. And Lazarus did what? What else could he do? Was this
an option? Was it a multiple choice test? No. It was a command. This is
where men get this idea. They think God's calling is an
invitation. No. To us who are called, it
is a command. If it's an invitation to you,
He's not calling you. If it's a command, He's calling
you. And what could we do? This is how the God of all grace,
who chose us before the world began, saved us before there
was ever a calling. He called us to life and faith
in Jesus Christ. When he called us, how were we? What was our condition? Dead. We were dead. We were without strength. We
were without will to come to Christ. We had no need of Christ. But as soon as he called us,
as soon as he called us, he exposed us. He revealed to us the deadness
of our nature. He revealed to us our blindness,
our lameness. He exposed our guilt and sin. We saw at once the desperate
need we had of righteousness, the desperate need we have of
an offering that we could not supply. Therefore, By the grace of God,
we turned from our sins. And what did we turn to? The
only thing we could, Jesus Christ and his perfect, perfect salvation. He called us from the world,
He called us from its company, from our sin, from our vain religion,
from our lust. He called us to repentance from
dead works. Do you remember this calling?
Do you remember how He manifest Himself to you through the Word
of God? The Word of God became real to
you. It was no longer a system of
theology to be learned. It was a person. When you turned
and you repented, you turned to a person, didn't you? A lot of people are turning to
Calvinism. Academics, anyway. They think
it's, well, I was saved under this old works gospel, but I've
elevated myself. No. We didn't turn to a system,
we turned to a person. God, in calling us, revealed
Christ to us. Paul said this, I know who I
have believed. Now you can go anywhere and hear
the gospel. When a man preaches Christ to you, what do you say? That's him. I know the guy that man's talking
about. I know him. When somebody's not
preaching Christ, you say, I don't know that guy. Why? Because God called you. He revealed Christ to you. This is what it is to believe.
It is to believe on Jesus Christ. I know this about Christ, that
He is God and man. When I tell you that, isn't that
something you already know? You know that. Why, you know Him.
You know He came to save His people from their sins. You know
God gave Him a people and He came to save them. He came to
provide their righteousness and their redemption. And you know this about Him.
He was successful. Don't you know that? What if
somebody come and told you Christ was trying to save people? I
don't know that guy. I'm like Paul, but this man.
I know this man, but this man that I know after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins, he sat down. Now why'd he sit down? Because it's done, it's finished. When God calls you, he calls
you to Christ and you know he has finished the work. And there's
nothing left for me to do. And constantly I'm trusting and
believing in him. And even my faith, you know this,
your faith, where'd that come from? Look around you. Who in your
family believes and who doesn't? Why do you believe? So that's you special. You just,
do you do that? Your faith, is it all you? You know it's not. You know,
faith is a gift of God's grace. I believe because the God of
all grace called me to believe. And listen, if He never calls
you, you will never believe. For by grace you are saved through
faith and that not of yourself. Faith is a gift of God, not of
works. And this is talking about your
continual faith. Why is it you still believe? Why are you still here? You've heard this message before,
haven't you? Nothing I've said to you is new. You've heard this thousands of
times. And yet you still want to hear
it again. Why? Because God has kept your
faith. God has sustained your faith. I like that picture of Pilgrim's
Progress. You know where they got that
wall and the fire is in it? And Satan, he said they're throwing
water on the fire. Constantly pouring water on the
fire. And the more he pours water on
the fire, it just, it blows out, it gets bigger. And Pilgrim goes,
look at this, he said, how can this be? He said, come on the
other side, let me show you something. He goes on the other side and
there's a man pouring oil into the fire. It happens when you
pour water on the oil. This is what happens. to our
faith, this is why our faith continues. Because the God of
all grace called you to faith, he also keeps your faith. Isn't
that what Peter said at the very beginning? Who are kept? Kept by a cooperative effort. Is that what it says? Kept by the power of God. The only thing keeping me in
the faith is the power of God. Anything short of the power of
God, there's no way I'm gonna continue But praise God the God
of all grace he who called me to faith in Christ He who gave
me life he who showed Christ to me He keeps me he keeps me Now let's
look at this, I'm gonna skip forward here and I'm gonna go
look at suffering. Now go back to your text. The
God of all electing grace, the God of all redeeming grace is
also the God of calling grace. He calls us to his eternal glory
by Christ Jesus. And he says to us who have been
called, listen. After that you have suffered
a while. In other words, you're gonna
go to heaven. You're gonna go and receive all the eternal glory
that Christ has accomplished for you. This is your inheritance. You're going to receive it. There's
no way you're gonna miss it. Now you're gonna get it only
after something. After what? After you have suffered
a while. The suffering apostle would not
have us ignorant of this truth, that the God of all grace, who
ordained our salvation, purchased it, applied it, and keeps it,
has also decreed all of the storms of our life. All of the suffering
you face, all of the difficulties and trials you experience, are ordained by the God of all
grace. The God of all grace who called
us to glory calls us to suffering. But here's the comfort in suffering,
that God will enable us in some measure to always have strength
to endure. How many trials do you think
and you feel as though you're not going to make it? About every one of them I've
felt that. Yet this is our comfort that
the God of all grace has ordained them not for your destruction
but rather for your benefit. Consider your Lord. Consider
Him. He who had no sin, who did no
sin, he suffered in this life. Matter of fact, the scripture
says this, he learned obedience by the things he suffered. How then do you suppose you and
I should learn obedience? Anybody need faith? I mean, you
have faith, but do you want more? How about patience? Do you want
more? Do you need more patience? Are you full of it? When we ask for faith and patience,
If we ask to grow in love and grace and every fruit of the
spirit, it is only through suffering we will learn these things. Now listen, you can know a lot,
but you really never know it until you've suffered through
it. Our Lord learned obedience by
the things He suffered. How in you and I are to grow
in grace? Only after you've suffered a while. And we all don't suffer the same
things, we all don't suffer the same matter or manner or measure. Some suffer more than others,
some deeper, some longer. Some suffer within, Considering
the vileness of their own nature, some suffer without, in sickness
and sorrow and afflictions and pains. But this maxim is true,
all saints must suffer. He sang that hymn before, the
way of the cross leads home. You know, in Pilgrim's Progress,
another illustration of this is the only man that didn't suffer
in that was ignorance. Ignorance avoided suffering at
every turn, but Pilgrim and Faithful could not avoid it. They fell
into every trap, into every snare. so that they might grow in grace. And this is then the result.
And I want you to know this, it's only for a while. After
you suffered, I like this, a while. He said that suffering is only
for a season and only if need be. You're through manifold temptations
and heaviness. So this suffering, we know this,
it is fixed. It is determined of God. Every water of Moriah leads always
to Elam. You can expect refreshment. God
will always lead you out. He's promised. The last thing
about this, the consequences or the results of suffering,
look at this, that you make you, this is the reason for suffering,
make you perfect. That word means mature. You and
I need to grow up. Do we not need to be separated
from the things of this world? Do we not need to be weaned from
the things of this life? How gracious our God is to take
these things of time and clay from our hands. Else we would love them more
than we love Him. So that you and I should grow
up and be useful. Isn't that wonderful? That it makes us useful to help
other believers in their time of need. Make you perfect. Establish you.
Establish you. How often have we leaned on the
things of earth and time only to find them fleeting. Yet God through suffering always
casts us upon the rock, Jesus Christ, that is the foundation
of our souls. We are established on him by
the grace and election of God by his redeeming blood. We are
established and nothing shall move us from him. That's what
suffering teaches you. Paul said, I am persuaded. How in the world was he persuaded?
He said, I know this, this is not just a theological argument,
but my suffering proves it. I am persuaded that neither life,
nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor any other creature shall be able to separate
me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Suffering
proves that. Suffering proves that, establishes
you, strengthens you. In the midst of suffering, we
are made to see our weakness. What did he say about that? He
said, my grace is sufficient for thee. For in weakness is
my strength made perfect. It's manifest only when you're
weak. And you're only weakest when?
When you suffer. And the last thing is settled
you. How often do our sufferings stir
us up? They bring confusion. But at the end of our suffering,
what do we have? Peace. Knowing this, that the
God of all grace chose me. The God of all grace redeemed
me. The God of all grace called me. The God of all grace keeps me.
The God of all grace ordained my suffering. And after a little
while, my suffering will strengthen me, establish me, and it will
settle me. It settles me in this. Christ is all. Ultimately, is that not what
suffering teaches you? Christ is all. When you're confused about what
or why God is doing something to you, Christ is all. Doesn't that settle you? Christ
is all. In heaven, isn't that true? Christ is all. I pray God will settle you now.
Christ is all. And all. Pray God blesses you.
Fred Evans
About Fred Evans
Fred Evans is Pastor of Redeemer's Grace Church. Redeemer's Grace Church meets for worship at 6:30PM ET on Wednesdays and 11 AM ET on Sundays at 4702 Greenleaf Road in Sellersburg, IN. USA. To learn more or to connect with us, please visit our website at https://RedeemersGrace.com, or our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/redeemersgracechurch. Pastor Evans may be contacted through our website and also by mail at: Redeemer's Grace Church, PO Box 57, Sellersburg, IN 47172-0057

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