1 Peter chapter 5. The name of the message today
is the God of all grace. The God of all grace. 1 Peter
chapter 5. And today I hope to finish up
this study We've been going through this wonderful little epistle
written to God's suffering saints in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, and we've looked at it, and it's been a
wonderful journey through this little book. This is a general
epistle, therefore it applies to all the ages of the church,
just as the whole Bible does, though. The whole Bible applies
to we who are God's blood-bought saints. Now, last time we met,
we looked at verses 5 to 7, where we focused on verse 7 a lot,
and the fact that we are to cast ourselves upon the Lord, the
Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, at all times. The scripture
tells us to cast our cares upon Him, for He careth for us. Casting all your care upon Him,
for He careth for you. Do you have concerns? Do you have
concerns? Cast all your care upon Him,
for He cares for you. Do you have worries about things
in your life? where things are going on in
the world. Beloved of God, cast all your care upon Him, for He
cares for you. Do you have fears? We all have fears sometimes,
don't we? Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. Are you struggling with sin in
your life? That's a constant struggle, isn't
it? It's a constant struggle for every believer. Cast all
your care upon Him, for He cares for you. And remember, this is
every individual sheep of God He cares for. It's personal,
beloved. It's personal. Are you struggling
with someone at work? Cast all your care upon Him,
for He cares for you. Are you feeling stressed out
from life? Or from a situation? Cast all your care upon Him,
for He careth for you. You have cares that you're carrying
around inside that no one else knows. Situations going on that
you haven't told anyone about. Cast all your care upon Him,
for He careth for you. Lastly, are you tossed to and
fro with the storms of life? Are you enduring a fiery trial
like the saints were that Peter was writing to? cast all your
care upon him. For he careth for you. May God
give us the grace to do that. May God give us the grace to
do that. So today I'd like us to finish up this study of this
wonderful little epistle. Let's read verses 8 to 11. Be sober, be vigilant, because
your actions will remind you Whom resists steadfast in the
faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all, to Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. And then we see Peter's
final greeting to the suffering saints that he's writing to in
verses 12 to 14. By surveying this faithful book,
brother, unto you I suppose I have written, briefly exhorting and
testifying that this is the true grace of God. Wherein you stand,
the church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluted
you, and so doth Marcus, my son, greet you one another with a
kiss of charity. Peace be with you, all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Now take note of verses
8 and 9. Peter here brings forth that
we have an adversary, beloved, the devil, and that he goes about
as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And we are to
resist him, and we are to resist temptation, being steadfast in
the faith, knowing that our way And the affliction that you go
through, another believer's going through it too. Look at this in verses eight
and nine. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil
is a roaring lion walking about, seeking whom he may devour. Whom
is this step past the faith, knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. Note where
to be sober and vigilant. We are to live soberly or practice
sobriety or moderation in our lives. And we are to be watchful
of our conduct and our attitude, all for the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We are to have seriousness of
mind and carefulness to maintain sound beliefs and practices personally
and in the church. And we are to have sincerity
in our profession, in our profession of Christ, in our prayers and
in our worship. John tells us to try the spirits,
whether they be of God. And all of this is necessary
because your enemy, the devil, roams about like a hungry lion
seeking someone to seize upon. And praise God, our Savior watches
over us and protects us. Because left to ourselves, we're
no match, are we? We're in a heap of trouble. And let us always remember that
the devil cannot devour the Lord's people. He cannot. Note the text, it says, whom
he may devour. Hawker brings forth that he cannot.
He cannot. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
54, 17, in light of this. Consider what's written about
God's people, and cling to these promises, beloved of God. Cling
to these promises that are in the scripture, because they're
there for us to cling to. They're there for us to cling
to. Isaiah 54, 17. saith the Lord, that no weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper. Sometimes it feels that
way, but the scripture says it won't. It won't. Those who are our enemies will
meet their end. God will protect us. He takes care of us. And then turn to the New Testament
in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And we see the scriptures proclaim
that the Lord always gives his people strength and that there's
no temptation that we go through. that we may bear that temptation
look at 1st Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 there hath no temptation
taken you but such as common to man that's that's really really
plain and clear isn't it nothing that we go is not common to man. Now let's go to Jeremiah chapter
32. We looked at this scripture a
few weeks back. And I want us to not lose sight
of these precious promises. Jeremiah 32, look at verses 38
to 40. These precious promises that
we have in the Lord, that He will ever keep us. And this portion
of Scripture has become very, very dear to me. Look at this
in Jeremiah 32, verse 38. And they shall be my people,
and I will be their God. Verse 38. That's the Lord speaking
there. We will be his people. And we
were made well in the day of his power. Here not lose one
of his sheep, beloved. Look what he says. And I'll give them one heart. One heart. And
one way. That's Christ. There's only one way. He's the way, the truth, and the life. That
they may fear me forever. For the good of the world, and for the good of mankind, and for the
good of the world, and for the good of mankind, and for the
good of mankind, and for the good of mankind, and for the good of mankind, and for
the good of mankind, and for the good of mankind, and for the good of
mankind, and for the good of mankind, and for the good of mankind, and for the good of mankind, and
for the good of mankind, and for the good of mankind, and
for the good of mankind, and for the good of mankind, and
for the good of mankind, and for the good of mankind, and for the good of And remember that night we looked
at that scripture, and I brought forth, why do you believe every
day? Why do you wake up every day and believe? Because God
says he will not depart from you. You're born again by the
Holy Spirit, God. He keeps you, beloved. So think
of that. While we resist Satan steadfast
in our faith, as our text in 1 Peter claims, we are always
to remember that our faith is given to us by the Lord. He keeps us, He saves us, and
He keeps us. Always by Him. And so the same afflictions leading
to the same triumphs are accomplished in our brethren which are in
the world. We overcome our adversary by
the blood of lamb, by Christ, and Christ alone. No other way.
No other way. Let's go back to our text in
1 Peter chapter 5. This leads right into our text.
The next two verses we see that our great God. 1 Peter 5 verses
10 and 11. But the God... What a title, beloved. What a
title for our great God. Truly, Truly we who have tasted
His grace and His mercy in a saving way can proclaim with our dear
brother Peter that our God is the God of all grace. He is the
God of all grace. And let us take note here in
the scripture how the Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle adds and
brings more to the saints of God, whom he was writing to by
these wonderful words. But the God, and remember, he's
writing to them, they're suffering through all different things.
And again, this book is written to God's suffering saints, and
he just adds even more comfort by saying, the God of all grace,
who hath called us into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. After
that, you have suffered a while. He acknowledges that they were
suffering, make you perfect, establish strength, and settle
you. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. The life of faith is a life of
one continual warfare. Brother John, you and I have
talked about that. It's a constant battle. We're soldiers of Christ. We're soldiers of Christ. We're
God's chosen people, but we're a tried people, aren't we? We're
a tribe, people. We go through things in this
world, but take note what comfort here is brought forth by the
Apostle Peter, that our God is the God of all grace. He's the
God of all grace, and it's He who has called us. It's He who
has called us unto His eternal glory by and through Christ Jesus
our Lord. And after that you suffered for
a while, and we suffer. Here make you perfect. Establish
your strength and you settle you. To whom be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. Now endless volumes could
be written on this blessed scripture right here before us. And it
would still remain unexhausted. It would still remain unexhausted.
Who can unfold and lay open the love of him who is here before
us in the scriptures by a striking distinction, right, called the
God of all grace. That's a mind that you could
mine for the rest of your life, beloved, and you would not exhaust
it. Our God is the God of all grace. And we know that our God in the
scriptures, he's called gracious, And we who are the redeemed of
the Lord know this to be true. But what a title is brought forth
here before us by the Apostle Peter, the God of all grace. All grace. And again, this is the only place
in Scripture where this title is used. And it's used by the
Apostle Peter. Now I want us to think. I want
to seek to learn here as Peter is speaking. You know, Peter's
using this title coming from a place of experience. Coming from a place of experience.
He uses this title and calls our great God the God of all
grace. Remember, he denied the Lord
three times. He'd been tried and tested by
our adversary, and he'd suffered much during those trials, and
he knew that his restoration and his safety after falling only came from the God of all
grace. So keep that in mind as we're reading this. Peter's writing
from experience, beloved. He's writing from experience.
He's admonishing the church here on the danger of this walking
about adversary because he suffered much, but the Lord has sustained
him, hasn't he? The Lord has sustained him, kept
him, just as he does for every one of his sheep. He does the
same for us as he did for Peter. We have a great foe to contend
with, but let us remember, we always have a much greater, even
an almighty friend, God himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior,
who's called what? The God of all grace. The God
of all grace. He alone is our refuge, and in
Him alone are we safe. And we, so we can see Why then
Peter exhorted the saints of God to cast all their care upon
him, for he cared for you. Because he had went through that
situation where he denied the Lord three times. What do you
think Peter did? He cast all his care upon the
Lord, didn't he? Remember when the Lord said, Peter, do you
love me? My goodness. All his cares cast
upon the God of all grace. And this also speaks of God as
the source of all spiritual comfort and help for every occasion. The one who has called us into
his eternal glory by the Lord Jesus Christ. Never think something
is too small to carry to the God of all grace. Never think
that something is too insignificant to carry to the God of all grace.
Cast all, all, A-L-L, all your care upon Him. All of it. Because
He careth for you. Oh my. The God of all grace cares
for me. Just ponder that. Just ponder
that. Oh my. Mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy,
mercy. Note the words here. Establish
and strengthen, settle you. Think of these words again in
light of Jeremiah 32 where we heard the Lord say to us, they
shall not depart from me about his people. Think of those words
in light of that. Establish, strengthen, settle. God will not let us depart from
him. Now the Greek words, the Greek word for establish means
to stand, to set fast, to fix firmly. The Greek word for strengthen
means to strengthen, of course. It's used to say those who are
without strength are strengthened. Are you without strength? I am
all the time. And we're strengthened by the Lord, aren't we? And then
the word settle there means to lay the foundation, to make stable,
to establish. And how's all this done for the
believer? In Christ. Only in Christ. Nowhere else.
In Him. And this is a work of God, beloved.
It's not anything we can do. Because we're tossed to and fro
in trials and things that happen, aren't we? But He keeps us, beloved. We're settled in Christ. And
through each trial and temptation that we go through, God keeps
us, strengthens us, and He picks us back up and restores us when
we fall. And all we can say is, praise
His mighty name. Praises mighty name. Now we see
the word perfect there in the context of God making us perfect. Now think of this in light of
when God calls us home. When God calls us home. We are
conformed, we are being conformed to the image of Christ. Now the
Greek word for perfect there is defined as this, to render
fit. To render fit. Remember when
we were doing our study in Colossians? We're qualified for heaven? That's
to be made fit. Oh my. Oh my. This Greek word is rendered,
to render fit, sound complete. to mend that which is broken
or rent, to repair to complete." So after you suffered for a little
while in this world, after the believers suffered a little while
in this world, the God of all grace who chose you in Christ,
and redeemed you by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and in His mercy called you to repentance and faith, and gave
you that gift, of faith and repentance, and you were born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, will complete and make you what you ought to
be and what he's predestined you to be, just like his son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Philippians 1, Philippians
chapter 1. Paul writes of this to the Philippians. He writes of this precious truth
in Philippians chapter 1. Look at this. Oh, I love this. What a wonderful verse. If anything in our salvation
was left up to us, we'd mess it up. But it's not. It's not. Look at this in Philippians
chapter one, verse six, being confident this very thing that
he which hath begun a good work in you will what? Perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ. Oh my. We're being conformed to the
image of the son. So this cry of praise that we see, now let's go back
to our text, and we take note that after Peter brings forth
this wonderful title of God being the God of all grace, and the
wonderful truth of our calling by God, and that he keeps us
and establishes us, and that one day we'll be made perfect. Peter breaks out in this wonderful
doxology here in verse 11. To him be glory and dominion
forever and ever, amen. This is the cry of praise from
a grateful heart, beloved. And this is the cry of praise
which is due him, because he alone is the God of all grace.
He alone. And he bestows upon his people
his grace and mercy in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And he has manifested to his
people, his goodness and divine grace. And therefore it is fitting
to give him all the glory and to give him all the honor and
to give him all the praise because beloved his dominion is an everlasting
dominion. And he dispenses his grace as
well as his providential favors in a sovereign way. However,
it pleases him to do so. However, it pleases him to do
so. And God's people were grateful that we're recipients of that
grace, aren't we? My, we've tasted that the Lord
is gracious again. And we will proclaim a hearty
amen to what the apostle has written here. Now let's read
verses 12 to 14 in this closing chapter, and we'll see Peter's
final greeting to the suffering saints that he's writing to.
Look at verse 12, by Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you,
as I suppose I have written briefly exhorting and testifying that
this is the true grace of God wherein you stand. Now Silvanus
is the same as Silas, and he's often mentioned in the Acts of
the Apostles. He's a companion of the apostle Paul. It's being
thought by several commentators that Peter met with him in his
travels and sent this letter by him. And note, his character
is here brought forth. He's called a faithful brother.
A faithful brother. Not only to Peter and Paul, but
to those whom this letter is written to. He's a faithful minister
of the gospel, beloved. As he had no doubt preached the
wondrous free grace of God in Christ to the saints that Peter's
writing to. And Peter brings forth here that
there's only one true grace, one true gospel, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it's in Christ, in Christ
alone. Therefore, he brings forth the
true grace of God. Let's read that text again. By
Savinus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written
briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of
God wherein ye stand. Now remember this, that by the
time that Peter was writing this letter, other views of Jesus
had developed, and Peter, he asserts that there is only one
true grace of God. One true grace of God. One true
gospel. And this has been a theme which
Peter has emphasized often in this epistle. about the grace
of God. Let's look quickly, turn to chapter
1 if you would. Turn to chapter 1. We see him
often mention grace. Grace. And you tie that in with
here where he says this is the true grace of God wherein you
stand. 1 Peter chapter 1 Verses 10 and in verse 13, of
which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently
who prophesized of the grace that should come unto you. Then
look at verse 13, wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be
sober and hope to the end for the grace that is bought unto
you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now let's turn over to
chapter two, and Peter brings forth again about this grace,
and he brings forth that the Lord's gracious. Look at this. If so be, verse three, if so
be, you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Again, speaking
of the grace of God in Christ. Then turn to chapter three and
look at verse seven. Likewise, ye husbands dwell with
them according to the knowledge given honor unto the wife is
unto the weaker vessel and is being heirs together of the grace
of life. That your prayers be not hindered.
And then look at verse 10 of chapter four. As every man hath received the
gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God. Same grace that Peter's talking
about in our verse. And then look at chapter five,
verses five and 10. And then we'll look at verse
12 again. Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with
humility, for God resisteth the proud and giveth what? Grace
to the humble. And then look at verse 10, but
the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory
by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you
perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. And then here again
in our verse, in verse 12, by Silvanus, a faithful brother,
unto you as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting and
testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein you stand.
One faith, one Savior, And so Peter's writing
of the grace of God, which he calls here, the true grace of God. And that,
beloved, is where you stand. You stand in Christ, who is the
fountain of all grace and mercy. All the grace that God has for
you and I as believers comes through Christ and Christ alone. Nowhere else. Let's look at verses
13 and 14. The church that is at Babylon,
elected together with you, saluteth you. And so doth Marcus, my son,
greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you,
and all that are in Christ, amen. Note Peter sends a greeting to
the suffering saints from the church, which is at Babylon,
and from John Mark. This is who Marcus is. And let
us note the nugget of truth, which is tucked into this verse.
Peter brings forth to the suffering saints of God that they are elected
or chosen by God. Together. Look at this. The church that is at Babylon
elected together with you. Do you know that you were chosen
in Christ the same time that Peter was chosen, the same time
that Paul was chosen? That's pretty amazing, isn't
it? Oh, my. We are elected together in Christ. And this was all done before
the foundation of the world, and we were chosen to be partakers
of the grace of God in Christ, which Peter has been writing
to them about. And remember, Peter has been
contrasting their suffering with the suffering that Christ went
through to redeem us. From all our sins. the sinless
sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ, dying in the place of sinners. Now note, Peter affectionately
brings forth that they are to greet one another with a kiss
of charity, which is love. He closes with peace be with
you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. He writes these words. Those
who are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Those who are being called by God the Holy Spirit, born again,
regenerated by His almighty power, called with an effectual calling.
And they have professed Christ and they are part of the body
of Christ and part of a gospel church. These are those who love Christ
Jesus, who are in Christ Jesus. To those, the apostle wishes
peace, temporal peace, spiritual peace, and eternal peace. Where? All in Christ, all in Christ,
and all by the grace of God. If you're saved, give glory to
our great God. Give glory to the God of all
grace, because it's only him who's made you to differ from
anyone else you know out there in that world. That's pretty humbling for us.
Give Him glory. Give Him honor. Truly, truly,
we who are His people have tasted that He is the God of all grace. And we're closed with what Peter
closed with. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
for the study through this wonderful book. And how we see Peter bring
forth what comfort we have In and through Christ Jesus our
Lord. And Lord, we who have tasted that you are gracious know that
you comfort us during all times. Let us keep our eyes fixed upon
thee, Lord Jesus. May you give us grace and strength
in time of need. We love you and praise you and
we thank you for your goodness and mercy and grace towards us
in and through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.