All right, we're gonna be in
1 Peter chapter five. 1 Peter chapter five, and we're
gonna pick up in verse eight and take it to the end of the
chapter. So it'll be the end of the book. And the apostle
here, as you remember, last week the apostle was encouraging us
in our suffering and in our humility, right? He addressed the elders
of the church first, and encouraged them to preach the word, right? To feed the flock of God that
the Lord had put with them. And then he turned his, Peter
turns his attention over to the brethren and he reminds them
to submit themselves one to another in humility. Because, and really
what that means, what we saw is to walk in love toward one
another, that we're to love one another. And it reminds me, I
think it was in Fox's book of Martyrs, but I just remember
a story of hearing the apostle John, when he was an old, old
man, I guess in his 90s, and they brought him in on a chair,
they carried him in because he couldn't even walk, he was so
frail and weak, and he preached a message to them, and his whole
message was, love one another. love one another. He was just
encouraging them to love one another. And if you think about
it, if it was all just about us being holy and so righteous
that we're just proving to one another how righteous we are,
we know in our flesh how hard we get and how condemning we
are and how judging we are in the flesh when that's our focus. And that's why there's this constant
reminder in the scriptures in why I believe John, one of his
final messages was love one another because that's how we're to walk
and that's fulfilling the law. That's showing mercy and grace
and kindness to your brethren who don't deserve it because
we ourselves are shown grace and mercy from our Lord even
though we don't deserve it. Otherwise it wouldn't be mercy,
right? If we deserved it, if we earned it, it wouldn't be
mercy. So he encourages us to love one another. And so now
he carries on that message because there's another reason why we're
to walk in humility and to love one another. And the reason is
because we have a strong foe. He says there's an adversary
walking about out there that's seeking to devour us and to destroy
us. So the apostle Peter has been
reminding us in this whole letter that we're going to suffer, that
we're going to feel the pains and the suffering in this life,
and not to be surprised by it, because these things are given
to us at the hand of God, but it all works together for the
purpose of God. It's a good thing. The Lord knows
what He's doing. He's not being taken by surprise,
and so He's saying to us, don't you be taken by surprise, because
the Lord uses these sufferings to wither this flesh, to bring
us down in ourselves, that we might be built up in the Lord
Jesus Christ, And it reminds us to love one another and be
humble toward one another. Remember that because we have
an adversary, the devil, that's walking about seeking whom he
may devour. So our message this morning is
titled Fellowship in Suffering. Fellowship in Suffering. Because
we're all in this together. We're brethren and we're all
in this together. And we have three divisions.
Adversity, then we'll see the provider, the Lord, the provider,
and then the fellowship that we have with our brethren. So,
what he says there, let's just look, again, he's reminding us,
be aware of this, be humble toward one another, because we have
an adversary, and it says there in verse eight, be sober, be
vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, has a roaring mind,
walking about seeking whom he may devour. So, Peter is well-equipped
with this. You can just see from everything
he's writing at the end, as he's wrapping up this letter, You
can see the heart that he has because he's remembering all
the things that the Lord has told him. Maybe he's thinking,
this is the last letter I'm going to get to write. He doesn't know
he's going to write another letter, but he's thinking all these things
that the Lord has brought to his mind and to his heart. And
again, we see this when he reminds them, be sober, be vigilant.
You have an adversary that's looking to devour you. And in
Luke 22, 31, towards the end of our Lord's life here in the
flesh, He said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to
have you and to sift you as wheat. And Peter, hearing that, he exhibits
this tremendous boldness, almost an arrogance, because he says
very boldly, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee both into prison
and to death. Right? So he's very confident
in his standing and who he is in the flesh. He's a bold man,
and so he's confident, he's leaning on his flesh and what he is naturally
in the flesh. And he doesn't realize he's about
to be sifted severely as one sifts wheat. But the Lord strengthens
him. He says, before those words even
came out of his mouth, he said in Luke 22, verse 33, I'm sorry,
Luke 22, verse 32, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, and
when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." So you can see
he's doing that very thing, he's strengthening the brethren, he's
putting them in remembrance that brethren love one another, walk
in humility, we have an adversary, Don't be fooled by his ways and
his thoughts. And that's a good word for us
because we should even be reminded of what James said in James 4,
15, where he reminds us we ought to say. We shouldn't talk the
way Peter spoke and bragging on what we're going to do, but
rather James reminds us we ought to say, if the Lord will, we
shall live. and do this or that, right? Because
we don't even know if we're going to get the next breath that we
have. Anything could happen to us and we would be taken out
of here. So first, if the Lord even wills
that we live, and then if he wills that we'll do this or that.
So let us look to the Lord and be confident in Him. We know
what we are in flesh. We've seen it time and time again,
our own weakness in our minds that we set our mind to do something
and we just don't follow through or we don't do it the way we
imagined we would be able to do it. So he's shown each of
us our own weaknesses and our own insufficiency and inability.
So trust in the Lord and walk humbly because we are getting
sifted like wheat all the time. So we're going to go through
severe trials and we're going to be sifted. So just remember
our adversary is stronger than we are in the flesh. Not stronger
than the Lord, but he's stronger than we are in the flesh and
so it's a foolish thing for us to think that we can stand against
him Because we think we're going to will ourselves to be able
to stand against them. We're going to fall and see that
we can't do that. And if you think about it, our
humility, that adversary, he's very skilled with his fiery darts. He knows how to hit us and how
to reach us and hit us where it's going to have the most damage.
A humble target, a humble person gives him a very small target
to hit. When you're puffed up in pride
and in arrogance, it's pretty easy to hit that puffed up big
head with a dart. But a humble person gives very
little space, very little target to be hit. I know it's not something
that we can do, but we're encouraged to remember what we are in flesh,
to remember that it's not us, it's not our strength, it's not
our ability, it's the Lord, and it's the Lord that has to keep
us. Man thinks that he's a free agent,
that he has this ability to do as he pleases, and I know that
most of you here realize that we're not free, we see the bondage
of the will, we see how we've been brought into, that we're
born into darkness, and born into condemnation, and born into
that bondage of the will, but man, it's a precious thing to
learn that we can't free ourselves, that we're not just free agents
to do as we please. We're either servants of the
Lord, or we're servants of the evil one, as it says, you know,
that all of us by nature are taken captive by him, that the
evil one, at his will, when we come forth before the Lord saves
us and delivers us from that. Paul wrote to the Ephesians in
2, verses 2 and 3, he reminds us saying we're in a time past
ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in time past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others." So we're not free, you
know, and Paul told Timothy, that those that are walking about
in the strength and power of their own flesh are taken captive
by the evil one at his will. So we're not free agents just
to do and command that we're gonna do something and will ourselves
to be able to do it. The Lord has to be in it and
he must be willing to allow us to have that happen. Now some
people do have great things or what the world calls great things
happen to them in this life, but they never come to know the
Lord. We have to remind ourselves, well, really was that a blessing?
That they were so successful and they were never brought to
see their need of the Lord? And even though we toil and labor
and struggle, yet we see how the Lord uses that to soften
our hearts, to break our hearts, to break up that stony ground
so that it's good ground and it hears the word and we see
our need of the Lord. And that's a blessing. You might
have a difficult life, but in the end, like Lazarus, in the
parable, in the end, though he wasn't wealthy, though he was
a beggar, and though dogs lift his sores, the Lord says he had
a happy eternity, because he went up to be with the Lord,
whereas the rich man, for, yeah, 80 years he had a nice life,
but 80 years and then it was all over, so remember those things. And Paul says to the Corinthians,
in 2 Corinthians 2, verses 10 and 11, to whom ye forgive anything,
Rather, let me just say this first. We should be humble and
walk in humility because of the fact that we have this adversary.
So Paul said, to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also. For
if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes
I forgave it in the person of Christ. So he's not holding on
to any grudge. And then he says, lest Satan
should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his
devices." So even the most peaceful of churches, if we get into whispering
and talking about one another, or accusing one another, or holding
on to grudges and not forgiving one another, because we are going
to offend one another, we're close people, so we say things
or we do things that are ignorant or silly, but trust that the
Lord that we're the Lord's, and so even if we do offend one another,
be patient, pray about it, and just trust that, well, you know
what, the Lord has shown me my offenses, and he's humbled me,
so we can trust that the Lord's gonna show your brother or your
sister, and he's gonna bring them to see how they offended
you. So, you know, just as you would
want one another to be gracious if you've had a bad day or a
tough day, Or maybe they don't know that, but you lash out and
you say something that shouldn't be said, just understand, be
patient and say, you know, let me just trust the Lord that he's
gonna work that out and deal with them. So, because otherwise,
that's one of Satan's devices. He loves to sow discord among
the brethren. He loves to work in that fear
and that mistrust amongst one another so that we're always
wondering, what do they mean by that? Or what are they doing
there? So we don't have to do that. trust the Lord, just be
humble, trust him. But when we think, you know,
when you think you're somebody and that you deserve certain
things, you know how easy it is to be offended, right? When
we think, I shouldn't be treated that way, they shouldn't talk
to me that way, how dare they do that, and then it's real easy
to get offended and be upset, and that's just one of those
devices that he works in there to separate brethren who love
one another otherwise, so. And we see even in In the things
that we expose ourselves to, like lies and false messages,
he says, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11, he warned them of false preachers
and false teachers. He said, for such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it's no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness. whose end shall be according
to their works. And that's really enlightening, isn't it? That
they transform themselves as ministers of righteousness, which
Paul was well acquainted because they taught and preached the
law as though this is your righteousness. But the Lord says, if you have
faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, be
ye cast into the sea. What mountain? The mountain of
Sinai, that fiery burning mountain that that will just drag a man
down to hell because he's looking to the law and thinking, I'm
doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing good.
I'm keeping the law. And he's trusting that for his
righteousness rather than trusting, Lord, you know I'm a filthy dog. You know I can't keep your law
perfectly. You know I want to do what is right and pleasing
to you. but you're my righteousness and you're my hope and you're
my trust and so we're we're trusting in him there so we're not looking
back to the law for our righteousness not that we want to offend the
law or do those things but rather we're looking to show mercy because
that's the fulfillment of the law to say thank you lord because
you're my righteousness so you're giving god the praise and the
glory and you're being kind to your brethren, and as much as
you understand it, you're being loving and gentle and kind and
humble to your brethren, so you are fulfilling the law in that,
because you're fulfilling the whole spirit of the law in being
kind and gentle. So, Peter says in 1 Peter 5,
8, 9, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil
has a roaring lion walking about, seeking whom he may devour, whom
resists at fast in the faith. knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. So he's
encouraging us to be steadfast in the faith. We hear many errors. We've all heard a variety of
errors as we grew up and as we've come along. We've heard these
things that we looked at and thought, maybe that's the truth,
or maybe that's the truth, or maybe that's what the Lord means
by those things. And they were all things that
took our eyes off of Christ. and put our eyes on ourselves,
or on some doctrine, or hoping in those things, but the Lord
now, we can say the Lord has established us in the faith.
It's not me, it's not my works, it's not what I do, but it's
what Christ has accomplished, and we trust that He is teaching
us and leading us. Even though we look at ourselves
and we aren't impressed with what we've done, that's actually
a good thing, because we're constantly just looking to Him and saying,
I don't see it, but I trust you. I believe that you are my righteousness
and that I don't have any other hope. I can't, I'm looking at
myself and I don't see anything that's given me any hope. So
we're just looking to Him. So that's why the Lord sent His
Son into the world because we are sinners and because we We thought righteousness was
by something we did with our own hands and something we thought,
it's always something of the flesh, but he sent the Son into
the world to put away our sin and our unrighteousness by the
sacrifice of himself so that he is our righteousness. He fulfilled
the law of God completely. And He came to do that very work,
to bear the debt and the load and the sin and the unrighteousness
of His people in Himself before God so that God poured out His
wrath and judgment upon the Son, upon the Lord Jesus Christ, so
that we now are reconciled to God. That God isn't looking to
us any longer for a righteousness that we produce in His flesh,
because His flesh is dead. And all it produces is thorns
and thistles. It doesn't produce good fruit
that God is pleased with. So He sent the Son to be our
righteousness. He accomplished our righteousness
and our sanctification and our justification so that by His
Spirit now dwelling in us and giving us life, we're looking
back to the Son, trusting in the Son, and therein is our righteous
fruit. And it's all worked in us of
the Lord. He fills us with His Spirit.
giving us those gifts necessary for life and godliness, which
is by the Spirit of Christ, so that we're resting in Christ,
we're trusting in the work we're saying. Lord, you've provided
everything necessary, thank you. And that's a righteous fruit.
And we look at it and don't think it's much of anything, because
we know how weak and feeble it is, but it's a halt. The Lord,
so that when we stand before him in that day, and we say,
when Lord, when do we do anything that is righteous or pleasing
to you. I don't remember doing anything.
I look back on my life and it's pitiful." And he says, nope.
As much as you did this to the least of my brethren, encouraging
them, just being here and loving them and walking humbly among
your brethren, he says, you did it unto me. You trusted me. You didn't exact from them because
they misspoke to you. You didn't say, how dare you,
and then break away from Maybe you did feel it in your heart,
because we all feel that burning, but to say, you know what? I
love the Lord, and I love that brother or that sister. I'm not
going to let that destroy the fellowship that we have in the
Lord. You just keep on going, trusting Him, and you show Him
kindness the next opportunity. Yet, just trusting, it's not
about what you get out of it. It's because that's the Lord's
people. He died for them. He shed His
blood for them. And you believe it and trust it. And you trust
that the Lord did that. So, He does that among His brethren,
among His people. We're not confident in our own
strength. We're not confident in the things that we've done,
but we're trusting in what Christ has done for his people. So let's go on to, well, yeah,
let's go on to the next one. So in verse 10, it says, but
the God of all grace, who hath called us unto eternal glory
by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you
perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. So the God of all
grace, he's gonna perfect us, he's gonna establish us, he's
gonna strengthen us and settle us. So the Lord chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world that we should be holy
and without blame before him in love. So he had compassion
upon us, and mercy upon us, he gave us life, he filled us with
the spirit so that we walk now in the truth. We believe that
that faith that's been once delivered to us, he's given us repentance
to turn from these dead works and trusting the things that
we've done and to trust in him. And these trials come upon us,
these sufferings come upon us, and it's all to make you perfect,
establish, strengthen, settle you. So he's gonna allow us to
suffer for a while, but it's always with that purpose to bring
this to himself. He says, after that ye have suffered
a while. That's right there in the scriptures.
He knows what he's doing after you've suffered for a while.
So, because what's happening is through that suffering in
the flesh, he's withering the flesh. He's weakening the flesh.
He's bringing the flesh down to see, yeah, it's really, I
don't need this flesh. I don't need to trust and depend
on this flesh because he keeps showing me how this flesh falls
and doesn't get up and is weakened. And yet, through those times
when I'm weakest and I think I'm going to be overcome, the
Lord always rises and shows that he's merciful and gracious to
me and that he's providing everything that I need. So he's doing all
that. He's showing us that, or we see
that perfection that is working because he's showing us that
this flesh, this grass, that all the glory of man is the flower
of grass and that it withers and the flower thereof falleth
away. So he's perfecting us because we're no longer looking to us
as perfection but we're looking to him who is perfection, Christ
our Savior. And then we see how through this
weak flesh he's establishing us. He's establishing us in the
Lord Jesus Christ. It says in 1 Thessalonians 3,
verse 12 and 13, and the Lord make you to increase and abound
in love, one toward another, and toward all men, even as we
do toward you. To the end, he may establish
your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father,
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. All
right, so we're not looking to ourselves to be established.
We know this flesh is weak. We know that we can't trust this,
but we're established that I am the Lord. I don't know but I
just trust Him. I look to Him for my righteousness
and we're not being moved off of that. When we're looking to
our flesh, it's easy to be moved off point because our flesh is
so weak and flimsy it doesn't maintain perfect righteousness.
But we do trust that Christ is perfect and He's righteous. So
we're established in Him. We're settled in our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we see how he strengthens
us in Christ. If you turn over to Ephesians
3, Ephesians 3 verse 16. Ephesians 3 verse 16, we're looking
at him now strengthening us in Christ. And Paul says that he
would grant you according to the riches of his blood. to be
strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted
and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to
know the love of Christ, whose passive knowledge, that ye might
be filled with all the fullness of God." So he's strengthening
that inner man, that creation that Christ has created. Again,
not looking to His flesh, which isn't going to produce anything
holy or righteous. So He's strengthening us in Christ. In the inner man, He's giving
us the knowledge of Christ's love for us, so that we're brought
to see, you know, we stop looking at the ups and downs and the
whims and the thoughts of this flesh, which is deceitful and
brings us into darkness, but we have the knowledge that He
sent His Son. He loves me. He loves me. He
provided salvation for me. And we stopped looking at how
good we're doing. We stopped taking the temperature
of ourselves to determine whether Christ loves us or not. And we
trust Him, that He said it in His Word, He's provided Christ,
He's brought us to this point. He showed us all these things.
And we just trust, Lord, I trust that You're going to complete
it. That You're going to finish that work. You're going to bring
me to the end. So we stop looking, don't look
to yourselves, don't look to how you're feeling. Don't even,
as you get distracted, don't even be discouraged by it. Trust
the Lord that he is able to, that his righteousness is sufficient
to bring us to the end. So, and then, sorry. So, just trust him that
even through these sufferings that we go through, The Lord
knows exactly what He's doing. He's bringing it all to pass.
He's doing it for our goods. And think of our Savior. I heard
this in the conference yesterday, but think of our Savior, how
He was silent as a lamb is silent before her shearers is dumb. He opened up. He didn't open
His mouth, right? And they were saying all these
things to Him and accusing Him of all these things. The Lord
could have, He was wise behind any of us. He could have said
the right thing and shown them who he was, and then they might
have stopped and not crucified him, and we'd still be in our
sins. So the Lord was quiet through it all, and he was at peace with
it, and it says in Psalm 39 at the very end, it says, because
thou didst it. Speaking to the Lord, he knew
that this was all of the hand of the Lord. He said, because
you did it, I don't have to say anything. I know that I'm brought
into this suffering because it's all according to the will and
the purpose of God that I might save my brethren and deliver
them from the condemnation for their sins. So the Lord taught
our Savior that through suffering, and he was faithful. And so by
his spirit, he teaches us that, that even as we go through suffering,
Lord, you did it. You did it. And even if we don't
understand it, Lord, you did it. And I trust you. So just
remember that. Be patient and remember what
Christ did. How he was silent through the
suffering. So it is that we're silent. That is that we're not complaining.
We're not always complaining about it. We might tell one another
and share with one another what we're going through. That we
might know how to pray for one another and care for one another.
And we do care about one another and what each one's feeling and
going through. but you yourselves don't complain against the Lord,
because the Lord knows what He's doing. It's not just some random
thing. He knows exactly what He's doing and why He's doing
it. So, He's the God of all grace,
and He deserves praise and glory and honor, as it says in verse
11, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. And back in
verse nine, He says, we remain steadfast So we see how He settles
us, we remain steadfast in faith knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in our brethren that are in the world. So the
Lord, He knows exactly what He's doing and He says in John 16
verse 33, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye
might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. So the Lord's
doing all this to establish us, to settle us, to strengthen us
in Christ. That's why we're going through
these things. And now let's consider the fellowship that we have among
the brethren. We see the fellowship of the
saints. So we're partakers of that fellowship and those sufferings
that went before us in our brethren. How the Lord worked that out
in our brethren. We're entering into that. We're
partakers of with them, and it says in Hebrews 12, verses one
through three, it says, wherefore seeing, we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every
weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our fate, who for the joy
that was set before him, endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down on the right hand of the throne
of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself, lest ye be weary and faint in your
minds." So remember that he's provided all this for us. We're
coming 2,000 years later entering into the labors of other men
and women who have gone before us and who were faithful and
serve the Lord, trusting Him throughout all the sufferings
they went through. So let us remember that, because
there's still others to come, because we're still here. And
so we're still laboring, even through the sufferings and the
trials that we go through, but let us press on, looking unto
Christ our Savior, who provided all this, and provided that faith
and strength in our brethren. And let us look to that, and
trust the Lord to strengthen us, and to encourage us As well,
if you look there in verse 12 at the beginning, what does Peter
write? He says there, right at the beginning
of verse 12, he says, by Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you. And Silvanus, that's the long
name for Silas. So Silvanus is Silas, and you
know who Silas is, right? You can remember that name in
Acts. He went around with the apostle
Paul on more than one missionary journey, and he sacrificed his
life and his comforts and went off with Paul when he went back
to Antioch and then was used of the Lord when Barnabas departed
and they separated ways, the Lord used Silas, a faithful brother. And here he is serving with Peter
as well. So this is a faithful brother
that the Lord has used. And in Acts 16, if you remember,
this brother was what suffered for the gospel's sake. We don't
think much of Silas, but he suffered right with Paul after they were,
I forget where they were, maybe it was Philippi, yeah it was
Philippi, and there was a girl who had an evil spirit that was
following him around for days, and they were putting up with
it, and finally Paul just had enough, and he cast the demon
out in the name of Christ. Well, she was owned by masters
who were making money off of her ability to speak things,
I guess, that a normal person wouldn't be able to speak, but
she spoke by an evil spirit. And the girl's masters, they
brought Paul and Silas and probably Luke, because he's there as an
eyewitness writing these things, and whatever brethren were there
with them, saying, these men being Jews do exceedingly trouble
our city and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive.
neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up against
them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded
to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes
upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to
keep them safely. Who, having received such a charge,
thrust them into prison, and made their feet fast in the stops.
And this is where we see who it was. At midnight, Paul and
Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard
them. is that we see Silas there, a
faithful brother taking beatings with the Apostle Paul and serving
him, though he's not even hardly well known like Paul is known. We speak so highly of Paul, but
this is a faithful brother who served with him and sang there
so that the prisoners heard that and think about it to this day
because of what they did Prisoners who are now delivered by the
power and the grace of our God still hear those words that those
men say. You think about how Silas wrote
that letter being dictated to by the Apostle Peter and to serve
the brethren in any capacity that he could. And that's what
the Lord's calling us to, to serve one another and to be in
that fellowship, seeing how the Lord uses puny little people
like us to serve and to promote this gospel so that our brethren
and sisters who are coming after us will hear this word and hear
this rejoicing of what Christ has done for us. And you think
about Epaphroditus, right? He was a faithful brother from
Philippi who brought a gift to the Apostle Paul and almost died
in the process of giving that gift, of bringing that gift to
Paul when he needed a gift. how you think, well yeah, the
guy almost died, but it moved Paul so much that he wrote the
letter to the Philippians, which we now read in our scriptures
for the last 2,000 years, and have been blessed by that gift. So you can see how that little
tiny thing that they did prompted a gift like that. That little
thing that we have now, the letter to the Philippians, and how thankful
we are to see the rejoicing And there, so the Lord uses that
fellowship. That's the fellowship that we're
in, brethren. And it says, you know, Peter
even said to the Lord, saying in Mark 10, verses 28 to 30,
he said, Lord, we've left all and followed thee. And Jesus
answered and said, bearer of the astounding, there is no man
that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother,
or wife, or children, or lands for my sake and the gospels,
but he shall receive a hundredfold down this time houses and brethren
and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and
in the world to come eternal life. So the Lord, he's providing
for us. And we see that, right? We have
this fellowship. We're from all different parts
of the country and how the Lord has brought us all together.
And then we can go down to Arkansas and be treated so well with the
brethren down there or any conference we go to. And there's people
that are very kind and sweet on us. And the Lord gives you
opportunities to be sweet on them and to reciprocate that
joy and that gladness that we have. So be encouraged by them. He's brought us into that. That's
the fellowship that we're brought to. And then he says at the end
of verse 12, in 1 Peter 5, 12, he says, I've written briefly,
exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God,
wherein ye stand. So he's just encouraging us to
say, this is the faith of the Lord. He's provided his salvation
through his son, Jesus Christ. This is the fellowship that he's
brought us into. So just keep laboring with trusting
that the Lord knows exactly what he's doing. Even the sufferings
we go through all works to the glory and the praise of our God. And that's why he said earlier
in the letter, 412, he said, beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some
strange thing happened to you. He's just putting us in remembrance,
and we do well to know, because we don't know what sufferings
or persecutions are around the corner for us, but trust that
whatever it is, He's calling us to labor in that glorious
fellowship with our brethren to serve Him. Some little part
it may be, but it's all gonna be to the praise and the glory
of His name, and we're gonna rejoice, and hug one another
and cry one another and be rejoicing in that day that we were made
willing by God to suffer shame here, that we might stand with
Him and be brought into the glory that
is given to Christ our Savior, we're glorified with Him. He
says we're going to be glorified. Not that we can even fully comprehend
that because we think, what am I going to be glorified for?
But He's, because He did all that work, it's all trophies
of his grace and of his praise and glory and honor. And then
in verse 13, he says, the church that is at Babylon elected together
with you, saluted you and so doth Marcus my son. And you know,
there's so many people that have thought, well, was Peter in Rome
when he wrote this? Does that mean Peter was in Jerusalem
when he wrote this? Because he goes to Babylon and
they're trying to figure out what's Babylon in that day. It doesn't
matter. What he's really saying is, Wherever
the Gospel is being preached in truth by the Spirit of Christ,
the whore of Babylon is going to rise up against it and persecute
it. So wherever the Gospel is, you
can be sure it's Babylon to some degree. There's the Spirit of
Babylon there, persecuting and rising up against it. And He's
just strengthened the brethren to say, you just be faithful
and stand in the Gospel that's been delivered to you by the
Spirit of Christ that lives in you and has raised you up to
hear these things and to believe these things. And then he closes
there in verse 14, saying, greet you one another with a kiss of
charity or a kiss of love. Peace be with you all that are
in Christ Jesus. Amen. So that he just reminds
us at the very end that the bond of our perfection, the bond of
our perfectness is all found in the love that Christ has filled
in our hearts, that he's given to us in our hearts so that we're
established in love where we love our God, we love our Savior,
and we love our brethren who are also the Lord's that he's
called out and saved. So walk humbly and show love
and kindness and patience to one another because that's what
he's called us to. Just rejoice. He's your God.
He's your God and he's done this for us, brethren. So I just thank
the Lord and pray that he bless that word to our hearts. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious
Lord, we thank you for the salvation that you've provided in Christ
your Son. Lord, that you've called us to
this fellowship. Lord, that though we see in this
flesh we're undeserving sinners, we know that you've worked that
in us, even by the sufferings and the trials that we've gone
through and the hardships, Lord, because it's all worked to wither
this flesh. and to strengthen us and establish
us and to set us in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank
you for that because we know that it ain't our glory, it ain't
our praise, it's not what we've done but what you've done in
us and we thank you for that and pray that you would indeed
establish us in the knowledge of our Savior and encourage us
in the faith that we would be willing to do even those little
things that seem so small and insignificant but really are
such a help and a joy among our brethren and how they appreciate
when we're just kind to one another and thoughtful. Lord, help us
in that. We pray this in Jesus' name, our Lord and Savior. Amen.