1 Peter chapter 5 and my text
will be found in verse 10. 1 Peter 5 and verse 10. I've entitled this message simply
after the text, the God of all grace. The God of all grace. 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, settle, strengthen, settle you." Now the Apostle
Peter who wrote this was a man very much acquainted with affliction. You remember that he was at one
time the spokesman for all the other disciples. His boldness
was unmatched by any of the other disciples. His strength. He was a man of strength. And
often spoke for the rest of the disciples. And you remember how
bold he was. That even our Lord, in the night
of His agony, the Apostle Peter said, Though they all betray
you, yet I will die with you. That's just words, but he matched
it with action just moments after when that band of soldiers came.
You remember Peter probably never held a sword in his life. Was
not a soldier, he's a fisherman. He grabbed the sword and smote
that high priest's ear off. I imagine he wasn't aiming for
the ear. But he smote it off. He was so bold. And yet you remember
what our Lord told Peter. He said, Lord, before the cock
crowed, you will deny me three times. You will deny me three
times. And you remember when that rooster
crowed, that rooster crowed, he went out and wept bitterly. He wept bitterly. was in great
despair, great sorrow. Even so much sorrow that he left
the faith. He left. Christ is crucified. Christ was buried. He thought
he was done. It was over. There was no hope.
He said, I go fishing. I'm going back where I came from. Can you imagine the despair he
must have felt? Surely he remembered that word
of Jesus that said this, if you deny me before men, I will deny
you before my Father. You suppose that rang true in
his ear? He denied it not once, but three
times. But what was the result of this
affliction? Now this affliction, this was a great affliction.
What was the result of this affliction? Why was Peter not given strength
to resist? Is it not possible the Lord give
him such strength to resist this sin? To overcome this? Surely it was within the power
of Christ to move Peter to believe rather than to deny him. Why? Because God would by the Lord
Jesus testify of His great grace. By that denial, by those three
denials and Peter's restoration, God manifests something of His
great grace. His great grace. Because He would
show the difference that He had made. Who maketh thee to differ
from another? Or what hast thou that's not
received? You know, I suppose Peter learned who made the difference
after this was done. You remember how Jesus, after
His resurrection, came to them and stood on the shore? And He
said, cast your net on the other side. When they drew those fish
in, what did Peter know? He said, it's the Lord. And Peter
immediately left the fish. He left the boats. He left his
friends. He jumped into the water and
fled to Christ. He ran to Him. He ran to Christ. Now is this not true of every
one of us? Peter's story not very personal
to every believer in Christ. How often have we denied him?
How often have we not put off this flesh? How often have we
embraced it rather than abandoned it? How often we've not believed
on Christ How often have we lived for a while, but because of His
grace, because of His grace, when He comes to us, we flee
our sin. We flee all and abandon all to come to Him. This is the difference between
Judas and Peter, isn't it? But oh, the pain that Peter must
have felt at that rebuke. Remember there's a rebuke? Lovest
thou me more than these. And he said with a great sorrow
in his heart, Lord thou knowest I love thee. And by God's grace,
Peter was restored. Peter was restored to Christ,
but this experience, this experience of Peter was not just for his
benefit. Consider this. It was for our
benefit. The experience of His suffering
was for our benefit. The benefit of all saints. So
this knowledge and experience of the Apostle's suffering is
surely seen in this epistle. As you read through this epistle
of Peter, you can see how Peter views sin. Can't you? Run! Flee! Be sober! Be vigilant! Your enemy walketh about as a
roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. You see his inner,
you see his desire for you is that you should not fail as he
did. That you should not fall as he
did. His desire was love. Out of love,
he exhorts us to all goodness and abandonment of sin. And Paul
said, that's just your reasonable service, isn't it? To abandon
sin is just reasonable? considering what Christ has paid.
And so he begins this epistle, and he writes this epistle, and
he says, you're the elect of God. That's how he begins. He writes unto the elect of God,
those who were sprinkled with the blood of Christ, those called
by the power of God. And in chapter 1 and verse 6,
he reminds us that though you were chosen, though you were
redeemed, though you were called, listen, I know this by experience,
you're going to suffer. You're going to suffer. He said
this in verse 6, wherein you greatly rejoice. Don't you rejoice
in your election? Yes. You rejoice in your redemption?
Yes. You rejoice in your calling?
Yes. You rejoice in the fact that He keeps you? Yes, I rejoice,
Peter. Though, now for Caesar, if need
be, you are in heaviness and manifold temptation for this
purpose, that the trial of your faith Trial of your faith is
much more precious than gold that perishes. Though it be tried
with fire, though you be found in the furnace of affliction,
I want you to know this is precious. It was precious to Peter. That
trial of affliction was precious to him. Why? That it might be
found in the praise and honor and glory at his appearing of
Jesus Christ. In other words, My keeping, all
of my repentance, all of my desire to be fervent and sober, it's
not for my glory. It's because of Him. It's because
of Him. Believer, remember when you were
redeemed by the blood of Christ, being born again of the Spirit,
through the power of the Word. And so therefore, because of
these things, you should lay aside every sin. And believe
me, he spends three chapters here telling you. Lay it aside. Put it off. Abstain from fleshly
love. Submit yourselves to God. Submit
yourselves to the authorities of men that God has placed over
you. But can any believer... Do you
not understand those words? Be sober. Be vigilant. Humble yourselves. Anybody misunderstand
those words? No, you don't. They're reasonable
for us to abandon sin and the things of this life, seeing that
Jesus died to save us from these things. Believers, let us with
all of our strength, all of our determination, all that's within
us, with all our faculties for the glory and service of Christ.
Listen, give no occasion to the flesh. And I'll tell you, Peter experienced
that, didn't he? These words are not hollow. He
did give occasion to the flesh. He did fall into sin and abandon
his Lord. Therefore, he is encouraging
us not to follow in that. Be sober, be vigilant. Peter felt the affliction of
this. He felt the pain. He had failed
in faith and fidelity to his Lord, being guilty of the same
crime as Judas. Yea, worse. He did it three times.
Judas denied him once. Being guilty of the same crime.
But the only difference was what? Jesus said, I have prayed for
thee that thy faith fail not. Christ prayed for Peter's faith
that it should not fail. And after his conviction of the
Holy Spirit and his restoration, Peter here in this text, has
felt the pains and sorrows of sin, and with all of his heart
implores the saints to cast them off. But now we come to verse
10, and seeing this, Peter, understanding the weakness of our flesh, does
not leave these exhortations to our own strength to fulfill
them. When these exhortations come
to us, be sober, be vigilant. You can determine to be sober
and vigilant all you want to, but how far do you think you
can last? How long do you think you can last? In your strength,
how far do you think you'll make it? How far did Peter make it
in his own strength? He didn't make it 12 hours before
he denied the Lord. A few hours before he was just
saying, I'll die with you! And he meant it. He was determined.
But see how fast he relied on his own strength, how long it
lasted. Therefore, Peter, with all of
his exhortations at the end here, commends us to what? The God
of all grace. If we're to do these things he's
exhorted us to do, it must be by the power of the God of all
grace. The God of all grace. And so
now by the Lord willing, I want to take this verse as it comes,
And we're going to see four things here, four things in this verse. First of all, we're going to
see the God of all grace. The God of all grace. Second
of all, we're going to see the effectual call of the God of
all grace. Thirdly, we're going to see the
suffering of the saints. And fourthly, we're going to
see the consequences of this suffering, the result. of these
sufferings. So first of all, the God of all
grace. Now the Apostle, having set forth the truths of the doctrines
of grace in the very beginning of this epistle, he is stating
throughout this epistle that we should never abuse these doctrines. We should never use them as an
occasion to the flesh. He says in chapter 2 and verse
16, as free And not using your liberty as
a cloak of maliciousness. Paul says basically the same
thing in Galatians. He said not using your liberty
as an occasion to the flesh. They're saying the same thing.
Look, you are a believer in Christ. You were chosen of God, redeemed
of Christ, called of Christ, kept of Christ. But don't dare
use that as an occasion to the flesh. Why? Because the flesh
will use it. That's why it's there, isn't
it? Because we're prone to it. If we weren't prone to it, it
wouldn't be put there. But because we are, it's there. And he said
that we should give all diligence to live as becometh saints. Yet
in the end of his epistle, he leaves nothing to the ability
of the creature. Nothing to our strength to perform
or maintain our standing before God. He leaves none of it to
us, but rather leads us to the source of all mercy, the fountain
of all spiritual strength, which is what? Where's the fountain
of all spiritual strength? Where's the source of your strength
to do these things He has exhorted you to do? Here it is, the God
of all grace. That's the source of all our
strength. And notice this, He doesn't say
the God of grace. but the God of all grace. You see, God is the source of
all grace. You and I may be, we may be gracious
to one another, but I promise you, it's not the same thing. Any true grace is of God. He is the God of all grace. Therefore,
the only cause of our salvation The only reason we have experienced
the regeneration of the Spirit of God and enlightened to our
sin and fled to Christ, the only reason, is the God of all grace. The God of all grace. The only
thing that separated us from the rest of spiritually dead
humanity is the God of all grace. And again, I point you to what
Peter experienced. The only difference between him
and Judas was the God of all grace. That was it. There was
no difference in their betrayal, friends. There was no difference. When Judas denied the Lord, he
did it once. But where did he go after he
denied Him? He went back to the law. He went back to the priests seeking
mercy. What did he find in him? He said,
no, you go do what's right. And he did. He hanged himself.
That's what, when men come to the law, that's what they find.
They don't find mercy. They find, go hang yourself. Because that's
what you deserve. Why did Peter not go back to
the law? Because he knew there was no hope there. And he had
nowhere to go. What are you going to do? I'm
just going to go back fishing because I ain't got no place to go. And when the Lord
came, He drew him and he fled. He ran to Christ. Why? The God of all grace. Has God
removed the veil from your eyes and heart to expose your sin? Have you seen the vileness of
your own nature? And then in an act of free grace
has God opened your eyes to see the perfections of Christ. To
see that salvation is all accomplished in Christ. Behold the God of
all grace towards us. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 4.
And tell me this, you that have belief, this is your and my experience
as it is Peter's. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And look at verse 5. The apostles said, we preach
not ourselves. Didn't God send you a preacher?
Didn't God send his word to you through a preacher? The God of
all grace sent his word to you. And they didn't preach themselves.
What did they preach? They preached Christ Jesus, the
Lord, and ourselves, your servants for Christ's sake. And what happened? What's your experience? Look
at this. for God, the God of all grace,
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, just like that. Remember Genesis 1? Remember
how that happened? God said, let there be light,
and there was light, and He said, just like that. That's exactly
how you were saved. Just like that. He had shined
in our hearts. to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God. In other words, how in the world
can you please God? How can you be accepted of God?
How can you match the glory of God and be accepted? Well, you
know the answer if God shined in your heart. The only answer
is Jesus Christ. I found that in His face. The
face of Jesus Christ. That's what God revealed to us.
He revealed our sin and then He revealed Christ. Who did this? The God of all
grace. Why did He do it for you and
not someone else? The God of all grace. No merit here. It was His grace. And so I want you to see a couple
of things about God's grace. And you can see it in one place.
Go to Ephesians chapter 1. See the grace of God, the God
of all grace. First of all, He is a God of
electing grace. He is a God of electing grace. Ephesians 1, blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now why? He has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now how did He do that? This is how He did it. According
as He had chosen us in Christ. Before the foundation
of the world. When was that? Can you imagine
such a time? Before the foundation of the
world? God chose us. He put us in Christ before the
foundation of the world for this purpose. that we should be holy. We who are by nature not holy,
God had purposed before our sin to make us holy. Be holy and without blame before
Him. What's His motivation? In love. When did God love you? Can you ever find a time, if
you can say that word, that God did not love you. Not if you're one of these. In
love. Having predestinated. You know
what that means? It means everything it took to
bring you to Himself, He already determined to do. Everything. He predestinated
us under the adoption of children. How should He do this? We are
sinners, frail, without hope in ourselves. He said, I'm going
to do it not by you. I'm going to do it by Jesus Christ.
I'm giving Him full responsibility to save you. He did that before
the world began. Again, the question comes, why? According to the good pleasure
of his will. Why? He willed it to the praise of
the glory of his, what? Grace. You see, he did it all
for the praise of the glory of his grace. He chose us in Christ
before the world began according to the purpose of the praise
of the glory of His grace. What are we doing here this morning?
Are we not praising the glory of His grace? The God of all
grace who has chosen us. But not only did He choose us,
I told you that He purposed all things to save us. Look how He's
going to do it. In verse 7, He is not just the
God of electing greats, we see Him as the God of redeeming greats. He says this in verse 7. In whom?
In Christ. We have redemption. Redemption. We have redemption through His
blood. The forgiveness of sins. Christ
came into the world and suffered in the stead of His elect, bearing
their sins in His own body on the tree, redeeming grace. He bought us. Now where were all your merits?
Where were all your works when this was being done? You're not physically there.
You not did anything. If you were there, you would
be saying this, crucify him. That's what we would have said.
I hear people say that. Well, if I was there, if you
were there, you'd be yelling, crucify him. You'd probably be
the loudest. No, I would. Crucify him. But there he was redeeming his
people, paying for their sins. Why would He who owed nothing
pay our debt? He tells you, according to the
riches of what? His grace. He paid our sin debt by His grace. And I want you
to notice this then, that His grace, which we have heard and
we have believed, which we have experienced, is constantly something that
every believer experiences. When he says he is the God of
all grace, I want you to understand, he is the God of our electing
grace, he is the God of our redeeming grace, and listen, he is the
God of continuing grace. When he says the God of all grace,
that means his grace is never ceasing. Now you as believers in Christ,
do you not feel the constant, numerous aggressions of your
sin nature? The constant aggravation of the
old man. Yes, my soul cries, my sin, my
sin. My sin causes me more grief than
anything else. How often do we deny our Lord
in our works? Not with our lips. We may say
we love Him with our lips, but deny Him in our actions. How often? Can you count them?
Just count them today. Just count them as you've been
sitting there. How often have we denied Him
in unbelief? How often have we left Him? and
been ensnared by the things of this earth. Therefore, we are not only to
see our need of the God of all grace as we have in the past,
we need to see our continual need of the God of all grace. And friends, listen, we need
all grace. I don't need 99.9% grace. If I'm going to make it to glory,
I need all grace. I need for Him to do all the
work. I need for Him to be all my hope
and righteousness. I need the God of continual,
perpetual grace. We sing that hymn often, we sing
it, prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. What do we need? Here's my heart,
take and seal it. By merit? No, by grace. Seal
it by grace. For thy court's above. It is the God of all grace who
is constantly, daily, hourly, forgiving and cleansing us and
keeping us according to His loving kindness. And even when we've
gone so far, He still seeks us and finds us. I tell you, I've been there and
I know you have, where you said, yes, it's too far. It's too far. Isn't that what Peter felt? It's
too far. There's no way now. He's dead. He's in the tomb. There's no
hope for me. And yet what? The God of all
grace, there was hope. There was hope because we are
never too far. He takes His wounded lambs and
He binds their wounds and carries us to the fold. Surely, if God
did not possess all grace, we would perish. If some of this were left to
us, any of this were left to us, we who have wondered would never
have returned if He is not the God of all grace. We would never
be restored to Christ if He had not all grace. We would fail
and our salvation would be ruined if He were not the God of all
grace. But the truth is, he is. He is
the God of all grace. His grace is endless, an endless
supply. Now imagine a man who is very
wealthy. Okay, you could say the richest
man in the world, whoever he is. He's the most wealthy man
and he says, I'm gonna leave all of this to my son. and put
it in a trust, and he said, when I die, he's gonna get all of
it. And he dies, and his son gets all of it. Billions and
billions and billions of dollars. But I want you to know this,
it's still limited. There's only so much in that
trust. And that boy, say he spends it all. You know what's left? Nothing. Not so with God's people. God's grace is a never-ending,
ceaseless amount of grace. How much grace do you need? How much pardon do you need? How much love do you need? How much of His care, His attention
do you need? And when you are full, His grace
is not diminished in the least. It's amazing to me that God cares
for us as though we were the only ones. You know that? His attention is devoted to us
as though we were the only one. And yet we're not. He is the God of all grace. All grace. His grace is never
ending. He says this, I change not. So how much grace did you get in
the beginning? Well, that's exactly how much
grace you have in the middle. And that's exactly how much grace
you'll have at the end. How much grace? All grace. All grace. You see, His grace is not a pond,
a lake. It's not even a sea. It's a fountain. You know the difference? There's
a limited number of water in the sea, but if you see a fountain,
it's constantly flowing. It's ever fresh. And that's His grace. In Psalm
36, verse 9, He says, For with thee is a fountain of life. How much life do you need? Well,
it's a fountain of life. There's no end to it. Zechariah
13 and verse 11. It says, in that day there shall
be a fountain open for the house of David and for the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin and unclean. How much forgiveness do you need
of sin? Well, it's a fountain. It's a
fountain. It's a fountain open. We sing
that hymn, fountain of never-ceasing grace. The saints' exhaustless
theme. great object of immortal praise,
essentially supreme. We bless Thee for the glorious
fruits Thine incarnation gives, the righteousness which grace
imputes and faith alone receives. Are you such a man as Paul and
as Peter? Well, Peter tells you this, yes,
abstain from sin, flee, be sober, be vigilant, but not in your
strength. In this, the God of all. electing
grace, redeeming grace. Secondly, look at this. I know
I've got to hurry. Secondly, look at this. Effectual
calling of the God of all grace. The first streams of this fountain
of never-ceasing grace is experienced in the calling. Now, He is the
God of electing grace, but we had no experience of that. We
had no knowledge of that. He was the God of redeeming grace,
and we had no knowledge of that until when? until we experience
this calling grace. Look at this, he said, but the
God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by
Christ Jesus. This calling is always the first
work of God upon the hearts of his elect people. This term calling,
it means spoken to. Spoken to. As the Lord Jesus
Christ stood above the grave of Lazarus, what did He do? He spoke to Lazarus. Isn't that right? Whose name
did He call? He didn't say Mary or Martha.
He spoke to Lazarus. He said, Lazarus, come forth.
And immediately Lazarus came out of the tomb. That's exactly
the calling that we've experienced. The calling of God's grace that
saved us. He chose us. He redeemed us before
we ever were called. But in due time, He called us. Look at 2 Timothy. Notice the
order here mentioned. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9. Notice the order. Very important. He's speaking about the power
of God. He says in verse 8, he says, Be not therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us. Which is first? What did He do
first? He saved us. This is very important because
religion always has it backwards. They say, well, God calls you
and then He saves you. And see, this leaves a whole
bunch of room for them to start putting in stuff that you need
to do. No. You can't do anything if it was
already done before He called you. He saved you. And then He called us. And what type of calling was
this? This was an holy calling. It was an effectual calling.
Simply means this, it got the job done. When God called you,
you came. You know, it does bother me quite
often that people look at salvation as an invitation. Which puts the power in your
hands. Jesus is begging you and you
need to come and He'll try to emotionally get you stirred up
so you'll get up out of your seat and come down and do whatever
they want you to do. No, this is not that kind of
calling. He commands you. And when that
Word comes in power, there's no resisting. And why would you? Why would
you? If you were blind and someone
gave you sight, would you resist and say, no, I want to go back?
I want to be blind again. No. If you were dead and someone
gave you life, you say, ah, put me back in the tomb. No, that's
silly. It's foolishness. And when God
called us and gave us sight to see the beauty and glory of Christ,
we didn't want to go back. We don't want to go back. Paul
said, I count all things but done that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. I don't want anything that I
have. I want Him. That's when He called us with
a holy effectual calling. When He called us, we saw our
desperate need of righteousness and redemption. We saw our need.
And we saw this, Christ had accomplished all that we need. Therefore, what do we do? We
repent it. We turn. Is that not right? You do not
turn from all your merits that you once trusted in, all of those
things you once loved. You abandoned them. Why? Because
you saw they were valueless. They were vanity. They were empty.
And you saw all that you needed in Christ. And of course, you
came to Him. You repented from your religion
and vain works. I know some brethren, they had
trouble at the beginning of this. They believed on Christ, they
trusted Christ, but they were born in these churches, you know,
and they kind of wanted to stick around, try to change the church. I've heard that so many times.
Well, I'm just going to stay here. You know, what I'm going
to do is preach the gospel among these people, and I'm going to
just turn them around. Now, what you're going to do is get kicked
out. That's what they're gonna do. Just like that blind man.
He went in there and he said, look, I don't know anything.
I'm just dumb. But I know this. I was blind and he made me see.
And they said, out you go. And when you start talking about
being saved by grace, by the free grace of God, chosen in
grace, redeemed by grace, called by grace, kept by grace, not
by works or law, out you go. That's the best thing to happen
for you. And you got kicked out. God doesn't leave His people
in there. But the way I want you to know this, repentance
is not a one-time deal, is it? Aren't you still turning from
the flesh? Right now, in this pulpit, I
am turning from my flesh. I don't want any part of it.
And it still tries to pull me down to the earth. We constantly
are turning, constantly are looking to Christ, constantly fleeing
the things of this world in the flesh. And we freely embrace this truth
that Christ is all our salvation, but this man. Have you seen this man? Do you
know this man I'm talking about? But this man! All the other men,
they tried, they performed the law, the ceremonies, all those
priests, they did what they were told to do, and they did it well,
but they were never finished. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sin, what'd he do? When I get done preaching,
I'm gonna sit down a minute. I'm gonna sit down. But he didn't
just sit down for a minute. He sat down forever. What does that mean? It's done.
It's finished. We look to this man who has perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And an act of faith in Him is
not by mere human will but by divine effectual calling. In that same passage in Ephesians
1 and verse 18, He expresses this calling like this. He said,
And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe? Why do you believe? According
to the exceeding greatness of the power of the God of all grace. That's why you will believe.
That's why you're called. And all who He gives faith, they
give praise to the glory of His grace. Now, the suffering saints. I know I'm moving, but I think
this is necessary to see the conclusion of this. The suffering
saints. Just as a stream of grace flowed to us in mercy, as we
have been called by faith into Christ. I want you to know this.
You have also been called to suffer. That's my sales pitch. If you believe on Christ, you
will suffer. Jesus said that, didn't He? He
made no There's no mistaking his words. In this world you
shall have tribulation. Give good cheer, I've overcome
the world. You shall suffer. Look at what the apostle says
back in your text. He said, but the God of all grace who had
called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. Listen, after
that you have suffered a while. After you have suffered a while.
God of all grace who ordered and purchased and applied our
salvation has also ordered the stream of our suffering in this
life. Listen to me, all that you suffer, all that you suffer is specifically ordained of God
for you. all that you suffer is specifically
ordained of God for you. For you. After that you have
suffered. We shall not reach heaven's shore
until we have suffered a while. Paul said this to the church.
He said that we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom
of God. The God of all grace who called
us, calls us to suffer. And here's the comfort of suffering.
That the God of all grace will always enable us in some measure to believe and endure. Scriptures testify that though
we are sons of God, that the Son of God, consider this, that
the Son of God himself suffered. who deserved no suffering, yet
he suffered. What did the scripture say about
this? What was the result of his suffering? By suffering he
learned obedience. He learned obedience by the things
he suffered. How then do you suppose you and
I should learn obedience? How do you suppose we are going
to grow in faith and love and every grace? The flesh says prosperity. Let me prosper and surely I'll
praise God. Surely I'll serve Him more if
I had more. God says no. It's the opposite. Only when you have nothing will
you serve Him more. Only when you're made to see
the weakness of your own faith will you believe Him more. He causes us to suffer that we
may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have
you asked for more faith? Anybody here ask for more faith?
You want more faith? Do you want to believe more?
How about patience? Anybody need more patience? You
want more patience? Joanna, you need more patience,
don't you? Oh yes, yes, you need more patience. Why do you suppose you're going
to get that? How are you going to get that? After
you have suffered a while. After you have suffered a while.
Paul says in Philippians 1.29, and I want you to put these two
in comparison. Really quick, put them in comparison. Philippians 1.29 says, As it
is given unto you on the behalf of Christ to not only believe
on Him. How do you rejoice in that, that
it was given to you to believe on Him? Are you rejoicing in
that? Just as much as it was given
to you to believe, it is also given to you to suffer for His
name's sake. He's given to us to suffer. And
I want you to see this. It's only for a while. You read
that? Read that in your text. What
does it say? It says, after you have suffered, what? A while. A while. How long are you going
to suffer? A while. What does that mean? There's an end to it. There's
an end to your suffering. Look back at 1 Peter chapter
1 and verse Verse 6, He said, wherein you
greatly rejoice, so now for a what? Season, if need be. If need be. These trials aren't intended
to hurt you. They're only necessary. You're
receiving this trial, this suffering, because it's necessary. And it's
only for a season. It's only for a season. It's only for a while. Believer,
then fix your eyes upon Christ, for soon all of our suffering will come
to an end. Soon. And what is the reason for this
suffering? And I'm not even going to look at my notes. Look at
your text. What's the reason for this suffering? Why is the
God of all grace who elected me, who redeemed me, who called
me and who now keeps me even though I suffer. What is the
cause of all this? Look at this. Make you perfect. That word means mature. Mature. You and I will never grow in
grace except through suffering. You need to grow up. All you little children, Annie,
you children think it's all about them. The world revolves around them. That's how we all think. When
we're children, and I know when we get adults, we're able to
hide a little bit. We're the same thing. We think the world
revolves around us. When they grow up, they figure
that's not true. Everything we learn through suffering
is this. Christ is all. When God comes along and kicks
out that crutch that you've been leaning on for so long, and you
fall on your face, what do you learn? Christ is all. Christ is all. He said, not only
perfect, but establish you. What are you built on? What is
your soul built on? You only know that truly it's
built on Christ when everything else is washed away. When you've
got nothing else and you fall on that rock and are broken. You see what trials do? They
establish you. My soul is established in Christ. Suffering makes me see that I
can't trust anything in this world. I can't put my joy and
happiness on you. I can't put my anything on you. I can't trust you. You can't
trust me. Christ is all. He establishes
us, strengthens us. In times of trial, how do you
feel about your strength? You learn it's nothing but weakness.
And then what? You lean on His strength. Settle
you. Oh, I need to be settled. This world and my troubles stir
up. They stir me up. But you know
what God does with all this stirring? He settles you on this. Christ
is all. He settles you on this. I am
the God of all grace. Cast all your care for me. I care for you. Settled. And so let the world, was at
the, should storms of sevenfold vengeance roll and shake this
world from pole to pole. No flaming bolt can daunt my
face for Jesus Christ is my hope. On him almighty vengeance fell
that must have sunk the world to hell. He bore it for the chosen
race and thus became their hiding place. A few more rolling suns
at most shall land me safe on Canaan's coast, where I shall
sing the song of grace that Jesus Christ is my hiding place. sufficient grace, sustainable
grace, keeping grace, forgiving grace, grace of mercy and kindness
and tenderness and love. All that you need! All that you
need! Do you need it? Come to Christ! You find it! You find the God
of all grace. He causes us to suffer so that
we can be settled, strengthened, encouraged. I pray God will do that for you
even now. Let's stand and be dismissed.