The title of the message, Stand
Fast, For This Is the True Grace of God. Peter said this is the
true grace of God wherein you stand. Peter has come to the
end of his epistle. He encourages us, as well as
all believers, to be sober-minded, to be steadfast, to expect suffering,
and He ensures us that this is the true grace of God, wherein
we stand. And while humbling ourselves
under the mighty hand of God, we are to cast all our care,
cast all our care, no matter how small it may seem. Really,
if you and I could see from God's point of view, nothing that concerns
us is small. Nothing. But cast all our care
upon Him, for He says He cares, He careth. That means continual. There is a continual caring of
God for you as if you were the only one that existed. And I
told you last Thursday that this word cast meant deposit. I like that thought. Deposit
all your care on Him. Just take it and leave it there. We sing a song, take your burden
to the Lord and leave it there. That God would give us the grace
to be able to do that. You would think as we grow older
that we would learn to do that. But it's still hard to do that.
Just leave it there. And I know of no better place
than to deposit all our care, all our burdens, all our anxieties,
but that's the throne of grace. No better place than at the throne
of grace. Listen to Psalm 55.22. This is
not a new teaching. Psalm 55-22, cast thy burden
upon the Lord, Jehovah, self-existing One. And He shall sustain thee. He shall carry you through. And
He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. What keeps us from casting all
our care on Him? What keeps us from doing that?
I can tell you what it is. Unbelief. That's what keeps me
from casting all my care on Him and leaving it there, is unbelief.
Unbelief keeps us from doing so. Unbelief keeps us from praying. It keeps us from praying. Unbelief
keeps us from worshipping God as He's to be worshipped. Unbelief
keeps us from praising God as He's to be praised. One of the
things we ought always to pray for when we pray is this, Lord,
help thou mine unbelief. As that man said, he said, Lord,
I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Let's not forget that he that
cometh to God must believe that He is. You have a firm, fixed,
Faith that when you come to God, you're coming to God that is. But that's not all it says. And that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him. I heard this tale some years
ago. It's a story of a man who ran
out of gas. He ran out of gas and he took
his gas can out of his vehicle and started toward a farmhouse.
And as he started toward that farmhouse, he thought, they probably
won't give me any gas. As he got closer to that farmhouse,
he said, I know they're not going to give me any gas. And when
he knocked on the door, the gentleman came to the door and he said,
what can I do for you? And he said, you can just keep
your old gas. He that comes to God must believe
that He is and that He's a rewarder. I felt so guilty when I was writing
this down today, that God is actually going to listen to me
and He's going to answer my prayer. Now, it may take me a while to
get in line with the will of God concerning the prayer, but
God's going to answer. He's a rewarder of them that
diligently... Now listen, diligently, not half-heartedly. haphazardly
or half-heartedly, but diligently seek Him. You lay yourself out
to it. And then Peter tells us here,
he says, be sober, be vigilant. Sober means to be mentally self-controlled. Don't let your imagination get
carried away with you. But to be under control. And
to be awake and on guard at all times. like a watchman, not falling
asleep. A watchman. The believer is constantly
under attack, inwardly and outwardly. And as a pastor, I need to realize
this even more, I think, than you do. Because I realize not
only am I under attack, the whole flock is under attack. And it's
my responsibility to watch after the flock. but we're constantly,
constantly under attack. Listen to what he says, because
your adversary, the devil, every one of us have an adversary and
it's the devil. And let me stress this. Satan is very real. It's not
a myth. This is not Greek mythology.
Satan is a very real person and he is pure evil. And He's your
adversary, He's my adversary. He's the adversary of all God's
children. And it says He walks about. He walketh about. He never
rests. He never sits down and takes
a break. You know, Satan is a spirit.
You know, it would take me a long time to walk from here up to
the end of the road here. But Satan is a spirit. I have
no doubt that he can be anywhere in a flash. I have no doubt about
that. And he walks about seeking whom
he may devour. He walks about as a beast. And
the Greek term for this is this. He walks about as a beast that
is fiercely hungry. He's fiercely hungry to destroy
anyone of God's people he can get a hold of and destroy. And
he's not a picky eater. He's not a picky eater. Be great
faith or little faith. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter. And the word adversary here has
the meaning of a law adversary. It's someone who goes to court
against you and accuses you. He's called the accuser of the
brethren. Always accusing God's people
of wrongdoing. You know, there's so much we
don't hear, but He's constantly accusing me. He's constantly
accusing you before God of wrongdoing. Breaking the law. Trying to use
the law against us. But remember this. Let's turn
over to Colossians chapter 2. Here's the good news. Let me
give you some good news after giving you that. Colossians chapter
2. Let me start in verse 9, and
I'll read down through verse 14-15. For in Him, in Christ,
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete
in Him, which is the head of all principality and power, in
whom also you are circumcised, with a circumcision made without
hands, and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, wherein
also you risen with Him through the faith of the operation of
God, who hath raised Him from the dead. And you being dead
in your sins, and in the circumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened
together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses." Listen.
blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us, took it out of the way, nailing
it to His cross. He can't use the law against
me. He can't do it. Christ satisfied the law. He
blotted it out. He took it out of the way. We're
not under the law, we're under grace. That's good news. That's good news. On to grace. It says he walks about, but I
want you to know this. His path is determined by the
Lord. His path just like... You know,
the Scripture says the steps of a good man are ordered by
the Lord. Well, the path of Satan that he takes, walking about
this earth, is directed by God Almighty. He's not a loose cannon. His steps are directed by God
also. Because it says in verse 15 of Colossians, it's that same
chapter, "...and having spoiled principalities and powers, He
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. There is none
above Christ. Satan is not His equal." He's not His equal. It's not
like they're both at odds and they're trying to see who wins.
Christ already won. He's already won the victory.
It's His. The devil is His devil. And when we looked at that last
Sunday, His temptation in the wilderness, at the end of that
third temptation, what did He say? Get thee hence, Satan. Get
out of here. Get out of here. And He left. He left. But Peter tells us in
chapter 5 here in verse 9, Whom resist, resist steadfast
in the faith. That is, stand against his onslaught.
Don't strive with him. I'm not going to stand around
and argue with some self-righteous man. Don't strive with him. Michael
the archangel wouldn't even do that. He said, the Lord rebuked
thee. But what he's saying here is, hold your ground. Stand fast. Don't run like a coward because
Christ is our Lord. We have nothing to be afraid
of. If we fear God, we fear no one else and nothing else. Absolutely
nothing else. And no one else. He says, stand
fast. That is, be steadfast. That's
a military term. Hold your ground. That's what
he's saying. Now how do we resist and how
do we remain steadfast against the wiles of the devil? He tells
us here to be steadfast in the faith, not wavering, not be like
the ocean tossed to and fro, but solid, standing on that solid
rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now where does faith get its
strength from? When our Lord dealt with Satan
in the wilderness, Every time He dealt with him, every time
He spoke to him, what did He say? It is written. It is written. Our Lord always
used the Word of God when He resisted the devil. Always. The foundation of faith and the
strength of faith, now listen, it's the Word of God. Now I want
you to get this. If you're writing anything down,
you write this one down. If I don't forget, I'm going
to put this in a bulletin. No one, no one who is weak in
the Word of God will be strong in faith. You mark that down. No one who is weak in the Word
of God will be strong in faith. Not at all. The Word of God is
the very foundation of everything we believe. It's the foundation
of believing God. We believe God according to His
Word. I haven't heard God speak in
an audible voice. What I have heard, though, is
God speak through His Word. That's why we need to saturate
ourselves in the Word of God, to be saturated with the Word
of God. We stand on God's Word in every
situation. when we resist temptation, resist
the devil, resist trouble. Let me tell you something. There's
not a situation that you will ever come across in this life
that you don't have the remedy to or the answer to in the Word
of God. I mean, not one time will you
be faced with anything that the answer to it is not found in
God's Word. It's relevant to every day and
to every trouble. Now know this. Know this. That all our brothers and sisters
in this world suffer the same afflictions. I'm not going through
anything new. You know, I'm 62 years old. I've
never suffered anything new in 62 years. And you haven't either.
And you won't. Anything that you will face at
any time, others have faced it also. God's children throughout
the ages have faced the same problem. And God delivered them,
and He'll deliver us too. If He took care of them, He'll
take care of us too. I think it was Joshua said to
Israel, he said, Has any good thing of the Lord failed you? No. Absolutely not. All of God's children have their
measure of afflictions in this world, but listen, not beyond
this world. Not beyond this world. It's just
for a time. There's a time limit to every trial. It may not seem
like it, but there's a time limit. And beyond this world, there
are no sufferings. There are no heartaches. There
are no tears at all. None. Now, what's the believer's source
of comfort? What is our source of comfort? Well, Peter says here in verse
10, but the God of all grace is our source of comfort. God
is the source of all spiritual comfort. He's the source of all
spiritual comfort for every occasion. Every occasion. And He has plenty
of grace to carry us through. I tell you what, if God's grace
could be wore out, if it could be spent, I would have already
spent it. Sometimes I feel like I ask for
so much mercy, I'm embarrassed. I'm serious, it's almost embarrassing.
But I know this, I need it, and He has it. And He delights to
show mercy more than I delight to have it. He delights to show
it to me. He delights to do that. He has
plenty of grace. Therefore, we should be encouraged
to come to Him for grace to help in time of need. Listen to these
Scriptures. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 3, Blessed be God, even the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies. He's not a
Father who just shows mercy. He's the Father of mercies. They
come out from Him. They originate from Him. Mercy
originates from God, and the God of all comfort. God's
able to comfort us in our greatest sorrow, no matter what it is.
He's able to comfort. Turn over to Hebrews 4. In Hebrews 4, look in verse 15. Let me go back a little further
than that. 14. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens... He's not over
in Jerusalem. He's not in a temple somewhere
on this earth. He's in heaven. He's passed into
the heavens. He's in the Holy of Holies. Jesus,
the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not
a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without
sin. Let us, let us therefore come boldly,
not cowardly, not cowardly, and not in a frame of mind like,
I really don't think he's gonna answer this. I really don't think
he's gonna answer this. but to come boldly, expecting
God to answer, expecting Him to hear, because He said, come. He said to come. And He said
to cast all our cares upon Him. You know, I've used that in prayer
often. I've used it in prayer often.
Lord, You said, You said, cast all your cares upon me, for I
care for You. And I cast my cares. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace. That's a throne where we can
come to. We're sinners. Listen, the throne
of grace is for sinners. It's for sinners. It's for people
in trouble. It's for a bunch of no-goods. A bunch of no-goods. It's a throne of grace. That
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
My, God's given us His word on it. Lord, you said to come. Here
I am. Here I am. You said to come. One of these
days, you're gonna need that. Sooner or later, we'll be brought
into a straight, and you'll need that. And you remember that.
Lord, you said to come, and I come. He told Paul, when Paul asked
him to remove that thorn in the flesh, whatever it was, God said,
Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. My grace is sufficient to carry
you through this. and it's by His grace that He
has called us, and that word, look, look, in verse 10, but
the God of all grace who hath called us, now that word called,
that's not an invitation. Here's what that word means.
Has summoned. He has summoned us, the King
of glory, The God of creation, God Almighty, has summoned us. That's what He's saying. He has
summoned us to His eternal glory by Jesus Christ. God has summoned
us to His eternal glory. He has
summoned us to come into His presence and experience and enjoy
His glory. And He's called us, He's summoned
us through Jesus Christ. This is an effectual call given
by the Holy Spirit to come to Christ. God's eternal glory and
salvation in Christ are tied together in this verse. They're
tied together. We are called by His grace. We
are summoned by His grace to enjoy His eternal glory. And Jesus Christ is the channel
through which we will enjoy God's glory. That's just astounding to me.
That's astounding. Although, for a little while,
we have to suffer. We must suffer for a little while,
but it's a little while. It's a little while. He's measured it out. You know,
some of you ladies, you cook and you get the measuring cup
out. And you pour in half a cup, put
it in, pour in four cup, put it in. Our suffering, whatever
God sends out, it's measured out. I mean measured to the nth
degree. It's measured out. And we must expect to suffer for a little while. Just for
a little while. But after that you've suffered, After you've suffered a while,
make you perfect. Now, here's the idea of this. It's not make you mature. He's
not talking about making you mature in this one. He's talking
about making adjustments or putting parts in the right relationship
with one another. That's what this is for. It's
making adjustments. It's equipping us, to put it
simply, it's equipping us for service. Every time a trial comes
along, every time some suffering comes along, God is equipping
us for service. It has the same meaning as in
Mark 1.19 where James and John were mending their nets. They
were mending their nets, they were fixing their nets so they
could use them for service and fishing. That's what he's saying
here. All these things, God's making
adjustments on you. He's making adjustments. He's
putting parts in the right relationship. That's what He's doing. It has
the same meaning as in Ephesians 4.12, where Paul speaks of God
has given us pastors and teachers for the perfecting of saints,
the edifying of the church. It has the same meaning. He's
adjusting us. He's putting the parts in the
right place. Fitting us for service. And He's
gonna perfect that no defect remains in you. That nothing
shake you. I tell you what, if your faith
can be shaken, I hope it is shaken. If mine can be shaken, I pray
God to shake it, because I want to know I have faith. If I don't
have the faith that's of God, I want to know it. If my faith
can be shaken, then I want to know it. that nothing shake you, that
you shall be strengthened, and you'll be able to overcome every
adverse situation. That's what's going on. We don't
even realize it. We think we're just going through
a trial, don't we? I tell you, God's working on
you. He's molding you. He's molding you and conforming
you into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. It says concerning Him, and this
is a mystery to me, Yet learned he obedience by the things which
he suffered. And then he says, God establish
and strengthen and settle you. Make you firm. Firm. I'm going to close with verse
12. And he said, 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. Peter closes out his epistle
by telling them and telling us that the doctrine of salvation,
that the doctrine of salvation by grace alone in Christ alone,
which He preached to them was indeed, without doubt, the true
grace of God. It's the true grace of God that's
been set forth from Genesis to Revelation. It's the true grace
of God. The gospel of grace, the gospel
of Christ crucified is the true grace of God. There is no other
gospel. And it's nothing new. It's nothing
new. And no matter who comes along
to refute it, and they had plenty of them come along, especially
in that day, to refute it, just like we do in this day. But no matter who comes along,
I don't care what his credentials are, this is the true grace of God. No matter if you have to suffer,
If you have to die, and they did, many of them did, they died,
they were martyrs. And if you have to die for it,
if they take you to the stake, it's the true grace of God. It's the true grace of God. The
gospel substitution, the gospel satisfaction, the gospel of sovereign
grace, the gospel of Christ crucified. That's the true grace of God
and don't you ever move from it. Don't ever move from it one
step. Not one step. Matthew Henry said this. He said, a firm persuasion that
we are in the true way to heaven will be the best motive to stand
fast and persevere therein. Let's never move away from the
grace of God in Christ. Grace alone without any works
whatsoever on our part. We add nothing to it and we dare
not take anything from it. It'll stand on its own. And when
the ages roll by, if this world stands another 10,000 years,
it'll still be the true grace of God. It won't change one iota
at all.