Preached Sunday, October 20, 2013 from 1 Peter 5:10-11
Theme: God Himself will do His part to keep His people faithful all the way to eternal glory.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We come this morning to a very important passage of Scripture that deals with a very serious subject—the great enemy of our souls, the devil.
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We’re drawing very near to the end of our study of 1 Peter. And though it’s been a very encouraging passage of Scripture, I suspect that—like me—you have also found that it deals with a rather overwhelming theme.
This is, after all, a letter that was written to Christians who were suffering under some degree of persecution and hostility for their faith. Like them, we too are living in a time in which it is growing harder and harder to live for Jesus Christ. Like them, we feel some measure of cultural pressure against our faith. And like them, we find that we’re being called upon increasingly to stand faithfully and sacrificially for our Lord in tough times.
And it’s not just the pressure of the culture around us that we feel. That cultural pressure is ultimately the manifest hand of the true enemy of our souls. As Peter wrote in the passage we studied last week,
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world (1 Peter 5:8-9).
So; in addition to the cultural pressures we feel around us, we also need to be on guard against a powerful spiritual enemy who is committed to our destruction. And what’s more, if you add to all of that our own personal weakness and failings, it truly does seem to be an overwhelming thing that Peter is calling us to do—to stand faithful to the Lord Jesus all the way to the very end.
But I’m greatly encouraged by the fact of who it was that wrote this letter to us. We of course know him as Peter, the Apostle of Jesus Christ. We know him as the one who preached that first great sermon after the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost—where 3,000 people at one time believed on the Lord Jesus. We know him as the one who authored two great New Testament letters, whose testimony was the inspiration behind the Gospel of Mark, and whose ministry occupied so much of the Book of Acts. We know him as the great martyr who faithfully laid down his life for the Lord Jesus—and who, as tradition tells us, even asked to be crucified upside-down; having felt unworthy to be crucified like Jesus Himself. But we should never forget that he was also the one who—before all that—failed miserably; and who even denied the Lord Jesus at his crucifixion.
Peter was a flesh-and-blood man—subject to all the failures and fallibilities that you and I suffer under. And if it had been up to him, he never would have ended his race on this earth faithful to the Lord Jesus. But it wasn’t up to him. It was up to the God who had called him and redeemed him. And I believe that Peter would want you and I to trust in the very same God that he trusted in to keep us and preserve us to the very end.
In his closing blessing in this letter—something that I like to call a ‘prayer/wish’ for his brothers and sisters—Peter expresses this very thing. In 1 Peter 5:10-11, he expressed his confidence in God’s ability to keep His own dear redeemed ones; and wrote,
But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 5:10-11).
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; in the end, who is it that ensures that you and I will end our race faithful to the Lord Jesus? Is it us? I know that, to some degree, some of it is up to us. I am personally responsible to live faithfully for Jesus. But then again, is it up to God? I also know for certain that I could never do my part unless He first called me and empowered me, and unless He kept me by His gracious hand all the way to the end. So; how do we figure it? Is it a 50/50 proposition? Is it half my doing and half God’s doing?
I have come to be convinced that the best way to think of it is as 50% my doing, and 100% God’s doing. I know, of course, that that doesn’t work out mathematically; but God operates on a far more advanced level of math than ours. I know that, in spite of my weaknesses and frailties, I must make the decision to stand faithful for the Lord Jesus, and must use the resources that He provides for me—joining with my brothers and sisters in Christ in the effort. I know that when I fail and fall and stumble—as I often do—I must confess my failure, get right back up, regain the ground I lost, and keep on walking. I absolutely must do my part. But I also know that it is God who first took the initiative—who first called me to believe on Jesus Christ, and who first gave me the faith to believe, and who has given me the the increasing desire to walk with Him, and who helps me to grow and make progress in that walk every day; who has placed His enabling hand upon me, and has placed His empowering Holy Spirit within me; and who guarantees that I will complete that walk all the way to the very end—and all to the praise of His grace and the glory of His name. I am responsible, as Paul says, to ‘work out’ my own salvation ‘with fear and trembling’; but I can confidently do so, ‘for it is God who works’ in me ‘both to will and to do for His good pleasure’ (Philippians 2:12-13).
It’s 50% our doing, dear brothers and sisters. But we can do our part faithfully and confidently and give our all to that 50% part we play; because our 50% is, in the end, simply a part of—and only made possible by—God’s 100%. We can stand faithfully for the Lord Jesus Christ in dark and difficult times with absolute confidence and joy. We can give ourselves completely to His cause—even when it goes against the tide of culture, or in the face of the devil’s opposition, or in spite of our own failings.
As this morning’s passage affirms to us, God Himself will do His part to keep His people faithful all the way to eternal glory in Christ. We might at times fail; but if we obey Him, we cannot ultimately fail. It’s 50% up to us; but it’s 100% up to Him. That, I believe, is what Peter wants to encourage us with in these two verses.
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Look a little closer at these two verses—this closing ‘prayer/wish’ from the apostle Peter for his suffering brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s consider God’s part in our victory—and be assured by it.
Notice first . . .
1. THE ‘WHO’ OF GOD’S PART.
Peter begins by saying, “But may the God of all grace . . .” Our assurance of ultimate victory in the end is because the God who does the 100% part for us is “the God of all grace”.
That word “grace” is one that can be translated “gift”—a freely-given benefit or endowment. And that’s one reason that His genuinely redeemed people can be assured that they will end in victory—because theirs is “the God of all grace”—the one from whom every good and perfect gift comes down (James 1:17).
Do you realize that right now, because of your relationship with Jesus Christ, you already have everything you will ever need for a life of victory before God the Father? It’s true! As the apostle Paul puts it in Ephesians 1:3; “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Notice the past tense—”has blessed us”. You are wondrously and infinitely supplied! All that you will ever need to reach the end of your days on earth faithful to the Lord Jesus has already been given to you by “the God of all grace”.
But there’s another dimension to the word “grace”. It can also speak of specific “help” supplied to us at a time of need. When we’re called upon to stand for the Lord Jesus in difficult times, or when it seems as if the devil is throwing everything he has against us, or when we feel that we are too weak or fearful to go on—or even all three!—our God is “the God of all grace” who supplies us with all the help we need. He gives us strength where strength is needed, or courage where courage is needed, or wisdom where wisdom is needed. As the writer of Hebrews has put it—when he too wrote to suffering Christians;
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).
If it were strictly up to you and me in our own resources to stand faithful for Jesus Christ in these difficult times, we’d never be able to do it. But we can—and we are even assured that we will—because ours is “the God of all grace”. We can turn to Him for everything we need.
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So; that’s who’s doing the 100% part in this matter. Second, let’s notice . . .
2. THE ‘HOW’ OF GOD’S PART.
Ours is the God of all grace, “who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus . . .”
First, consider what it is that He did for us. He “called” us. This is something that theologians often refer to as the “effectual call” of God. It’s called “effectual”, because it results in the one who is called actually coming to God in faith. When I was a little boy, and it was getting late, my mother would call me in for dinner. Those first few “calls” weren’t always “effectual”. But when she actually went out, took me by the hand, and actually brought me in to supper, then it was “effectual”.
And that’s what God has done for us who are His. Because we were fallen in our natures, and were dead in sin, we never could have come to Him in our own power. We had no power! But He took the initiative and issued an “effectual call”; and He made us alive to Him, and we came in faith. And that “effectual call” doesn’t just stop at saving faith. It goes all the way to complete glorification in Christ. As Paul put it;
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).
And second, consider what it is that God “called” us to. He “called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus”. Everyone that God calls, He justifies in Christ—that is, declares righteous in His sight. And everyone that He declares righteous in His sight, He finally glorifies in Christ. They become sharers together with the glory of His beloved Son Jesus in the glory that He enjoys before the Father.
You know; the apostle Peter, who wrote the words we’re studying, was there on that night that Jesus prayed—just before He went to the cross for us. What would Peter have thought when he heard the Lord Jesus pray these amazing words about His disciples?
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:20-23).
Stunning words, aren’t they? But they were prayed by the Lord Jesus Himself. It’s the desire—more than that, the sure and certain purpose!—of the Father to fully glorify everyone who is in a relationship by faith with His Son Jesus. And it’s not all up to our poor, meager, fallible 50% part of the work. It’s assured because of His 100% part; because He succeeds in all that He purposes to do for us in Christ.
Before we move on, this would be a good time for me to stop and ask: Are you in Christ? All that Peter is speaking of is only true of those who are in a relationship with God through faith in His Son Jesus. Are you in that relationship? Have you come to that place in your life where you have ceased from trusting in your own efforts to make yourself righteous and faithful to God, and placed your faith instead strictly in the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross? It’s really essential that you do so; because the assurance of your ultimate glorification isn’t based on your work but on His. And His work is done “in Christ”.
I hope before you leave from our time together today, you’ll make sure that you are in Christ by faith. What wonderful assurance we have in Him!
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Next, let’s consider . . .
3. THE ‘WHEN’ OF GOD’S PART.
Peter wrote, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while . . .” Those words, “after you have suffered a while” are a little hard to swallow, aren’t they? Literally, Peter wrote of it as a matter of “suffering a little”—either referring to a ‘little time” or a ‘little degree’. In either case—humanly speaking—it probably didn’t seem like either a little time or a little degree!
But did you know that that’s how Peter began this wonderful letter? He wrote to these suffering Christians—many of whom had been driven from their homeland, many of whom have become rejected by family and friends, many of whom had lost homes and careers, many of whom had suffered threats to their persons—told them of the glorious heavenly inheritance that is theirs in Christ, and affirmed to them;
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials . . . (1 Peter 1:6).
And look at why it must ‘needs be’ that they suffer for ‘a little while’;
that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ (v. 7).
The praise, honor and glory comes after the suffering—after the faith has been tested and proven. And that suffering really is only ‘little’. It only last for a little while in comparison to eternity, and it is only to a little degree in comparison to the greatness of the glory that follows. As Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 4;16-18,
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
May God help us to keep our eyes on the eternal in our times of suffering for Jesus. If we do, we’ll see them for how little they really are.
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And then, notice . . .
4. THE ‘WHAT’ OF GOD’S PART.
Peter writes to us that the God of all grace—who has called us to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus—will Himself, after a little suffering, “perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”
Now; I have to tell you that when I look at various versions of the Bible, the translations go all over the map here! The precise meanings of these words is a little hard to nail down. Perhaps they aren’t meant to be nailed down so specifically as to see too many distinctions between them. Perhaps they are meant to show us—in a very broad way—that God Himself is the one who secures us in our faithfulness to Christ. These aren’t talking only about the eternal results of our faithfulness in suffering for Jesus. They’re talking about the results here and now!—that we become even stronger and more stable in Christ.
If I may speak from experience, I certainly found this to be true. In my early years as a believer, I really got hassled for my faith. It wasn’t just emotional and relational pressure I felt. It at times became physical. I really experienced the hostility toward my faith from my old circle of friends; and it often scared me. But God helped me endure. And then, later on, the pressure became philosophical and intellectual. The secular philosophy courses I took in college challenged my faith greatly. I remember talking to my pastor once about it. He just slapped me on the back and said, “Those classes will be good for you. They’ll put hair on your chest.” To be honest, I didn’t end up with much of that. (That may be more information than you care to have.) But I did end up with my faith even more secure as a result of those challenges. And then the challenges became vocational. I was often pressured to compromise my faith in the workplace; and I had to make some difficult and risky stands at times. But my faith endured through those challenges—and was all the stronger because of them.
Through those times of ‘suffering a while’, God Himself upheld me and established me. The doubts became resolved. The questions didn’t bother me any longer. I became increasingly sure that Jesus lives, and that He is and that He truly is the Savior and Friend of all who trust Him.
Look at what Peter says. Based on the translation I’m using, Peter says that God Himself ‘perfects’ us. The word that Peter uses is one that he probably drew upon from his own profession as a fisherman. It was the word that was used to describe the work of mending fishing nets. When they got torn or tangled, the fishermen at the end of the day would stretch them out and mend them. And that’s what God does for us in our times of suffering for Him. He mends what needs to be mended. He restores us. He perfects us. He heals all the broken spots that we didn’t even know were broken. He makes us complete.
Then, Peter says God Himself ‘establishes’ us. Without His help, we’d easily topple. We’d be easily moved from our position of faith. But through those times of testing, we become “confirmed”—bolted down in place. Then he says that God ‘strengthens’ us. He builds up the muscles of our resolve. He increases our endurance. And then, finally, he says that God Himself ‘settles’ us. We become like the foundation stones of a building. We become unmovable.
And remember, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; it’s God Himself who does this. His 100% part is to strengthen us in such a way that we are able to endure in the little part we play in remaining faithful to Him. As the apostle James said;
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4).
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And finally, notice . . .
5. THE ‘WHY’ OF GOD’S PART.
Why does God do all that He does to make us to stand faithful to the very end? Peter says, “To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Or as some translations have it, “To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Do you know why I am sure that those of us who are truly His redeemed people will stand faithful to the very end? It’s because our little efforts are simply a part of His 100% work. And the reason I’m sure His 100% work will succeed is because He has His name on us! He Himself is glorified in our faithfulness to the very end. As the apostle Paul put it;
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-7).
No wonder our victory is sure! It’s so that all the power will be shown to be of Him!
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So to review, dear brothers and sisters; we have a definite part to play. We are responsible to stand strong in Christ and remain faithful to Him to the very end. You might say our part is expressed in 1 Peter 4:12-13;
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy (1 Peter 4:12-13).
But our part is only a ‘small part’ of the part! We do 50%; and He does 100%! And His part is described in this morning’s passage. In spite of all the challenges and failings and pitfalls in the way, we who are truly “in Christ” will end up in victory—faithful to the end; because, as Peter says,
But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 5:10-11).