Suffering and Sanctification

and the chapter, but even the
epistle itself. We find ourselves in 1 Peter
5. And I want to begin in verse
8. We’ll read through the remainder of the chapter. Pardon
the technical difficulties. 1 Peter. Chapter 5, beginning in verse
8. Be sober of spirit, be on the
alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls
about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. But resist him firm in your faith,
knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished
by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered
for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to
his eternal glory in Christ, will himself perfect, confirm,
strengthen, and establish you. To him be dominion forever and
ever. Amen. Through Sylvanus, our faithful
brother, for so I regard him, I have written you briefly, exhorting
and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm
in it. She who is in Babylon chosen
together with you sends you greetings. So does my son, Mark. Greet one
another with the kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in
Christ. It has been a great and glorious
study for me, if for no one else, this study of First Peter, it
is not my first time preaching it. I think you know that. But
it is absolutely the most impactful and convicting in my own life
and encouraging all at the same time. This latest study in this
great epistle. But as I prepared to move on
this week, I still was drawn to this passage and continued
to meditate on verse 10. And there is. As is in the rest
of God’s word, there’s so much there that I was moved to return
here one more time to this passage, we touched upon this last week
in our consideration of Essentially, the devil’s ministry, what the
devil is up to and how we’re supposed to deal with him. Remember,
we’re supposed to be fully aware that he is there and active,
that he is our foe. That he is looking for someone
to devour and that our course is not to rail against him or
make bold pronouncements against him or to rebuke him or any other
such activity. It is merely, as Peter says,
we are to resist him. And we did touch upon that encouragement,
what I called the hope that we have. In looking forward, the
hope that God is going to use this for our good, this attack,
even of the devil, God’s going to use it for our good. But I
wanted to park there because it has everything to do with
Peter’s epistle. It has everything to do with
suffering, which Peter has mentioned again and again in his epistle.
But what he hasn’t unfolded, at least in great detail, is
the the upside of that, the very hope that we mentioned as we
looked at verse 10, and that is the hope of sanctification. that God is actively at work
in each believer’s life. He is exposing areas of sin and
bringing those to repentance and infusing them with grace
and calling them to a standard and teaching them and bringing
them more and more on a daily basis to Christ likeness. We don’t, for some reason, spend
enough time on sanctification. And for that reason, I paused.
to look again at verse 10. I’ve entitled this sermon and
very similar to another sermon, I can’t remember exactly what
we called it, sanctified suffering, perhaps that sounds about right. This one I entitled suffering
and sanctification and really intended to highlight the relationship
between the two. And there are some of you that
just sank back in your seats, realizing that there is now a
relationship between suffering and sanctification that you can’t
have the latter without the former. There is in a very real way a
direct connection to suffering in our lives and to the purification
that it brings. Peter has used the illustration
previously in the epistle of the crucible where we are placed,
as it were, into a furnace and the dross is burned off and we
are purified by those testings and trials. We’ll review some
of those in a moment. But I wanted to look this morning
as we delve deeper into this passage at four glorious elements
of our promised sanctification. Most of us know little about
sanctification, not much more than perhaps even how to spell
or pronounce the word. We know that we’re called to
a standard. We know that there are a series
of commands and rules. We know that there are more than
10 commandments, but we don’t know exactly how many. We know
that Christ is our standard, but we have no idea how to get
there. We know that we’re supposed to confess our sin, but we don’t
really know what to do. And we rise from our knees to
go back out again. That’s what Peter wants to address. First of all, I want to look
at the timing of our sanctification, the timing of our sanctification,
look at verse 10, where Peter writes, and after you have suffered
for a little while, God’s going to do something.
And you can read the verse. You can read on and know that
the simple sentence is, the God of all grace will Himself. And then four verbs that consummate
the sentence. God is going to do something,
but before He does, there is a necessary element and that
is suffering. Peter says, after you have suffered
for a little while, and it shouldn’t surprise us Certainly not at
this point in our consideration of his letter. We have seen even
two words that are used in this very passage, pathema, which
means suffering or affliction. It’s used four times in Peter
and only 12 times in all the rest of the epistles. It’s where we get our word pathetic
from. It means one who looks upon one
who is suffering. There is another word, though,
translated suffering in this epistle. From where Pasco, from
where we get our word Pascal or the Passover lamb, that word,
too, is translated most often suffering. That word is used
12 times in Peter’s epistle. Only 11 times in all the rest
of the epistles, and I hope merely by that to show the concentration
level here in this epistle on the subject of suffering. It
is the very theme. It is a major, major theme in
1 Peter. Let me review with you, if we
could, just for a moment. Turn back all the way to chapter
one. We forecasted as we first began
to look at this epistle that the dark clouds were gathering. And perhaps reading these first
few verses, you might not perceive the intensity of the storm that’s
brewing. But Peter knew and those to whom
he was writing knew. As I’ve told you before, this
was the worst episode of persecution, perhaps, that the church has
ever faced. And Peter writes in the very
first verse, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who
reside as aliens. And with that, Peter began to
write to those about persecution and suffering who were in the
very midst of it. Not just us, who, as I’ve said
before, we consider a dirty look from a co-worker when we mention
Christ. We consider that persecution.
These were those who were paying the price on a daily basis, losing
jobs, losing favor, losing social privilege, even losing life to those who reside as aliens
scattered. And by that scattered, we discovered
that they were scattered by persecution. Turn, if you would, later on
down in that same chapter, verse six. When Peter really begins
to get into the body of this subject, he says, in this you
greatly rejoice. That is your salvation and all
that God has done for it, even though now for a little while,
if necessary. And we found it to be that it
was necessary. God is the one that determines
that. God is the one that determined
for those first century believers, and God is still the one that
determines for us what is and is not necessary. Even though
now, for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various
trials. Multicolored. The word almost
doesn’t fit. You’ve been distressed by manifold
troubles. Troubles of every kind. But remember,
as we studied that passage, that it isn’t suffering that’s in
focus there. It’s faith. It’s that joyous
faith that is going to carry us through trials to glory. Turn, if you would, to chapter
2, where for a time, Peter turns away from this issue of suffering
and takes it up again in verse 11 of chapter 2, where Peter
writes, Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain
from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Not only
are they at odds in this culture because of the standards to which
they hold, but they are at odds with this culture because of
their morality. Keep your behavior, his exhortation
continues, excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing
in which they slander you as evildoers, They may, on account
of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God in the day
of visitation.” When we looked at that, we considered that there
were some, perhaps, that are even going to come to Christ
because of how they lived. By way of their living an upright
life, they were going to stop up those slanderers that were
saying all these evil things about the Christians And merely
as they began to watch their lives, they would find it to
be untrue. And I take that to mean when
it says they glorify God on the day of visitation, on the day
when Christ returns, they repent. They have repented. They are
found to be glorifying God. Peter goes on, chapter two, verse
13, When he said, submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake. And here
we found that suffering often has a very practical element
to it, because here he turns to our workplace and to our homes. Submit yourself for the Lord’s
sake to every human institution, even to evil rulers. Whether
to a king or a governor. Look at v. 15, “…for such is
the will of God that by doing right, He may silence the ignorance
of foolish men.” Suffering even under bad government is part of the sanctifying process
of God. Turn, if you would, to v. 18 of that same chapter. And
here He narrows the focus Now, he addresses those who are servants.
Servants, be submissive to your masters. Well, that’s fine if
the master is a good man. But Peter doesn’t stop there. Be submissive to your masters
with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle,
but also to those who are unreasonable. And with this, he turned Christianity
seemingly on its head. Because, you know, we’re going
to rebel. We’re going to stand up for what
we believe. We’re going to take hold of the
marketplace. And Peter says, no. Be submissive
to your masters with all respect, not just to those who you like,
but also to those who are unreasonable. Why? For this finds favor. This
is part of the sanctifying process. If for the sake of conscience
toward God, a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly,
for what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated,
you endure it with patience? That if when you do right and
suffer for it, you patiently endure it. This finds favor with
God. This is all part of, Peter says,
the sanctifying process. Chapter 3, verse 13. Chapter 3, verse 13, where we
spent some weeks considering this passage, when Peter says,
who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?
Peter basically says, be reasonable. Remember who you serve. They
can kill your body, but they can’t kill your soul. This is
part of the sanctifying process of God. But even if you should
suffer for the sake of righteousness, verse 14, you’re blessed. Peter
says, be assured there is a blessing. The smile of God awaits. There
is there is a glorious blessing behind this suffering if you
will only patiently endure it. Do not fear their intimidation
and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Take hold, be devoted to this
process in a submission that issues forth proclamation. This is part of the sanctifying
process of God. And when Peter adds in verse
16, keep a good conscience, he’s calling us to righteousness and
to righteous living. But Peter’s not done with the
subject yet. Chapter four, verse one. Chapter four, verse one,
Peter says, therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh,
arm yourselves also with the same purpose. Now, it didn’t
have the same purpose in Christ’s life. Christ was perfectly holy. But in our life, it has the effect
of verifying our faith. It has the effect of changing
our mastery. It has the effect of mortifying
sin. It’s part of the sanctifying
process of God. Peter goes on and mentions it
again in chapter 4, verse 12, and in chapter 5, verse 8, which
passage we just studied last week. That those same experiences
of suffering, verse 9, are being accomplished by your brethren
who are in the world. That should encourage us that
others are enduring these sufferings. Others are persevering. Others
are pursuing Christ likeness all the while in the midst of
these great and terrible sufferings. Suffering is part of the major
part of the Christian life, and it’s a major part of Peter’s
epistle. But we’re to remember that trials
are temporary. When Peter brings up this subject
once again, it’s almost like if you didn’t have this, you
would say enough already. I know that I’m going to suffer.
You’ve told me 10 times over I’m going to suffer as a Christian.
But Peter says it one more time after you’ve suffered for a little
while. Those words echo, too, don’t
they? Because we saw them in verse six in this, you greatly
rejoice, even though now for a little while you have been
distressed by various trials. Trials are temporary. They have
a limited lifespan. We saw them. They have a purpose.
They have a God given purpose. And it’s for a little while.
Trials are fleeting, literally there, it means for a season.
They just kind of come and go just like just about when we
couldn’t stand the heat any longer of summer. Here comes the gentle
breeze of fall. The gentle breeze of fall will
give way to winter and just when we’re tired of winter again,
the warm sun and the beautiful, beautiful elements of spring
greet us. So are trials. They’re fleeting,
they’re seasonal. I mentioned a passage that I
want to have you turn to because I want to spend a few minutes
there. I want to have you turn to 2 Corinthians 4. Just to consider this comment
that Peter makes, for a little while. What does he mean by that? For a little while during the
day? For a little while for a couple of months? For a little while
this year? or for a little while during
my life on this earth, Paul sheds great light on it
when he says in verse 7 of chapter 4, we have this treasure, the
treasure of the Gospel, if you consider the context. We have
this treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness
of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted
in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not despairing.
Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying about in the
body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our body. In other words, Paul here says
that difficulty and suffering and strife are part of the Christian
life. Now, you know for a fact that
the context here is Paul talking about the ministry, but he doesn’t
stop there with the ministry. He says that suffering too, just
like Peter says, is part of the Christian life. Skip down, if
you will, to chapter four, verse 16. Paul is communicating these
things so that they may be an example to those to whom he’s
writing. He’s not saying that we who suffer in the ministry
suffer alone. He’s saying we suffer in the
ministry and we suffer in a particular way so that you can have an example
when you suffer. Look at verse 16. Therefore,
we do not lose heart. But though our outer man is decaying,
yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light
affliction is producing for us An eternal weight of glory far
beyond all comparison. While we look. Pardon me, not
at the things which are seen, but if the things which are not
seen for the things which are seen are temporal. But the things
which are not seen are eternal. You know, there’s part of me.
I’m sure there’s part of you there, part of the human element. That when they when we hear Paul’s
saying, momentary light affliction, we want to gnash our teeth at
him, don’t we? We’d like to sit down and poke our finger in Paul’s
chest and tell him a thing or two. Because he doesn’t know
what we’re going through. He hasn’t experienced what we’re
going through. He’s an apostle after all. And
he’s like one of the children raised on the silver spoon. Oh
really? Turn over to chapter 11 of 2
Corinthians. This is the passage I alluded
to last week in brief. I want to read it in full. And we pick up in verse 22 when
Paul is outlining his own sufferings. And remember, he has already
declared them to be momentary, light affliction. Okay, let’s
find out what Paul’s complaints might be. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites?
So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they
servants of Christ? I speak as if insane. I far more
so. Whoever you want to put up against
me, Paul says, I’ve got them trumped. In far more labors,
in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in
danger of death, five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes.” Which
was symbolic in the sense that if they gave you 40, you would
surely die. 39 is one lash short of death. Beaten. times without number,
often in danger of death. Five times I received from the
Jew thirty nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with
rods. Once I was stoned. Three times
I was shipwrecked. A day and the night I spent in
the deep. I have been on frequent journeys
in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from countrymen,
dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness,
dangers in the sea, dangers among false brethren. I’ve been in
labor, in hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and
thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure, momentary,
light affliction. And now you consider whatever
it is that God has brought into your life, and you too can look
at it as momentary light affliction because it affects our temporal
condition only. None of those things Paul was
going to carry into the next life. Not even the stripes. Secondly, I said there were four
glorious elements of our promised sanctification. Not only the
timing of our sanctification, it is glorious because it won’t
be granted to us without suffering. It comes with it. Secondly, the
author of our sanctification. We know well that God is the
author of our salvation. The hymns declare it. The Scriptures
proclaim it. That God is the author of our
salvation. The author and finisher of our
faith. But look again at verse 10. After
you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace. And I take
it to mean here that Peter wants us to recognize that little word,
all. That he is the God of all grace. Much of this epistle Much of
our concept of grace, whenever we mention it, has to do with
salvation. We limit it to that sphere. But
Peter says that God is the God of all grace, not only the grace
of salvation, but the grace of sanctification as well. And that
God of all grace is going to move. He is going to work. Philippians
1.6, Paul said, I’m confident of this very thing, that he who
began a good work in you, salvation, will perfect it until the day
of Christ Jesus. Sanctification. The same God
who begins the work of grace in a believer’s life is the same
God who will see it through by the process of sanctification
by that same grace. One commentator said it this
way, Peter is now focused on God’s strength as the means by
which believers obtain their eternal reward. The one who called
believers by his grace will also enable them to persevere to the
end. God is both the possessor and
the giver of all grace. The sufferings of believers are
intense, but God’s grace is stronger still. We know that from God, as James
reminded us, comes every good and perfect gift. And what could
be better than that God is not going to leave us in the sordid,
putrid state in which He found us, but more and more, every
day, He is going to conform us to Christ. Until by the time
we go to glory, we find ourselves to be, by God’s grace, in a glorified
state. Perfect. Peter will go on to use a multiple
number of expressions that essentially say the same thing. What Peter’s intent here is to
confirm us or to motivate us, to press us on to perseverance. The fact that he uses so many
different words as the passage unfolds, should imply to us that
it’s a matter of great difficulty to lay hold of and to stay on
the Christian course. It’s hard not to fail. It’s hard
not to come up short. In fact, from a human standpoint,
it’s impossible. Because of that, we need divine
grace to assist us. And that’s what Peter says is
there for us. Divine grace, divine grace is going to step in. Divine
grace is going to call us to a higher standard and it’s going
to enable us to step up. One Puritan said it this way,
the establishing in the faith is not of ourselves. We didn’t
make ourselves Christians. The establishing in the faith
is not of ourselves, but of God. It requires the power of God
to establish his people in the truth. You’ve heard me say from
time to time that a proud Calvinist is a contradiction of terms.
That same truth, no matter what it is you hold to, if you come
to some knowledge of biblical doctrine, that too is by God’s
grace. He goes on, so far from being
able to bring ourselves to faith in the gospel, we are not able
to continue in it without God. What blindness, then, is it to
boast of the power of man to believe and to keep himself in
the truth? The power to do anything in the
service of God must be communicated from above. In other words, he
says, we have this mindset that at some point in time, we reach
out and latch hold of Christ’s hand and that for the remaining
days on this earth, we’ve got to keep a death grip on it. People,
I’m telling you, it isn’t that way at all. That’s what he’s
telling us, that this is the God of all grace and the same
God that laid hold of you by grace is the same God that’s
going to preserve you by grace and sanctify you. By grace. It’s by grace. Thirdly, the end
of our sanctification, not only the timing and the author of
our sanctification, but the third glorious element of our promised
sanctification is the end of it. What’s the purpose of this
whole thing anyway? Verse 10, after you have suffered
for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his
eternal glory in Christ, I mean, how easily we read over incredibly
profound statements like this. He called you into His eternal
glory in Christ. Let’s pause there for a minute.
What is this calling? Calling is a word that has deep
theological meaning generated from the Scriptures, particularly
the New Testament. It belongs in that vocabulary
of the Christian. Peter uses it several times in
this epistle, as we have seen, but I’ll remind you. First, Peter
one fifteen, like the holy one who called you. Be holy yourselves
in all your behavior. 1 Peter 2.9, you are a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you
out of darkness and into His wonderful light. 1 Peter 5.10,
the passage in front of us as well. And so this calling refers
to an effective work of God in the life of the saints. It is
something that God did. God initiated. It was His calling
voice in your life that called you from death to life. It’s the process by which He
inducts believers into a saving relationship with Himself. It
essentially is to be compared with that great theological word,
regeneration. It is a bringing forth to life.
God calls us from death to life. But there are essentially four
basic meanings to this calling. It is a calling out of a lower
state. We know that to be the case. Even the best of us raised
in a solid Christian home, you would have to admit that you’re
a thoroughgoing sinner before coming to Christ. It is a calling
to a great feast. We know that it comes commensurate
with a call to eternity and to heaven and to glory forever. It is a calling which is a summon
to a duty. It’s a call to live a different
kind of life. It is a call to giving a name
corresponding to a particular character. There is a different
kind of life expected with this call. As one described it, the
Christian is a homeless wanderer called out of the darkness of
the past into the light of the gospel, traveling toward glory
or an inheritance or a crown called especially to suffer with
Christ. God called you if you’re a Christian.
If you have placed your faith in Christ, it was God that moved
first and he moved with the call in your life. The Puritans called
it the effectual call. Our own confession describes
it in just incredible terms. Listen, those whom God has predestined
to life, he is pleased in his appointed time to call by his
word and spirit. It’s God’s word that goes out.
You know that. You heard the Gospel. You heard
somebody read it to you. You heard somebody preach the
Gospel to you in some way, shape or form. God’s Word came to you
and the Spirit attended it. And God called you thereby to
Himself. He called you by His Word and
Spirit out of that state of sin and death by which you are by
nature to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. enlightening
their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God,
taking away their heart of stone, giving to them a heart of flesh,
renewing their wills, and by His almighty power, determining
to them that which is good and effectually drawing them to Jesus
Christ. We didn’t desire it. God gave
us that desire. And He gave it to us by that
call to Christ. The confession goes on to say
this, the effectual call is of God’s free and special grace
alone. Peter wants us to remember that.
Peter wants us to remember that it’s the same God that called
us to Himself and called us out of dark and death to glory and
life. It’s the same God that wants
to do yet greater work in our lives He who called you to glory
in Christ wants to do a work of Christ in your lives. And we come to verse four or
come to point four. I said there are four glorious
elements of our promised sanctification, not only the timing of our sanctification,
the author of our sanctification, the end of our sanctification,
which is God’s eternal glory in Christ. Look at the particulars of our
sanctification. Verse 10, And after you have
suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called
you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, will Himself
confirm, will Himself strengthen, and establish you.” I love the
way that says that. The God of all grace will Himself
do it. It’s not up to you. And I think,
God Himself, it’s not up to me to sanctify you. God Himself
is going to do that work. That word Himself is extremely
significant there. It indicates God’s personal interest,
God’s investment, His energy in the work of sanctifying His
children. One pastor said it this way,
the saints glory will be like Jesus Christ and God will personally
use believers suffering to mold them into Christ’s image. Peter
describes the process of that earthly, sanctifying process
of spiritual maturation with four nearly synonymous words,
all of which connote strength and immovability. But note, first
of all, it’s a work of God. It’s a work of God, it’s a work
of God’s grace. The first of the four, the God
of all grace will perfect you. We’re not there yet. But we’re going to get there.
That’s a promise of God that one day we will be perfected
in a very real sense. The word there is used originally,
it was a medical word used to describe the setting of a fractured
bone. Making good that which is weak
or torn or defective or broken. And the basic idea here in the
verb is adjustment, alignment, the putting of two parts into
a right relationship with one another. It’s the same word translated
in Ephesians, perfecting. The equipping of the saints for
service. The interesting part of it is
used in the Gospels, it was used to describe the mending of nets. And here we’ve come full circle,
haven’t we? Our beloved brother, Peter, Peter, the one time fisherman
takes a word that he may have used every day for the mending
of his fishing nets and applies it to the work of God in the
lives of his people, that God is going to fix you. He’s going
to fix you and it’s going to mend and be mended and you’ll
never even be able to know that there was a break. You won’t
see the hairline. You won’t have a bump. There
won’t be a calcium deposit. He’s going to completely restore
you. The word is used in a multiplicity
of different ways in Scripture. Mending, trained, fully complete,
restored. Essentially, God is the one that’s
going to supply what’s missing, what’s broken. God is going to
be the one that does it. There’s no doubt, as we have
considered Peter’s epistle, these saints were on their heels. Perhaps some of them were even
cashing in their faith. Some of them were even wondering
what all this persecution could mean for the Christian faith
itself. One pastor commented on it and
he said the experiences through which the Christian communities
had passed had evidently surprised and shaken them. There may well
have been some mutual recrimination and dissension. They would certainly
have wondered what the upshot was to be for themselves and
the Christian cause generally. This verse gives the answer.
God will himself reestablish their life and make it whole,
their suffering was going to mean something. It was going
to bring about wholeness. It was going to bring about sanctification. Through that suffering, God restores
us, doesn’t he? If we accept suffering and humility,
if we take it as those who trust in God and love God, it will
add character to our lives, character that is lacking. and it’s an area that only God
can repair. No amount of books on the shelf. No amount of sermons. No amount of discipleship or
brotherly fellowship. Nothing can take the place that’s
God Himself. Not only will God perfect us in time,
but look at the second word there. God will confirm you. It’s an
interesting word. It means to solidify or strengthen
to the point of being rock solid. And here again, I mean, Peter
was so masterfully used here by the spirit to draw on his
own life. Jesus called him to himself in
Luke 22. And he girded him up in verse
32 of that chapter. And he said, once you have turned
again, Peter, strengthen your brothers. He used the same word. And perhaps that even echoed
in Peter’s mind as he wrote perhaps some of the most important words
of his life as he closed out this epistle. That God will strengthen
you too. God will establish us. God will
strengthen us through suffering. We will go through bodily suffering,
we will endure heartache and sorrow and it will either do
one thing or another to us. It’ll tear us apart and make
us collapse and cash in or out of that we will come with a Christ
likeness that we could never have laid hold of anywhere else.
Here’s a third little word that Peter uses. The God of all grace
will strengthen you. There’s no help anywhere else
in Scripture for this word because this is the only place in Scripture
that the word occurs. A very rare word. And by that, I take these to
mean that Peter wasn’t trying to distinguish anything. He’s
just piling words and terms upon one another to tell us the glorious
nature of the work of God. that He’s going to perfect and
confirm and strengthen and establish us. Nobody really knows what their
faith means to them until it’s tested, right? It’s easy to profess
faith in Christ. But to profess faith in Christ
and go through the fiery furnace and to come out professing faith
in Christ, that’s the test. There’s something precious to
God about that kind of faith. And that’s what Peter was calling
his saints to. That’s what God’s calling us
to is that kind of faith. There’s a fourth element to it.
Not only will God himself perfect and confirm and strengthen, but
fourthly, the God of all grace will establish you. just speaks
of a solid foundational position that’s used in Scripture in just
such a way. Matthew 7.25, it was founded
upon the rock. Ephesians 3.17, that you being
rooted and grounded in love. Colossians 1.23, continue in
the faith firmly established. God will perfect us. And he’ll
do it to the point where no defect remains in us. He’s going to
establish us so that nothing will shake us. He’s going to
strengthen us so that we will be able to withstand every adversarial
force. One pastor said it this way.
It is only when we meet sorrow and suffering that we are driven
down to the very bedrock of faith. It is only then that we discover
What are the things that cannot be shaken? It is in the moment
when life falls that we discover the things that are merely decorations
and the things which are truly essentials. It is in life’s trials
that we discover the great truths on which life is founded and
without which or which we cannot do without. The God of all grace will Himself
perfect and confirm and strengthen and establish us. Let’s go before
that God. Our merciful God, we thank You
for the reminder. We had a mind to take matters into our own hands
and to tough out life on our own, to try to battle through
the adversity that we’ve come to face. And we thank you for
the reminder that you ultimately take us through these things
for a purpose. You do it for the purpose of
sanctifying us, making us more and more Christ-like every day. Lord, we thank you for the promise
that that is, that one day we will be truly in a glorified
state. We will be made to be like Christ. It will no longer be merely justification
by faith. You will take us to heaven in
a glorified state, sinless. And we will worship you forever
because of that. Lord God, we thank you and praise
you for your work of grace that has begun in our lives in salvation. And we rejoice in you all the
more because of that. It gives us great confidence
to know that you will complete that work in sanctification. Grant us that grace, Father.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen. It’s hard.