Order of Worship
Sunday Service 12.08.2019

        • 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24ESV

        • I Lay It All
                    • Give Thanks
                    • O Come O Come Emmanuel
                    • In Christ Alone

                      • Grace to Endure (Part 2) - 1 Peter 5:10-14

                        PRAY
                        INTRO -
                        In the Bible, nobody ever says that going through trying times is easy, or that if we just have enough faith we won’t have to suffer. But God’s word does tell us that we can get through it with a right perspective if we will lean on God’s grace to help us endure. Thus, as Peter brings his letter to a close, in which he has emphasized a great deal the suffering of believers in this life, he concludes with this critical emphasis: An active reliance on God to grant us grace to endure suffering for our growth, for the good of others to see and hear the gospel, and all to the glory of God.
                        1 Peter 5:6–14 ESV
                        Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
                        [last week review]
                        Sustaining Grace to Stand Firm (vv. 5,10,12)
                        “God ... gives grace to the humble” (v. 5) … the God of all grace (v. 10) … this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. (v. 12)
                        Grace is the unmerited favor of God displayed through his activity on behalf of and through those whom he favors.
                        What is our role in God’s grace to grant us endurance? (vv. 6-14)
                        Humble yourself (6)
                        Cast your anxiety on God (7)
                        Be watchful and sober; resist the devil (8-9)
                        Be mindful that you are not in this alone (9)
                        In your ongoing fight against the schemes of the devil, in your battle against the pull of the flesh and the philosophy of this world, in your struggle to endure in the suffering of this life, especially because of your faith…

                        Trust God’s Sovereign Care & Strength (10-11)

                        Knowing that God sovereignly rules over all, that he cares for us and working his purposes for our good and his glory, we do not need to fear man or the suffering that comes upon us.
                        In this context, it helps us to consider why Peter says that this suffering is only for…
                        "A Little While” = Suffering in Perspective
                        Peter is trying to help us gain a right perspective. We must view our trial from an eternal perspective based on who God is and what his purposes are.
                        By the way, I would suggest to you that this is one of the reasons to be very consistent in prioritizing participation in corporate worship in a local church: It causes you to slow down each Sunday at this time, to fellowship with the saints, to sing and pray and give together, and to listen to comfort and challenge from God’s word. - Spending time alone with God in devoting your heart to him on a daily basis has a similar effect. You discipline yourself to slow down and actually put everything in your life within the scope and perspective of God’s will for you.
                        And I would say this too is obvious: Whoever says that life is a breeze is ignoring reality. And whoever says that God will solve all your earthly problems if you only have faith is ignoring the Bible. God promises to be everything that you need in spite of your problems; he is, in fact, good and sovereign over allowing the trials in your life! - See how Peter describes God here to help us gain a right perspective, encouraging us to entrust ourselves into God’s sovereign care and to count on his strength and not our own.
                        The God of all grace
                        The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude (2) Closing Exhortations and Assurance (5:6–11)

                        God is both the possessor and giver of all grace. The sufferings of believers are intense, but God’s grace is stronger still.

                        You didn’t come to faith through your own strength, but rather by grace through faith as a gift… and because of what Christ accomplished, and no merit of your own. - So how do you continue in faith? By disciplining your mind to submit to God’s will for you to accomplish what he desires by his grace and strength!
                        Who has called you
                        The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude (2) Closing Exhortations and Assurance (5:6–11)

                        “calling” refers to God’s effective work by which he inducts believers into a saving relationship with himself. That the calling is to salvation is clear since believers are called to God’s “eternal glory.”

                        If you are “in Christ,” your salvation is sure, because is God himself who initiates it and secures it. That means he has purposed to save you, and what he has started he will complete. Your calling to glory is not questionable but sure.
                        Keep in perspective God’s calling and purpose for you. - In preparing your mind for battle, or if you are already in the midst of intense suffering, keep in mind that God’s grace is still sufficient, and that if he has called you, he will complete it and bring you through it all to glory. “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (1 Thess. 5:24)
                        Will Himself...
                        …what God does for us by his grace and strength to help us endure to reach that end through the path of suffering…
                        All four words speak of strengthening to make you more able, more firm. — making you ready, suitable, stronger, firmly planted, etc. - If I were to try to give each word a slight nuance in English, I think I would translate it: He himself will prepare/mend, support/sustain, strengthen, and firmly establish you.
                        So keep the trial itself in perspective… it is a “a little while” compared to the reward of eternal glory. Keep God in perspective… he is the God of all grace. Keep in perspective his purpose for you overall and his purpose for using suffering in your life.
                        Finally, keep in perspective God’s sovereign strength and glory in all things:
                        To Him be...
                        “the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
                        The word translated dominion here is the word for power or might. God is not short on power and resources, just as he is not short on grace, to accomplish what he has set out to do through you.
                        Short on Power: I know you won’t find it hard to believe that I am often short on power and resources. *
                        God is not short on power to superintend all of his creation, and so we celebrate that dominion as his people. And if God has made you his own through faith in Jesus Christ, then you know he cherishes you dearly, and he may discipline you in love to help you grow, but he will also complete what he has begun.
                        Be comforted and confident in God’s grace to strengthen and establish you (10), and may God receive all the glory (11).
                        And now, even in the closing greetings of the letter, notice that Peter is still setting an example of how we may…

                        Stand Firm Together (12-14)

                        With the previous description of God’s grace (v.10), the only thing that makes sense for the believer is to stand fast in God’s grace.
                        The True Grace of God
                        True and false grace - The true grace of God is not some “Best Life Now” nonsense. Steve Cole rightly notes, “False grace implies that the Christian life requires no effort on our part. True grace is not passive, but active. It teaches that we exert ourselves to stand firm in it, that we endure hardship as we live righteously in this evil world.”
                        The true grace of God is not that you will have no suffering… have only pain-free living. No, the true grace of God was made manifest to you through the sacrificial suffering of Jesus. The true grace of God is that he is good in and through your suffering to grant you favor to grow you, to be like Christ, for you to bear witness of the gospel to others through it, and for you to depend on God and trust in him to carry you to completion in the end. That’s the true grace of God.
                        Greetings From Fellow Endurers
                        These final greetings include members of the faith who truly understand the point Peter has been making in the letter: enduring suffering for the cause of Christ—for our growth, for the good of others to hear the gospel, and to the glory of God. And they have and continue to experience God’s grace to them in suffering…
                        Silvanus (Silas)
                        Most letters were written through the agency of scribes. [Although is not complete agreement on whether Silas wrote the letter or merely carried the letter.] As a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37), Silas presumably came from a fairly well-to-do Jewish family that provided him a good literary and rhetorical education; Peter may have given him some degree of freedom in wording the letter. (​The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament 5:12–14)
                        Silas (Silvanus) was with Paul too when he wrote letters of comfort to the churches of Thessalonica, encouraging them, even as some were suffering to the point of death, that even death did not stop the purpose of God to claim his own people.
                        With Paul, Silas had suffered severe beating and imprisonment in a Philippian jail (Acts 16). And through that they had experienced the joy of the Lord beyond their circumstance, and God miraculously used that circumstance to bring to faith the jailer and others with him. Silas knew the power and grace of God to use suffering for our good and his glory.
                        She who is at Babylon (deliberately cryptic) - (our best guess) probably the church in Rome
                        ​Some elements of contemporary Judaism had readily transferred prophecies of Babylon’s demise in the Old Testament to the new empire of Rome. “Babylon” had thus become a fairly common cryptogram for Rome (although “Edom” was more popular with later rabbis). (The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament 5:12–14)
                        Speaking of the church in Rome is also an encouragement to the believers: If God can plant and sustain believers in Rome, the very heart of the empire and all that it stood for, and the place that either was already or would become very antagonistic toward Christianity under the Roman Emperor Nero, then believers suffering persecution elsewhere can be confident in God and band together by faith to stand firm in His grace.
                        Mark - probably John Mark and the author of the gospel by that name (Mark)
                        Greetings were also sent from Peter’s son in the faith, Mark. Paul (Col. 4:10) placed John Mark in Rome on an earlier occasion. Consequently most would agree that John Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, was in Rome at the time 1 Peter was written. This strengthens the view that “Babylon” referred to Rome. (​The Bible Knowledge Commentary 5:13)
                        “[T]he younger man had become like a son to Peter as they served Christ together. Mark, afraid of persecution, had deserted Paul and Barnabas, but had grown now into a faithful man, ready to endure hardship for the gospel.” (Steve Cole)
                        “Even if Satan attacks us and we fail for the moment, we still have hope.” (Deffinbaugh)
                        As Peter closes his letter, he desires that they should have amongst them…
                        Warm Affection and Peace in Christ
                        Greet one another with the kiss of love (or other NT references are to the holy kiss)…
                        ​Kisses were a common affectionate greeting for close friends and relatives. (The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament 5:12–14)
                        The number of New Testament references to a kiss indicate that it was a common sign of fellowship and Christian love (cf. Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thes. 5:26). (​The Bible Knowledge Commentary 5:14)
                        … On Kisses, Hugs, Bows, and Handshakes (depending on cultural norms for familial affection without impropriety):
                        From kissing in one culture (Russia) to holding hands in another (PNG), to hugs and handshakes in our own…
                        Peter’s final benediction wish is for them to experience…
                        Peace that comes from being in Christ
                        Jesus himself had said:
                        John 14:27 ESV
                        Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
                        Paul echoed:
                        Romans 5:1 ESV
                        Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
                        When we are confident in Christ of our peace with God, we do not need to fear man.
                        And speaking of this peace of Christ, Paul emphasized another facet of it as well:
                        Colossians 3:15 ESV
                        And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
                        With all this recent discussion and application from 1 Peter of going through suffering together, and with also using that as a theme in our thanksgiving (Being Thankful in Hardship)… It’s important that we remember to our peace with God in Christ Jesus also be the ruling factor among us, especially when we’re going through hard times.
                        There just are more important things at stake than protecting our ministry “territory” and having our feelings easily hurt. This seems to occur, getting grumpy at the suggestion that we need to grow and change, particularly when it is our own family or other close friends who have been serving. Can I just tell you this? In a church family like our own, it is EXTREMELY unlikely that any person who has served well for any length of time is under-appreciated by those around them. Positive change may still be necessary, but that doesn’t mean we must be defensive, as if all of our investment were for naught. More likely, you (or the one close to you), laid all the foundational work to make the current ministry possible!
                        Paul had it right:
                        1 Corinthians 3:5–9 ESV
                        What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
                        We aim then to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts as we trust in God’s care and power for us and as we work together to comfort and challenge one another to stand firm to the end!
                        ​
                        Let’s review in closing.

                        God’s grace is at work in you...

                        … when you rightly humble yourself before him.
                        … when you dependently bring your concerns to God and let him handle it.
                        … when you aren’t lazy about sin, but through faith you are watchful and sober to resist the devil’s schemes (to destroy God’s grace at work in and through you).
                        … when you don’t pity-party about your suffering but consider yourself as one among the Christian brotherhood (who may be suffering now but will one day receive the crown of glory).
                        … when you rely on God to be your comfort and confidence, to care for you and be your strength.
                        … and when you are wise to surround yourself with other believers who are keeping a right perspective on life’s challenges in light of God and his eternal purposes.
                        God will, by his grace, strengthen you and establish you to endure to the end. God’s grace will be at work in you when you rightly see all of your life and service as a means for His glory.

                          • 1 Peter 5:6–14ESV

                          • John 14:27ESV

                          • Romans 5:1ESV

                        • Sanctuary
                        • Noel

                            • 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17ESV

                          Branson Bible Church
                          bransonbible@gmail.com
                          417-334-3678
                          http://bransonbible.com
                          22 members • 5 followers