By Rev.
Carlo A. Serrano
1 Peter 5:10-11 (ESV) 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. 11 To him be the
dominion forever and ever. Amen.
In most areas of life we understand that pain has a
purpose. When my boys rough-house one of them usually comes running saying
“Dad, he smacked me in the head.” To which I respond “Son, either duck, block,
or don’t be in a position to get punched in the head! It hurts so that you’ll
know how to handle it next time.” One day while kickboxing I took a nice (and
by nice I mean horrible) knee to the leg during some sparring. It hurts just
thinking about it. However, it’s making me better at kickboxing. If you touch a
hot stove and you get burned. In most areas of of life we understand that there
is purpose to our pain. Yet, somewhere along the line we have believed the lie
that following Christ is a walk in the park. We have bumped our heads on the
ceiling of consumer Christianity and bought into the nonsense that Jesus wants
us to feel wonderful as we tip toe through the tulips of love. When I look at
the scriptures I see a Jesus telling His followers to deny themselves, take up
their cross (an instrument of torture) and follow Him. He tells them to get
their minds right because a day would come when they would be arrested, beaten,
persecuted, and even killed for His sake. He told them that IN THIS WORLD they
would have trouble. He also said that they (we) should take heart because HE
has already overcome the world.
Pastor Mark Driscoll once said that “before God will
use you greatly, he must wound you deeply.” There are some who would have us
think that a life with Jesus is a life free of trial, free of worry, and full
of health and wellness. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that God is a healer.
I believe that God wants His best for us more than we want His best for us.
However, the road to greatness in God often travels through the valley of
suffering. Consider Moses, Joseph, the Prophets, and Paul. The only sinless and perfect person
to ever walk this earth was persecuted, arrested, beaten, and killed. What
makes us think life will be peachy for us? The good news is that we don’t
suffer alone! The good news is that the trials we WILL endure in our quest with
Christ are for our own perfection. The Good news is that after
you and I have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called us
to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself
restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us!
During the building of the golden gate bridge over
San Francisco Bay, construction fell badly behind schedule because several
workers had accidentally fallen from from the scaffolding to their deaths. Engineers and administrators could find no
solution to the costly delays. Finally,
someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge to catch any who fell. Finally in spite of the enormous cost, the
engineers opted for the net. After it was installed, progress was hardly
interrupted. A worker or two fell in to
the net but were save. Ultimately, all
the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the
net. Through many danger, toils, and
snare we have already come! Think about
what God has brought us through.
“Tis Grace that brought us safe thus far and grace
will lead us home!”
God’s grace is the net that we put our faith in.
When all else fails, when trials and tests come, we can lean on the God of all
grace not only for our deliverance, but for what he is doing in and through us
as we walk through suffering.
The God of all Grace Restores Us
Peter wrote this letter to Christians who were
beginning to experience persecution and trials due to their faith. He wrote to give them practical
guidance on how to live and conduct themselves in the midst of trouble and
attack from the enemy of their souls .
1 Peter 5:8-9 says “Be sober-minded;be
watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking
someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same
kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the
world.
Troubles and trials are going to come. Jesus said
that in this world we’ll have many troubles. James said to count it all joy
whenever (not if) we face all types of trials. The Bible tells us that
perseverance builds character. We are going to go through some things.
Doesn’t that sound exciting? Sign me up!Seriously,
how can the joy of the Lord be our strength when sometimes it seems like all we
experience is trial and heartache? I’ll tell you how: It’s because the God of
all grace is able to RESTORE us! The word restore means - to equip, prepare,
and complete us. The word Greek word used for “restore” is interestingly used
in another place in the New Testament., Mark 1:19.
It occurs in the setting where the fishermen are mending their nets. The word
mending was the same word used here for restore.To mend the net is to supply
what is missing or lacking. To make it complete and help it realize its
original intended purpose. Peter says suffering does this. It helps produce in
our lives that which makes it complete and restores us to a position of being
perfectly fitted for God‘s work.
The God of all grace says in “this world you will
have trouble but take heart! I have overcome the world!” The God of all grace
says “you might have trouble on every side but you won’t be perplexed. You
might be distressed but you’ll never be in despair. You’ll be persecuted but
not forsaken! You’ll be cast down but not destroyed!”
Aren’t you glad about it? The grace of God lifts us
up. It whispers in our ear (weeping may endure for the night, but Joy comes in
the morning!) The God of all grace restores us.
The God of all Grace also strengthens and
establishes us.
He will restore you and make you strong. A non
suffering Christian is a Christian who is extremely out of shape spiritually.
I‘m not saying that all suffering necessarily produces discipline. Some
suffering God calls us to never go through at all (sin related). Romans 5:3-4
says that “Suffering produces endurance
and endurance character and character, hope.” That is God’s sequence. When we
go through suffering we can expect to endure. And when we endure we can expect
that our character is formed out of that. And out of that hope is produced.
Resist the devil and stand firm in the faith. I have often found that people’s true colors
come out when they are in the frying pan or wok or deep fryer. If the enemy can convince you that your
battles...are your battles than: he’s
got your number. The lion wants you to
think you are alone and that you must fight with your own strength. And that is how he wins:
When we try to do it on our.
Nothing good comes out of trying to get out of your own jams. That is pride. but what does the word say about that. Look at verse 5-6 of 1 Peter 5:
Young men, in the same way be submissive to
those who are older. All of you, clothe
yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.” Humble
yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due
time.
Clothe yourself with humility. God opposes the proud. Those are strong
words. In times of testing the temptation is to listen to the lie that says
“there is no help for you in God.” “Just quit, you can’t make it.”
God’s grace is able to strengthen and establish us
when we stand firm in a place of humility.
When you run to him and cry out, “I need you. I can’t do it alone. Help me.
Make a way where there seems to be no way.” And when you call out to him in humility,
when you wear humility like a towel around your waste he answers back. God is saying to us “My grace is sufficient,
for when you are weak I am strong. I am
your shield the glory and the lifter of your head. I am the God that heals you. Nothing can separate you from my love. Stand still and see this great thing the LORD
is about to do before your eyes!”
We’ve got to Resist the devil,
standing firm in the faith, because we know that your brothers throughout the
world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. All of us, clothe ourselves with humility
toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives what...grace to
the humble.” God
gives grace that strengthens and establishes us when we humble ourselves, When
we kick our dependence on anyone and anything else, When our hope rests in Him,
and When we live out not by might nor by power but by Your spirit.
See we serve a God who is able to sympathize with
our weakness. How about you? Do you know your limitations? The strongest people are those who are humble
enough to say “this is beyond me.” I
busted a hose driving down Lookout Mountain
in Chattanooga and I began to loose power steering fluid. I am not a mechanic or the son of a
mechanic. My solutions for problems like
that are put some duct tape on it or just keep filling up the tank with fluid. How may of you know I wouldn’t have made it
very far? But God in his wisdom put a
brother in my life that would not let me destroy myself. He said “well let’s cut this part here and
re-clamp this part here and is should work fine”. So I submitted to him (because he’s an
elder!) and because I know my limitations.
I’m not going to argue with a mechanic.
I’m not one. When I shut my mouth and followed directions my car was
fixed. I don’t tell that story to boast
I tell that story to illustrate how you can find strength in your weakness.
The God of all grace, after we have suffered a
little while, will HIMSELF restore us and strengthen and establish us.
His grace is amazing because it restores,
strengthens, and establishes us.
Establish means: to make firm. He will make you
firm. The idea is to be as firm and solid as granite. It‘s the kind of thing
Paul says when we take seriously the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When
it‘s all said and done, therefore, ―”be steadfast, immovable, always abounding
in the work of the Lord for you know that in the Lord your labor is not in
vain‖ (1 Corinthians 15:58). Suffering produces tenacity and
firmness and granite-like character.
Dr. George Wood writes “The end of suffering
fourthly is having foundations. ―He will make you steadfast. The word steadfast
means to lay a foundation. Through suffering we are driven to the bedrock of
our faith. We discover what life is really founded upon. When we get all the
way to the bedrock we find with Job, ‘Though he slay me
yet I trust him‖ (Job 13:15).’ That‘s the bedrock of the faith,
and we become established on that.”
The God of all grace has called us to His eternal
glory in Christ. Clothing yourself in
humility, resisting the devil, standing firm in the faith, counting it all joy;
these are not tasks for the self-sufficient or the know-it-all. They are for the called who rely on god’s
amazing grace.
See, this calling is a calling to now consider loss
for the sake of Christ whatever was to our profit. It’s a calling to consider everything a loss
compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord, for
whose sake we have lost all things. It
is a calling to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the
fellowship of sharing in his suffering, becoming like him in his death, and so,
somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Life is full of voices that call. Your jobs, bill, families, friend, loved
ones, problems, expectations, dreams, and culture are all screaming at the top
of their lungs demanding your attention.
How do we navigate the fog of day to day life without being
shipwrecked? How can we be all that God
has called us to be? How can we accept
so sweet a salvation that saves wretches and sanctifies fools? I tell you we can only do it because His
grace is. We cast our cares on Him
because He cares for us.
1 Peter 5:10-11 - 10And 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. 11 To
him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Many people through out the world, enjoy some type of sport. Watching on television from there homes, or actually at the fields, standing on the side-lines. They watch their favorite players, and for a few minutes they live through that player. For many Christians; this is an everyday event. Christians love and serve Christ. And as we go on day to day, in our work, and in our travels we allow Christ, to live through us. How ever some people, Christians loving god and reading their bibles, fall into a comfort zone. An area that causes them to not attend, or visit a church. God created the church so that a body would exist. A body of many different people that can come together to worship and praise him. To fellowship together. To put into practice the studying of his word. To pray, and develop the unity and strength in prayer. In (Hebrews 10;25) we read; "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the day approaching". Many people today, were raised with parents, or an elder in their family that took them to church as a child. And today as adults with children of their own, acknowledge with no doubt what so ever, as to the power of God. This is because we grew up with an early introduction of who is Jesus Christ. We have to admit, weather we choose to accept Him, as Lord and savior, or not. Ultimately, we carry an undeniable faith that when times get hard, or some type of danger arises, we quickly call unto God. This is simply because you already know He exist. He is real. He died so that we may live. With his help, we can survive no matter where we live. In these days of broken economy, terrorist threatening society, the influence of ungodly music, and television. If we as adults rely on the teachings of our elders, the faith we have today is because of the Sunday school lessons our elders gave us, or saw we had by taking us to church as children. If we do not put this into practise. Then who? Who will teach our young? Our children are the most beautiful thing we produce. We teach and encourage them for schooling, and help propel them into a prosperous life. But if they are not introduced to Christ at an early age, if they are not taught of the power of prayer, if they grow up thinking and learning with out Christ. Then you must admit. It will be harder for them to survive the enemies temptations. They will not know that God gave man, all the authority over every living thing on this earth. They can easily be tricked by the enemy. Fooled by satan. Church is not about denomination, God did not create denomination. The Bible does not speak about denomination. I urge you today, please find yourself a church, a church that preaches the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a church that acknowledges the Holy spirit. a church that allows you to come worship Christ, freely, and opens its doors. With an invitation of come as you are;" those of you who are heavy laden, come to me and I will give you rest". These were Gods words to man. You may have had a difficult experience at one time or other at a church, causing you to simply not belong to any church. My message to you; It`s not about belonging to a church. It`s about belonging to God, and making it possible to give your children, and your grand-children, the opportunity to live a blessed and healthy life, as a child of God. Like those favorite sport players you admire. God loves you. He has a purpose for you. You may not be given the star roll, in the center of the Field. Who knows? You may actually be the assist, the back up. But in what ever roll He chooses you for. It takes the preparation, the study of His word. The putting into practise the christian walk of faith. Live a happy prospered life, being a part of the body of Christ...the church. Stop letting the Satan, have his way. Stop letting the enemy make you feel like you are not authorized to pray. Speak to God today. What ever your going thru, no matter what the circumstances are. God will hear you. God will answer you. ( Romans 13: 12) The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. May God bless you. Love always, Irving Serrano Sr. 
