WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.959 Please take your Bibles if you have them and turn to the book of 1 Peter. 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:09.839 As we continue that theme. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:15.599 Standing in the grace of God. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:23.839 If you are visiting with us, we've been working our way over the last year or so through the New Testament book of 1 Peter. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:29.199 And we are wrapping it up this morning with the last four verses. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:39.759 I debated, including these four verses with the previous text, but I decided, no, there's truth here that needs to be dealt with by itself. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:42.719 And so I'd like to do that with you this morning. 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:46.880 1 Peter chapter 5, beginning in verse 12. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:01:00.799 Peter wrote, By Sylvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:03.759 Stand firm in it. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:13.680 She, that is the church, who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, as so does Mark my son. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:19.680 Greet one another with the kiss of love, peace to all of you who are in Christ. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:21.680 Amen. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:36.000 Few years ago, an internet poll asked the question What gives you joy, peace, and hope for a better tomorrow? 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:40.719 What gives you joy, peace, and hope for a better tomorrow? 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:48.239 Here are some of the most interesting answers given in response to that poll question. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:52.640 What gives me hope for tomorrow? 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:55.280 By not thinking about tomorrow. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:57.280 It's not here yet. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:03.359 Be here totally for today, be happy, live each day as if there were no tomorrow. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:08.479 And then every day is full of peace, joy, and hope because that is what you choose. 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:12.319 Second answer. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:16.719 My family gives me hope and joy and peace. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:21.599 Because I know that they were always there for me, just like my dogs. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:28.000 I resonate with this one. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:32.159 One person said, Well, books bring me joy and peace. 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:36.560 They calm me down and help me relax by giving me a sense of tranquility. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.919 As for hope for a better tomorrow, I haven't the foggiest. 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:49.919 Then another person said, the prospect of coffee and waffles in the morning gives me hope for a better tomorrow. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:56.960 Then someone said, What gives me hope and joy and peace for tomorrow? 00:02:58.879 --> 00:02:59.919 My goddess. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:02.560 My goddess. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:08.800 The changing seasons, nature, myself and my family, the wheels of life, karma. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:17.280 Someone else said, My hopes are based on evidence that what I want is possible. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:24.400 And another person, I have no expectation out of life. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:36.000 I live life to the fullest every chance I get, so if something catastrophic occurs in my life, I deal with it the best way I can, and I don't leave it to chance. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:52.400 Now those are all subjective answers dependent on each individual's experiencing a favorable set of circumstances in life, according to their own desires and perceptions and feelings. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:56.400 But ask yourself that question right now. 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:07.520 What gives you, sitting here right this minute, what gives you hope, joy, and peace for a better tomorrow? 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:11.840 Just think about that for just a second. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:16.959 What gives you hope, peace, and joy for a better tomorrow? 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:31.759 My fear is that we have answered that question not much differently than the rest of the world. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:39.600 My fear is that we have Christianized versions of pagan answers. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:46.240 And so we've put out there family and friends, maybe the economy, technology. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:50.319 Oh, the next generation gives me hope for a better tomorrow. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:05:01.920 Now, some of you may have true, deeply held opinions and answers to that question that do indeed give you hope for tomorrow. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:04.879 But let's be real, some of you feel pretty hopeless. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:13.439 Seeing peace and hope and joy on the horizon seems like a dream of a far-off tale of a Hollywood movie. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:28.000 Our lives are so focused on the present that circumstances of life tend to just walk up and take our joy, our peace and our hope. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:39.199 We live, we live with unnamed thieves standing outside the doors of our souls, just waiting to abscond with the last vestige of our hope. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:44.800 And instead of fighting them off, we just hand them the keys. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:46.800 Say, here you go. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:56.480 Maybe you are grasping desperately for what still remains of peace and hope and joy. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:21.600 While cancer slowly invades a loved one's body, or disease ravages minds and bodies, or age takes its toll, or death rips a loved one away, or you've lost your job, or your friend has deserted you and stabbed you in the back. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:29.759 We cling, oh so desperately, to some microscopic thread of hope. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:35.279 Friends, hear me, please, very clearly. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:43.519 Anything in this world that brings you any measure of hope, joy, or peace will not last. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:46.720 It will go away. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:54.959 There is only one source of peace, only one place of hope, and only one anchor of joy that will last. 00:06:55.839 --> 00:07:08.079 Almost 1600 years ago, the North African church leader Augustine wrote of God, You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.839 We need that truth, my friends. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:19.680 You need it, I need it, and Peter's first readers needed it. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:31.439 Having been forced out of Palestine by persecution, they were exiles, refugees, if you will, enduring unjust treatment because they followed Christ. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:44.800 The circumstances of their lives threatened to steal away their confidence and their faith, to rest their peace and joy found in following Jesus. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:50.720 That's why Peter wrote to them with strength, giving them encouragement. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:59.360 He exhorted them through a letter, reminding them again and again and again of what is true and what is right. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:11.360 This is probably the same Silas that Paul took with him on his missionary journeys in the book of Acts. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:17.839 And the letter came with greetings from John Mark and the church in Rome. 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:23.519 Babylon here is a term most likely applied to the city of Rome. 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:29.279 Do you remember that ancient city of Babylon? 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:40.720 The ancient king Nebuchadnezzar invaded Israel, crushing the resistance and destroying Jerusalem and Solomon's beautiful temple. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:48.559 Nebuchadnezzar carried off people as prisoners of war, carting them off to his capital city. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:52.320 And there Israel lived for 70 years in exile. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:09:03.120 Throughout the following centuries, Babylon became a picture not only of the enemy of God, but of the place of exile. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:09.440 This is Peter's way of telling his readers, I get it. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:12.639 I'm in exile too. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:16.799 I'm experiencing what you're living. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:18.159 I understand. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:25.600 And so from the place of exile, Peter could write, This is the true grace of God. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:27.120 Stand in it. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:36.720 To people desperately needing some encouragement for tomorrow, Peter gives them one key word. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:38.879 Stand. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:41.200 Stand. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:51.840 We bought our son Joshua a plastic bat and ball and kids' tea to use outside. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:10:01.200 He enjoyed using a soft ball inside, and so we decided to purchase something that he could play with outside that is hard and real. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:03.519 Don't worry, he doesn't have a real baseball yet. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:08.480 He enjoys it for a few minutes. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:13.200 And occasionally he will say to me, Help me. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:16.879 Now usually he just whacks away one-handed. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:23.120 Not always hitting the ball, but mostly hitting the T and knocking it halfway across the lawn. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:33.679 But when he asks for help, I show him how to hold the bat, telling him to watch the ball. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:35.840 And then I help him swing. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:44.080 But before that, I point to a spot in the ground by the T and I tell him, come and stand here. 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:46.879 Stand right there. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:50.879 He doesn't understand the details of baseball. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:56.000 He doesn't understand what is required to successfully hit the ball. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:01.759 He doesn't know that it all begins with standing in the proper place. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:07.120 Paul did something similar with the Ephesian Christians. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:14.080 He wrote in Ephesians chapter 6, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand. 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:19.759 A little bit later he says, and having done all, stand firm. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:23.759 And then a little bit later, stand, therefore. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:30.480 The armor of God becomes effective and useful when God's people stand. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:34.559 How are we to stand? 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:37.759 Firmly. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:39.759 Firmly. 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:42.399 Don't shift. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.039 Don't lose your balance. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:46.559 Don't fall. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:48.240 Stand firmly. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:56.720 In the days when I was young and nimble, I loved shifting rocks. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:04.639 So when I would go backpacking in the mountains with my dad, I loved finding giant boulders that would shift underfoot. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.120 Fishing on a moving rock was especially fun. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:12.879 It was cheap excitement. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.519 And yes, it's somewhat surprising that I'm still alive. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:23.039 Now, you'll be glad to know I don't so much enjoy shifting rocks anymore. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:30.639 Rocks or boulders that are not set firmly in place are distracting. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:44.240 If you're focused on trying to maintain your balance on the rock that you're standing on, you can't adequately focus on fishing or on climbing or anything else. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:46.879 At best, your attention is divided. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:54.159 Or worse, you may not be paying enough attention and put yourself in a place of serious injury. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:13:03.679 Peter knows that we cannot live as followers of Jesus Christ if our feet are not firmly planted. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:12.000 Back in verse 9, he told us as followers of Jesus to resist the devil by being firm in our faith. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:24.559 We cannot remain firm in the uncertainties of life and in the trials of faith if we are not standing firm. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:40.320 Why do students tend to get thrown for a loop the first time they encounter a serious challenge to their faith? 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.480 It's because they're not firm in their faith. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:52.320 Why do so many people who have grown up in the church fall on their faces when catastrophe strikes them? 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:55.519 Because they're not firm in their faith. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:01.600 The ability to stand firm comes with maturity in the faith. 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:12.159 Peter would say at the end of his second letter, take care that you are not carried away by the error of lawless people and lose your stability. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:17.679 Instead, grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:22.080 Grow, become mature so that you can stand firm. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:27.759 Trials will come. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:36.320 The unexpected will arrive in your life unexpectedly. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:43.440 The big bad wolf will come and he will huff and he will puff and he will blow your house down. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:48.720 The roaring lion seeks to devour you. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:55.039 And even the Lord Himself will test you in order to purify your faith to prove it genuine. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:59.679 It may be an attack of a physical nature, like Job experienced. 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:04.879 It may be of an emotional nature, like Elijah and David experienced. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:11.360 It may be an intellectual challenge that Paul warned the Colossians about. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:21.279 In fact, it made Paul rejoice to know that the Colossian church had a firm faith, a faith that was rooted and built up in Christ. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:33.279 And Peter wants us to have that same thing to encourage us to be firm in our faith because firmness is vital for our spiritual survival against a great and powerful enemy. 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:40.559 We are to stand firm in the true grace of God. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:43.120 What is that true grace? 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:46.879 Well, I think Peter refers here to the content of his letter. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.960 What he has written in this entire letter expresses the grace of God. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:59.759 We are to stand firmly in the truths of this letter that we have heard, that we have learned. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:02.320 So let's be reminded of that. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:04.799 Not from Peter, but from Paul. 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:10.159 So if you would, I'd like to look at Romans chapter 5 for a few moments. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:12.399 Romans chapter 5. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:23.200 The first two verses of Romans chapter 5 are very similar to how Peter ends his letter. 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:38.480 The Apostle Paul wrote, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we sang of that a little bit ago in the last song we sung, since that is true, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:44.879 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:51.919 And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:17:00.720 There are two verses here, two sentences in our English language that are full of verbs. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:06.960 Look carefully at those two verses and notice all of the verbs. 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:09.599 We have been justified. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:11.839 We have peace. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:14.160 We have obtained access. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:15.440 We stand. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:17.920 We rejoice. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:26.480 There's action there, all because of the reality of one event. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:30.559 We have been justified by faith. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:39.920 Paul directed this toward the local church in Rome, the Babylon, to which Peter referred. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:44.880 And the context of his statement goes all the way back, actually, to chapter 3. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:51.039 And in chapter 3, you might know of the most familiar verse in verse 23. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:56.400 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:00.240 That verse presents a problem and a solution. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:08.880 The problem stated very clearly in verse 23 of chapter 3 is that all have sinned and fallen short of participating in God's glory. 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:11.440 Our sin keeps us from God. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.680 But God provided a solution. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.799 Look at verse 24 of chapter 3. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:28.480 And are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:34.720 Being justified means we are guilty as charged. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:44.880 We have been measured by God's standard and have been found guilty of not measuring up. 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:47.759 We are sinners. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:49.759 And that is our problem. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:56.319 The solution, entirely by God's grace, is acquittal. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:03.200 In our guilt, we are declared righteous by the divine judge. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:08.480 And he can do that because he himself paid the price for our guilt. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:15.440 So how do we receive that payment applied to our account of guilt? 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:21.119 We receive it by faith. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:24.880 It is only by faith. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:26.400 It's not in what we do. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:28.720 It's not in trying to be good. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:32.400 It's not in trying to follow what God says. 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:34.720 It's not by following the Ten Commandments. 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:38.000 It's not by who we are that we receive this acquittal. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:41.680 Those actions are all insufficient. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.359 It is only by faith in Christ that we are justified. 00:19:45.519 --> 00:20:02.000 And then when we place our faith in Christ's payment for our sin, believing that God raised him up from the dead, God's righteousness will be counted to us, and we will no longer be seen as guilty, but as justified. 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:12.480 And I want you to see here three benefits of justification that are noted in these two verses. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:16.160 The first blessing is found at the end of verse 1. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:22.160 It says, We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:23.680 We have peace. 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:46.640 I won't take you through that this morning for time's sake, but when we do a little digging in the book of Romans, we find that this particular word is used to translate or in place of the Hebrew word shalom. 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:53.200 Shalom is a very broad Hebrew term that can simply mean peace in a very generic sense. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:57.279 But it can also be much more detailed than that. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:01.359 In general, it refers to wholeness and well-being. 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:04.799 A sense of everything's okay. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:07.519 Everything's going to be okay. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:13.839 Not because of circumstances, but because of the sovereignty of God. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:22.000 The peace spoken of here is not some feeling that is based on my situation in life. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:26.640 This peace is the result of a state of affairs. 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:32.160 Because the war between God and me as a sinner is done. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:33.279 It's over. 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:37.920 God is no longer filled with holy wrath against our sin. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:40.559 We're no longer enemies of the Holy One. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.119 We are now at peace with God. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:50.799 It's the end of hostility between the sovereign God and his rebellious creatures who refuse to obey him. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:57.519 And it's ended because we are justified. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.680 We have peace. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.119 With God. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:09.599 And that new, friendly, loving relationship with a Father who is our Creator cannot be broken. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:11.440 It is secure. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:14.079 It is the anchor of our souls. 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:37.359 But as you well know, it is very possible to be at peace with God and to know that peace and to understand that peace and to be living in that peace and yet not experience the peace of God in one's life. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:45.039 See, to be at peace with God is to be different than to have the peace of God. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:47.680 Will prepositions make a difference? 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:57.119 It is possible to have a right relationship with God and still be knocked to the ground by the circumstances of life. 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:06.640 It is possible to be justified in a right standing with God and have your knees just swiped out from underneath of you and crashed to the ground. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:08.720 Many of you have lived that. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:09.920 You've been there. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:27.759 He himself is still our peace. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:37.519 And then we need to cry out to him for the peace that passes understanding that comes from him to endure the trials and the pains of life. 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:40.400 And it is then, beloved, that we can stand. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:46.400 The second blessing of justification is found in verse 2. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:50.000 And it is standing in grace. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:58.240 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:01.839 Do you see the similarity to what Peter said? 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:04.240 This is the true grace of God. 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:05.759 Stand in it. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.359 Paul says, This is the grace of God in which we stand. 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:16.240 Now it's important to notice two words here. 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:19.599 Verse 2, through Him. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:21.759 Through Him. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:28.079 That's a repeated emphasis in this context that is attached to the blessings that we have. 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:31.839 They come through Christ because of Christ. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:38.559 In fact, these same two words, through Him, are repeated five more times in the next three chapters of Romans. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:58.319 If you have been convicted of your sin and have come to faith and trust in Jesus' death and resurrection and payment for your sin and trusting yourself to him as the faithful creator, then these blessings are yours in a very real sense. 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:13.039 But if you are not in Christ, if you have not placed your faith in him and are merely hearing these things sort of at a distance, they don't apply to you. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:17.200 These blessings are not yours, but they can be. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:19.440 The opportunity is there. 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:24.160 The verse tells us through him we have obtained access by faith. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:30.960 The road is narrow and the gate is small, but the way to be to Christ can be accessed by faith in him. 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:39.839 Trusting in him alone, and these blessings can be yours, so don't let another moment go by without trusting in Christ. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:46.319 Now, as we go on in the sentence, we should be stopped short by what is written. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:57.519 We've been told that we have peace with God, and through Jesus we have obtained some kind of access. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.640 Now we expect in this context the access to be to God. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:05.440 We expect to have access now to God. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:07.440 And that makes sense. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:21.359 We've sung this morning about the veil in the temple being torn in two as Jesus died on the cross, signifying that access to God is now directly possible, and that is a place in which we now stand. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:31.920 That's what we would normally expect is to have access to God, but that's not what it says. 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:37.279 It says we have access to this grace. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:41.920 And that grace is something in which we stand. 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:45.920 So what is this grace? 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:53.200 We often refer to grace as the undeserved favor of God, and that's a fine definition. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:57.680 But here we seem to have a link to something else. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:05.759 As if the author has already spoken about this grace, that we should already know it and understand it. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:17.759 Well, if we look back at chapter 3 and verse 24 again, we see the words that we are justified by his grace as a gift. 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:28.880 Speaking of that same justification, in chapter 4, verse 16, we see that it is received by faith. 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:37.119 In order to have that gracious gift of justification, it has to be received by faith. 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:51.599 Through faith, we can now have God's righteousness wrapped around us as a robe, acquitting us of our guilt so that we are in a right standing before Him. 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:56.960 Through faith we can now access that grace and stand there. 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:00.400 And that's astounding. 00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:03.359 It's astounding. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:09.440 If we understand God, it is just incredible. 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:18.400 In Revelation chapter six, we read of a future point of time. 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:27.759 Says then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free, so he left no one out. 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:41.599 They hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:47.759 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand? 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:50.960 Who can stand? 00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:56.160 Two things about those verses that are important. 00:28:56.480 --> 00:29:10.000 First is the wrath of God against all sinful humanity, and the second is the implication that it is impossible, impossible to stand before that God in his wrath. 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:25.279 The first three chapters of the book of Romans tell us that we are in the place of those people calling on the rocks and the mountains to fall on them because we ourselves are before the wrath of a holy God. 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:34.160 That means something has to change for us to be able to stand. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:43.039 Our sin must be acquitted. 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:51.920 The means of standing before God is having that wrath removed. 00:29:52.720 --> 00:30:03.920 And the only way of having that wrath removed is if Jesus satisfies the Father's wrath against my sin, so that I can receive the gift of grace. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:10.799 And it is in that grace that I can now stand before him clothed in his righteousness. 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:16.880 The psalmist sang of that in Psalm 130, verses 3 and 4. 00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:23.680 If you, O Lord, should mark, should count my iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:27.039 Answer nobody. 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:34.720 But, oh, what a wonderful word in the Bible. 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:43.599 But with you there is forgiveness that you might be feared. 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:57.680 We can only stand before Him if we are righteous, if we are forgiven and acquitted, because it is then that we have peace with God, accessing the grace of forgiveness by faith alone. 00:30:58.160 --> 00:30:59.359 But that's not all. 00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:04.400 The third blessing that we see here is the confidence in a certain future. 00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:13.279 Paul says, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:17.039 By this time we ought to be rejoicing. 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:22.880 We ought to be shouting out the hallelujahs because we are counted righteous. 00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:27.039 We are justified, acquitted before the King of the universe. 00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:37.359 We have access to his grace standing before him, not as enemies, but as friends and brothers and sons and daughters of the living God. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:44.559 The word rejoice here has the basic meaning of boasting. 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:51.119 It carries the idea of excitement and exaltation and boasting about what has happened. 00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:56.400 In fact, exalt might be an even better translation. 00:31:56.720 --> 00:32:00.720 We exalt in hope of God's promised future. 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:04.160 By faith we are justified, acquitted, and forgiven. 00:32:04.319 --> 00:32:16.240 We have access by faith into God's grace, and we stand there, not crushed like enemies, but loved as children. 00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:26.160 And because of that, we now exult in the certainty of participating in the glory of God in the future. 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:31.759 And we look to that future joyfully and with great confidence in our God. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:42.400 And that certain belief about participating in God's glory helps us have hope for tomorrow and the day after that. 00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:57.039 It enables us to overcome the frustrations, the sorrows, the pains, and the trials of this life, not because they become minimized, but because we know that what we experience in this life is not real life. 00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:09.519 It is only preparation for living fully in the glory of the one who gave himself for us, that he might purchase us and purify us for himself. 00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:16.160 The future in front of us is one in which we share in the glory of Christ. 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:28.559 With that kind of future in front of us, we can declare with the songwriter from the depths of our souls, it is well. 00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:33.039 It is well with my soul. 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:37.039 Not because everything is right in my world, because it's not. 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:40.079 I don't know about your world, but it's not right in my world. 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:43.440 No, it's not because of that. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:46.880 It's because everything is right with my God. 00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:53.039 Paul says, we stand in grace. 00:33:53.279 --> 00:34:00.160 As it were in the very presence of God, with the veil torn open, accessing him personally, no longer enemies. 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:07.119 We stand with Jesus as beloved children through his sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection. 00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:17.199 And that standing is firm because we have confidence in Christ and confidence in our future, a glorious future with Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:34:18.880 --> 00:34:24.000 Now it may seem as though I've preached on Romans instead of 1 Peter. 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:28.079 Now I get to preach on 1 Peter. 00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:34.239 The reason is that they say the same thing. 00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:47.440 Peter wants us to face the uncertainties of life with a firm, steady grip on the grace of God. 00:34:49.039 --> 00:34:56.320 Standing firm in the true grace of God brings confidence and hope in all situations of life. 00:34:56.559 --> 00:35:11.440 That is why Peter began in chapter 1, verse 2, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, for sprinkling with his blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you. 00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:14.800 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:15.519 Why? 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:23.599 Because according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope. 00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:33.599 Standing firm in the true grace of God brings confidence and hope in the midst of our exile. 00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:39.360 All that Paul wrote to the Romans is echoed by Peter. 00:35:40.239 --> 00:35:48.400 He didn't use Peter's theological terms, but he expressed the realities of the grace in which we stand. 00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:54.719 In fact, Peter speaks of that grace in every single chapter. 00:35:55.599 --> 00:35:58.320 Look with me, chapter 1, verse 10. 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:11.119 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully. 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:13.360 Verse 13. 00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:33.599 For this is a gracious thing. 00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:37.760 That is, this is a thing of God's grace. 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:42.159 When mindful of God you endure sorrows while suffering justly. 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:47.039 Again in verse 20. 00:36:48.320 --> 00:36:51.519 What credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it you endure? 00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:56.719 But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a thing of grace. 00:36:57.280 --> 00:36:58.320 A gracious thing. 00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:12.239 Likewise, husbands live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life. 00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:26.880 As each of you has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. 00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:30.960 Chapter five, verse five. 00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:40.880 Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 00:37:59.840 --> 00:38:09.599 The same God who has called you to his eternal glory, found in Christ, he himself will restore you. 00:38:09.920 --> 00:38:11.039 He will confirm you. 00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:14.000 Why? 00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:16.800 Because of his grace that justifies you. 00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:22.239 The grace that caused you to be born again to a living hope. 00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:33.039 This is the true grace of God. 00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:38.079 Stand firm in it. 00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:45.280 Brothers and sisters in Christ, you live in a world that is constantly shifting. 00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:54.079 You can take a step and feel firm, and the very next one, your world will be shaken. 00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:56.880 Stand firm. 00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:01.920 Stand firm in a shifting, shaking world. 00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:07.440 Stand firm in Christ in a world that is seeking to knock you off your feet. 00:39:07.679 --> 00:39:09.119 How do you stand firm? 00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:16.639 You do it through the work of Christ your Savior by standing firm in his grace that has been given to you. 00:39:16.880 --> 00:39:18.719 And may he do that in all of us. 00:39:18.800 --> 00:39:19.920 Let's pray. 00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:24.239 Our Lord Jesus, what a challenge. 00:39:25.760 --> 00:39:30.480 We confess to you that we are unable to stand in our own strength. 00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:34.000 But you even thought of that. 00:39:35.039 --> 00:39:38.480 Because you have given us the grace to stand. 00:39:39.920 --> 00:39:50.880 By your Spirit, fill us and enable us, empower us, and strengthen us even now to stand firm in the grace that has been given to us. 00:39:53.360 --> 00:39:56.000 Cause us to stand firm until you come. 00:39:57.840 --> 00:39:59.599 And may that be soon. 00:40:01.280 --> 00:40:05.519 So that we might stand in your glory because of your grace.