A Call to Endure - 1 Peter 5..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. This evening, beloved of Christ, we are going to be finishing the book, as I said, addressing verses 12, 13, and 14, which basically these verses are going to be a summary of the whole book. The Apostle is going to present here in this final section, in the final greetings, the summary of the book.

And because he is going to present a summary of the book, what I want to ask and what we desire to do as a church, beloved of Christ, is for us to read the entire book together. So, let's go to chapter one, and with reverent hearts, beloved of Christ, I'm going to invite you to read the entire book together as a church, because in the end of this book, Peter is going to be given a final summary of the book, and there is no other way to have the whole book in perspective that by going through the book and reading the book together. So, brothers and sisters, with reverent hearts and paying massive attention to each one of the words, We're going to be reading together the holy, perfect, all-sufficient, mighty, ever-enduring, life-giving, life-sustaining, God-revealing, the sanctifying Word of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are going to be, in this time, reading the whole book together. 1 Peter 1, verse 1, and I'm going to be reading from the English Standard Version of the Bible, and this is the Word of God.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect, exiles of the dispersion in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood. May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, ye have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, might be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. things into which angels long to look.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on Him as Father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile waste inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you. who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth, for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you. So put away all malice, and all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander.

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you might grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you, yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture, Behold, I am laying Zion's stone, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race. a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellences of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you, as sojourners and exiles, to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Be subject, for the Lord's sake, to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor supremo or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone.

Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor. Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed, for you were strained like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external, the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear.

But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. 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, so that your prayers might not be hindered. Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to these you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For whoever desires to love life and seek good dates, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Now, who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience so that when you're a slanderer, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. But it is better to suffer for doing good that it should be God's will and for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he may bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. Since, therefore, Christ suffered in the flesh, Arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God.

For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality and passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to these, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you, but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they may live in the spirit the way God does. The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another, without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace, whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Beloved, Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rest upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God.

And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if the righteous is his cursely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good. So, I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 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 so reminded, be watchful, your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings 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 a kiss of love. Peace to all of you. who are in Christ. Amen. This is the holy word of our Savior.

And what a blessing is and what a grace is that the Lord has given us, brothers and sisters, that we can come to the end of this book and come to the end of this letter that has been given by the Spirit of Christ through the ministry of the Apostle Peter. to these churches in Pontus, Galatia, Asia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia. But of course, beloved of Christ, by the providence, by the love, by the care, by the protection, by the sovereignty of God, it has also been written for our instruction and for our exhortation. And the way that the Apostle is going to conclude this letter is in a very interesting way. I want us to pay attention to verses 12, 13, and 14, because what I want to do this evening with all of us united in the Spirit through these providential means given to us, online means, What I want us to do, brothers and sisters, is to see the summary of the letter as it is presented and given to us, so that when our heart and our heart departs from 1 Peter, we will have a big picture of what 1 Peter is about, and then we will give a motive to our heart to meditate and to rest upon the glorious words that the Spirit of God gave to Peter when he was writing or when he was providing these words to the church.

There are three important things that I want you to notice and they want you to see in the final greetings, as perhaps is titled in your Bibles. These final greetings are found in verses 12, 13 and 14. There are perhaps three elements to this text. that I want us to see, and just very briefly, because we're just going to focus on one of them, which is the summary of the book. And this evening, we are going to be going through the book and referring to passages through the book, because, as I said, I want us to have in our mind and in our heart an overview of this book.

The first thing, one of those first three things that I want us to see in these two or three verses, 12, 13, and 14, it is the service of the saints. the service of the saints. Peter is going to conclude this letter, telling us that he has written this brief letter by Silvanus. And he calls the Silvanus a faithful brother as I regard him, as Peter regards this Silvanus. Now, my beloved of Christ, This Silvanus is perhaps the same Silas that served next to the Apostle Paul, and you can find his name referenced in 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians.

And the Apostle Peter, in love, called him a faithful servant. When he says that he has written this letter through or by Silvanus, perhaps he's referring that Silvanus was acting in the way of a secretary, of a scribe, who was taking note or who was actually writing the letter. Or, if he was not actually writing the letter, perhaps Silvanus was the person in charge of bringing the letter to those churches. Independently of what he did, Silvanus, what I want us to see is that Silvanus was a servant of the Lord, and that in his service to the Lord, he gave his life and his ministry, his effort to serve the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ in spreading the truth of the gospel and spreading the truth of the Word of God. He is called, therefore, not by Peter, but ultimately by God himself and the Spirit, a faithful brother, a person that by the faith of Christ gave himself to serve the brothers and sisters of all these different churches to which this letter was going to be sent and in which it was going to be sent.

This is the heart of service of the saint. Now, the second thing that I want you to pay attention is the apparent love and unity of these different churches. We are told in verse 13 that 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. I show you first, or my desire was to show you first, the service, the faithfulness in the service and in the support of the hearts of Silvanus, which should be the same in our hearts to serve the saints and to give our lives to serve faithfully the saints, to be found to be faithful by the Spirit of God.

But here I want you to see something very interesting. I want you to see the apparent love and unity of these churches. We are told that there is someone that is she who is at Babylon who is likewise chosen. Now, people are a little bit divided about who is this she who is at Babylon, but from what the New Testament writes concerning Babylon, and when it uses the pronoun she referring to a female, more than likely, my beloved of Christ. The Apostle Peter is referring here to the church that was in Rome.

So he refers to the church in Rome as she, as the female, as the bride of Christ. And then Babylon is used to refer to Rome, just as Babylon in the Old Testament was the world to the people, covenant people of Israel, of Judah. Then also, Rome was to the church, Babylon was the world, and then perhaps Peter was just writing in a code so that the letter will reach the church in Rome. But here we are told, in a similar language that is used in the beginning of 1 Peter, that she who is at Babylon, the church in Rome, is likewise chosen. Just as the saints of Pontius, Galatia, Asia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia had been chosen by God, then the saints of these churches are also chosen, and the churches in and of themselves are also chosen.

But brothers, here we see that there is distance between this church in Rome or at least these saints or these people in Rome. There's distance, geographical distance with the churches that will receive this letter. Yet, their hearts their affections, their emotions, had been united in Jesus Christ, so that those who were in Rome, also going under persecution and trials and sufferings and difficulties, their hearts were united by the glorious blood of our Savior Jesus Christ. They were united to these other sister churches in these other regions of the world. And the interest and the heart of their hearts was for these churches to be encouraged and to be strengthened.

They were in their hearts filled with affections for the churches, the local churches of the Lord Jesus Christ. One cannot avoid to think here, brothers and sisters, that that which united those sister churches was the truth that was preached through the apostles. You see, the fellowship of sister churches cannot be established upon any other thing that apart from the truth of the Spirit and apart from the truth of Scripture. All of these churches had been planted or connected or served through the apostolic ministry. And therefore, these churches were united in the faith through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, not because they were similar or not because they had the same preferences, but rather because through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the souls of those people have been purchased unto salvation.

And these churches were the pillar and the foundation of truth. They were established upon the truth of the word of God, as in the first century was given through the mouth of the apostles." Now, here we can see that there is an emotional connection, not only in the saints, but also this Mark, who Peter calls his son. You can see that there's affections of the heart, either they are in the flesh, it is a real relationship in the flesh of sonship, or if it's a spiritual relationship. What I want you to focus on is this glorious unity of the saints of the churches, to the point that the Apostle Peter is going to call the saints in these churches in Asia Minor, in verse 14, to greet one another with a kiss of love.

The affection of the heart and the affection of the soul of the saints was externally manifested in the affection when they came together and when they were together. This is the love of Christ in these earthen vessels. This is the love, the capturing love of Christ that was in the hearts of these saints that could have been separated by distance, that could have been away, going through difficulties and trials. But when Peter said that the brotherhood throughout the world was also suffering, then these people would have known who he was referring to, because these people did not abide in their mind only intellectually. but they had a genuine affection in their heart to those saints who had been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters, may the Lord give us, may the Lord give us a sincere affection for those brothers and sisters who are beyond our regional, beyond our church, that we might be able to have in our hearts genuine affection for those saints who have been purchased by the same blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what brings Genuine unity among the churches. The first thing that I wanted to show you is the faithful service of this Silvanus in giving his life so that Peter will be able to write and to bring this exhortation to the churches. A heart that we should have. The second thing that I wanted you to see is the loving unity of churches, the emotional connection in the heart of the churches, that they were sister churches, that they were established upon the truth of the Word of God as He was proclaimed and spread through the apostles, and how they were united by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

brothers and sisters. The third thing, and the most important thing, is the final message as it is summarized by the Apostle Peter here. Because he's going to say that he has written this letter in verse 12 by Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you. And then he says, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God, stand firm in it. He says that he has briefly written, exhorting and declaring.

And what he has exhorted and declared, it is that this is the true grace of God. That is, that this which he has written, that the letter that he has just finished and that he has written and given by or through Sildanos to these churches, that this is the true grace of God. And not only he testifies of the veracity of the true grace of God in this letter, but he calls the believers who are going to listen to these words and who are going to receive these words, he called them to stand firm. in it, to stand firm in that true grace of God as it is portrayed and explained and written and given to the saints in this letter. You see, when the apostle says that he is exhorting, he is urgently trying to bring to the attention of the audience, of the receivers of this letter, a message, but from that message he is expecting action.

This is an exhortation. He has a genuine, urgent desire to bring to the attention of these churches the message of the letter, but expecting that they will act upon the message that has been communicated. That is an exhortation, an urgent message, expecting that there is going to be action. But He does not only exhort these brothers and sisters of these churches and the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in general, but He also declares declares that this is the true grace of God, that is, that he testifies, as a different translation will say, that is, that he is not only a person that has the authority to say with his mouth, but also is a person that can testify of the truth of the message that is contained in this true grace of God. That he's testifying, that he has experienced, that he has seen it.

Just as he said to the elders, that he said, as I exhort you as a fellow elder and as a partaker of the sufferings of Christ, of the glory that is going to be revealed, he calls himself a witness, a person who has testified. So he says in his apostolic authority to these churches that he is bringing an exhortation and a testification, if that word exists, or a declaration that the message that is contained in this letter is the true grace of God. that whatever the message, the general message is of this letter, that this is the true grace of God. And there is a reason, brothers and sisters, why Peter will be careful in trying to affirm the veracity or the verity of the message that is contained here in 1 Peter by saying that he's exhorting and testifying, that he's exhorting and declaring of the message of the true grace that is here. Because very early, beloved of Christ, in the first century, the church had seen how corrupted messages had infiltrated the church, and how wicked men had already inserted into the church, and how they were trying to corrupt the true grace of God.

We know that not because of human history, but we know that because of biblical history as it is given to us, In the New Testament, Jude says in Jude 3 and 4, Beloved, when he was writing this letter, Jude says, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Why? For certain men have crept in unnoticed. Jude was going to write about the common salvation, about the gospel of Jesus Christ, of the power unto salvation. But as he was about to write about this common salvation, he changed his mind, and he found it necessary to write to the saints, to exhort them to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Why? Because certain people have crept in unnoticed, have infiltrated the church and these people, Jude says, long ago were marked out for this condemnation ungodly men who turned the grace of our God into lewdness or lasciviousness and denied the only Lord God in our Lord Jesus Christ. These apostates, these enemies of the church, these enemies of Christ, these people who were operating in the spirit of the Antichrist, these men have, by the eternal decree of God, inserted into the church, crept into the church, and they were turning the grace of God into lewdness and denying the only Lord God, the Lord Jesus Christ. So Peter, in his first letter finds it necessary to confirm to the saints that the message that he has written is an exhortation, is a declaration that this is the true grace of God. And he calls them to stand firm in it.

But what is that true grace of God? In other words, what is, brothers and sisters, the message, the general message of the first letter of Peter Very simply, I will say it and I said many times to the different sermons that we had the opportunity to share together by His grace. And this is, brothers and sisters, that the message of 1 Peter is a message of encouragement to endure until the end. This is a message that was written by the Spirit. to these churches that were going through tribulation and trials and difficulties and adversity and many, many afflictions, not only in the flesh, but also in the spirit.

So the Spirit of God considered it necessary through the ministry of Peter to bring encouragement to all of these saints of the first century. to encourage them to endure until the end. This endurance is until the end. As Peter says, to stand firm in the grace of God, which is the message of this letter, to go until the end, to continue, to persevere, to keep going, not to stop because of the difficulties, not to stop because of the opposition or because of the tribulations and the trials, but rather to continue enduring until the end. This is the message.

This is the heart of the letter through the many letters of the many words that we read together. So what I want us to see, brothers and sisters, the definition of endurance according to Peter, because if the heart of this message is, or the heart of the message of the letter is of encouragement to endure, then I want us to see what endurance is for Peter. So if you go in your Bibles there to chapter 1, there is a very important verse that has been marked in to my heart, Every time that I'm just meditating and remembering Peter, and perhaps by God's grace will stay in my heart by His grace for a long time, this verse 9 in chapter 1, because here the apostle is going to teach us biblically what endurance is, what component of endurance. And in verse 9 in chapter 1, it says, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

You see, brothers and sisters, here Peter is telling us that genuine faith will have as ultimate outcome the salvation, the final salvation of the soul. That is, that endurance of genuine faith takes the soul to ultimate and final salvation. Genuine salvation will produce in the end, it is, when the person dies or when the Lord Jesus Christ comes and takes up to glory. But the genuine manifestation of endurance is coming to that point, this ultimate final point in which the soul is saved. And what I love about this verse is that this is the goal of genuine faith.

This is the outcome of genuine faith. This is the final destination of genuine faith, the salvation, the final and ultimate salvation of our souls. So, endurance for Peter is that faith will prevail throughout time. and that by prevailing throughout time, the final outcome would be the salvation of the soul of that particular person, of that particular soul. But now, brothers and sisters, it's very important to say that when we speak about genuine faith enduring until the end, namely the salvation of the soul, we're not speaking about a person being able to confirm intellectually that they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Endurance of the faith is not only that a person professes faith with the mouth and continues to do so until the end, and then even when that person in the last day of his or her life continues to confirm and to profess that they believe in Christ. Not even, brothers and sisters, genuine endurance of genuine faith that brings unto final salvation of the soul is not even doing things that confirm our belief, not even doing things that are Christian, not even doing things of the Christian faith. Genuine salvation that endures until the end is more than simply continue to believe with the mind that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and even more than simply doing those things which seem to be Christian. This is the terrifying exhortation that we are given in Matthew chapter 7, 21 and 23, which you very well know. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, these people confessed with their mouth that they recognize the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. On that day, the Lord says, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, didn't we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? The Lord will say to those people who professed, Lord, Lord, and who also did many different things in the name of the Lord, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of inequity or you workers of lawlessness. It is not sufficient enduring faith or endurance in the Christian life.

It is not sufficient for the person to have an intellectual assessment or an intellectual agreement until the end of the days, not even. performing works that fall into the category of Christian works, but rather doing what the Lord says, the one that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. And we might be confused there because the Lord Jesus Christ is the one that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Are not all of those things, this prophesying and casting out demons and the mighty works that people do in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, are not those things the will of the Father who is in heaven? Well, brothers and sisters, no.

The works that we are called to do, are works that come from the will of the Father, from the heart of the Father. And the heart of the Father is towards Christ. That is, that the works that the saint ought to do are the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as in Ephesians we're told that salvation is by grace through faith, and this is not of our works. And also there in verse 10, we are told that we were created, that we are the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world.

for good works. We are also told in Hebrews chapter 13 that it is God the one that works in us, that which is pleasing unto the Father, and this is in the person of Jesus Christ who has cleansed us by the eternal blood of the new covenant. That is, brothers and sisters, that genuine faith requires a genuine and true union with the person of Jesus Christ that goes beyond a mental and intellectual assessment in the mind, a confirmation of the mind, something that transforms completely the person. And brothers and sisters, there are no other way to define this union with Christ that as the Apostle Paul says, and I think it's in 2 Corinthians that he says, that the one that does not love the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a curse, anathema, in Spanish it reads.

It is cursed. You see, brothers and sisters, nobody can call the Lord Jesus Christ Lord. Nobody can love the Lord Jesus Christ genuinely if it's not by the work of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This is the self-examination that I constantly do to my heart. No, am I doing this particular thing?

No, am I knowing or do I know these things? But do I love Christ? With my heart, with the depths of my soul, do I love Him? I have an understanding, an experiential understanding of what love is towards my wife and towards my kids and towards you, beloved of Christ. So from that experience of love, can I have an understanding of what love to Christ is?

Is my heart indifferent to Christ? When I hear the name of Christ, is my soul dull and cold? Because love to Christ cannot be produced other than by and through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the only thing that can qualify the soul of a person to endurance until the end. It is that this faith will take us to the final outcome, which is the salvation of our soul.

It is that we will be able to endure until the end, until the last day of our lives, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes and takes up takes us up to glory. Now, brothers and sisters, I don't have to remind you of this, but you know that when I say that we are to endure until the end, I'm not saying that our endurance is what gives us final salvation, but rather because we have genuine faith, genuine love towards the Lord Jesus Christ. We will endure until the end. This is the message of encouragement of Peter to these churches. to endure until the end, to continue going until the end.

We know that salvation is by grace through faith, and this is not our doing. There is nothing that we can do in order to obtain final salvation. But brothers and sisters, also, we need to be clear that the Bible calls the believer to endure until the end. We are not to see things only from the perspective of what God does. We are to see things biblically with a sound doctrine, reading a scripture, and seeing the many warnings and the many exhortations that the apostles and the prophets gave to the people of God to endure until the end.

This was the heart of Peter for these churches. These churches were going through tribulation and difficulty, and there was a chance that in the midst of tribulations and difficulty, many of them will fall away. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ had taught Peter, as we know in the parable of the sower and the different seeds. that when tribulation comes, that when trials come, many will fall away. So the apostle comes to strengthen the brethren and to remind them that they are to endure until the end.

And this exhortation is the same for the believer of this day, that we are to an end. that we are to continue going until the end, that we are not to sit behind and say, I have been faithful until this day, but rather that we are to see forward and say, Jesus Christ is the one that promised that he is going to take me to glory, so I keep going towards the call of my supreme calling, the ultimate salvation of my soul, not thinking that I have accomplished it all, but rather continue striving and going for the person of Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, any type of preaching that falls short from this reality, from the reality of exhorting the saints to endure until the end, to persevere until the end, any type of preaching that falls short from exhorting continually the saints as the apostles and the prophets did, It's in the best case scenario, wrong preaching that needs to be fixed. There is a crooked preaching that needs to be brought in alignment with what the Scriptures say. But in the worst case scenario, this is the preaching of wolves in sheep clothing.

This is the preaching of false prophets. This is the preaching of lovers of themselves and their reputation. Men that are fearful of men and they don't want to displease others. They prefer to displease God and not to go with the message of the Word of God. And they prefer just to say nice things to the people so they will keep them in their ministry and they will continue doing the things that they want, building their own empire.

Brothers and sisters, we're told in the gospel by the Lord Jesus Christ that lawlessness will increase and the love of many Christians will grow cold, but the ones who endure until the end will be saved. The Bible is clear in calling believers to endure by faith until the end. And this is the burden of the Apostle Peter. Brothers and sisters, our endurance does not come from those who are around us. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ uses those who are around us to encourage us in our faith.

But there's going to come a time in which each one of us is going to endure personally in the soul, in the heart, and be presented to circumstances of difficulty in which the genuineness of our faith is going to be tested, in which the genuineness of our souls is going to be tested. And the apostles and the Spirit and the testimony of Scripture is that we are called and it's necessary for the saints to endure until the end. to continue going until the end. This is the difference with any other type of religion and any other type of human intention or organization that we continue until the end for the name and for the sake of the person of Jesus Christ. So endurance.

my beloved of Christ, is the continual, or if you want, the progressive abiding in Christ, that is not only that we continue to believe in the mind and to say that we profess Christ with our mouth and that we say, yes, we believe in Christ, or not even that we do Christian things, that we do Christian activities or different things that are considered to be Christian, but rather endurance and continue a progressive abiding in Christ it is producing in us by faith the fruits of Christ that is doing the will of the Father just as Christ did the will of the Father. The saint is called to do the will of the Father, and we can do the will of the Father only if Christ Jesus is in us. So then the fruits that we produce are not the fruits of our good endeavors and our good abilities, but rather the fruit that we produce is the fruit of Christ, which Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit. Well, oh the fruit of righteousness also in philippians chapter one. These are the fruits of righteousness In christ jesus unto the glory of the father, but this is a continual progressive Abiding in the person of christ producing fruit continually ongoingly that is being conformed to the image of jesus christ This is dying to self and christ abiding and being in us being conformed to the image of jesus christ.

So just as he endured for the sake of the church, Hebrews 12 or 13, we will also endure for the sake of the joy that is put before us, that is to see our Lord Jesus Christ reigning in heaven. But brothers and sisters, what I want to do very briefly, very briefly, it is that I want to address why are we called to endure by Peter? Why is Peter calling us to endure? What is the foundation, the doctrinal foundation that He uses to cause us to endure? And then I want us to see how we are supposed to endure.

I don't want to just leave you with a message of Peter that we are to endure until the end, but I want to give you reasons in your heart, to a story in your heart, beloved of Christ, reasons why Peter is calling us to endure. And I want to see from Peter how we endure until the end. There are so many reasons why we're called to endure, but I want to point your attention briefly to four reasons that are the ones that are stored in my heart after I have studied this first letter of Peter for over this, this, almost these two years. for reasons why Peter calls us to endure. And the first one is found in the first two verses of the letter.

So if you go there to first Peter chapter one, in the first two verses of the letter, the apostle is going to say, is going to start the letter by saying, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. Pay attention to verse two. according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, and for sprinkling with His blood. May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Brothers and sisters, we are called to endure Because God has chosen us before we ever existed.

Before we ever existed, salvation was already planned. It was already in the decree of God. Before we even had any type of thought or a second of life. The salvation that was going to be ours was already in the heart and in the mind of God. It is according to the eternal decree, the foreknowledge of God the Father, that we were separated in the Spirit, that we were sanctified in the Spirit, that we were removed from the common by the Spirit so that we will obey by the same Spirit the gospel of Jesus Christ.

and the blood of the Lamb of God, without blemish and without spot, would be sprinkled upon us, sanctifying us once for all. It is because He chose us before the foundation of the world, and in choosing us before the foundation of the world, God the Father also chose His Son to be the ransom, to be the price by which and through which we will be saved. I don't know if this amazes us enough, brothers and sisters, but we were in the mind and in the heart of God and in Jesus Christ. He chose us before the foundation of the world to bless us with all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. And that is the redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ, the sprinkling and the covenantal purification of our souls that we might be united to his son, the incarnated son.

So we are called to endure. Just as from eternity past we were chosen so that in time salvation will be given to us, now we are called to put our eyes in the future and that which is coming before us trying to obtain and moving towards working out our own salvation in fear and trembling before the presence of the Lord, knowing that is God the one that is working in us both to do and to will according to his pleasure. His pleasure that I was abiding in his heart was to choose us unto salvation and to the sprinkling of his blood. Now it is the desire of the Father that those who had come to Christ, that he will not lose not even one of them. This is the first reason, brothers.

We are called to endure because if you are genuinely in Christ, He trusts you before the foundation of the world to be in union with Christ. But brothers and sisters, even this glorious salvation that was abiding in the mind and in the heart of God in eternity past, this glorious salvation is also promised through the prophets of God. So the second reason that why we are called to endure is because this glorious salvation was promised in Scripture. Holy Scripture is not only that God promised this in His Word as He was separate from creation, but once He decided to reveal Himself to creation, to manifest Himself through His special revelation through the Scriptures, it is that through those Scriptures also He promised that there was going to be a grace that was going to be for the saints. In 1 Peter, in the same chapter, chapter 1, In verses 10 through 13, the Apostle says, concerning this salvation, the salvation of which faith has as ultimate outcome, concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, search and inquire carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. Therefore, verse 13, preparing your mind for action and being sober-minded, set your hope. fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That is, because this glorious salvation that was going to be yours was prophesied in scriptures by the prophets of old to you Gentiles, you are called now by the message that has been given to you by the Spirit to set your hope, to set the affections of your heart, to set the powers of your being, on the grace that will be brought to you. This is the true grace of God, that there's going to be a revelation of Jesus Christ to the soul, either when the soul dies or when we are taken up by the Lord, that we are going to see Him face to face, and we are to set this hope fully on that grace that will be brought to us, the church.

at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And this hope is fed by certainty, the certainty that is given to us in Scripture, that is the prophets who prophesied about this grace, that it was the prophets that spoke about this glorious salvation in Jesus Christ, so that our hope can be fully fed by the words that come from God through holy scriptures. Not only, brothers and sisters, we are to endure until the end because we were chosen before the foundation of the world and because this salvation is promised to us by the prophets and by Scripture, but also because in this glorious salvation we have been given the power to endure until the end. We have been given the power to endure and to continue until the end. If you go to 1st Peter chapter 1 in verse 22 and 23, which we read, but I want us to see it again in 22 and 23, we are told that something supernatural happened to us.

that salvation is something supernatural that happens to the Christian. You see, that Christianity is not just simply an intellectual confirmation of your mind that now you're a follower of Christ, but when the Spirit of God comes and visits you with salvation, something drastic and radical has taken place. The Apostle Peter in the ESV says, having purify your souls by your obedience to the truth, other Bibles will have their through the Spirit, or through the Holy Spirit. So have him purify your souls by your obedience to the truth. For a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

Why? Since you have been born again. not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding Word of God." Brothers and sisters, salvation of our souls is the purification of our souls by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. And we have been empowered by the imperishable seed of the Word of God to live lives, living and abiding in the Word of God.

And if we come from an imperishable seed, then that seed to be in us is imperishable. It is the seed of God that abides in the Christian according to 1 John 3. Verse 9 and 10, that the seed of God is in us. And if the seed of God is in us, which is the imperishable word, then we have the power to endure until the end. We have the ability and we have the energy, the power in us to continue to progress until the end of our days.

The fourth and final reason, brothers and sisters, that I want to give you for our endurance, why we are called by Peter to endure, it is because our endurance ultimately is not ours, but it is His. Our perseverance until the end is not ours, but it's His. And this is a manifestation of the love of God and the care of God for His saints. That when we are filled with anxieties and cares of this world, we are told by Peter that we can come and throw them at the feet of God because He cares for the church. But it is the persevere and is the keeping of the soul of the saint, the work of God by the power of God and through the faith of the saint.

This is what the apostle says, not only in the end of the book in first Peter, chapter five and verse 10 that says, and after you have suffered a little while, After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, the true grace of God, who has called you, He is the one who has called us to His eternal glory in Christ, He Himself will restore and confirm and strengthen and establish you. We are called to endure because God is the one that keeps us until the end. But brothers and sisters, I don't want our mind to depart here from the responsibility given to the Christian because the same Peter, speaking of this glorious work of perseverance, of keeping, of protecting from God to the believer, says to us in 1 Peter 1, verse 5, that we are kept by God's power. and that we are guarded through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed. It is the power of God that keeps us until the end, operating and working with the faith of the believer so that the outcome of the genuine faith of the believer will be the encounter with this ultimate salvation, the salvation of the soul, which is ready to be revealed.

In the last time, as Peter says, in chapter 1 in verse 5. Brothers and sisters, this is the reason why we are called to endure until the end, when our soul enters in difficulty, and when our minds enter in doubts, and when the attacks of Satan are bringing to us condemnation in the mind, not genuine condemnation, but when there is sense of condemnation in our mind by the attacks of Satan and his demons, when we are in times of need, we can approach the throne of grace in time of need, with certainty and boldness, and we can enter the presence of God and be accepted by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to endure because He chose us. We are called to endure because He's the one that perseveres us and the one that keeps us. We're called to endure because this is promised in scripture, and we are called to do it because He has empowered us to do it.

All of these actions are on the side of God. He chose us. He gave us the power. He will do it. And it's in His Word that is promised.

So we are by faith to continue going until the end, until the goal of our supreme calling, the salvation of our soul. Now, brothers and sisters, I do not want to leave you. without telling you how are we to endure? How are we going to continue walking towards the goal of the supreme calling according to Peter? How are we going to progress in our salvation?

How are we going to work harder on salvation? How are we going to stand firm in this grace that is being explained and given to us in this letter? Let me give you just quickly three simple reasons or three simple ways that, according to Peter, will help us to endure until the end. The first one is found in 1 Peter 1. Verse 8 and 9, just the preceding verse, the verse that goes before Peter defines endurance.

Before he says, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls, the apostle has called these churches and these saints to love Jesus Christ and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1, 8 and 9 says, though you have not seen him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. Though our senses have not perceived Him, though our physical eyes have not seen Him, though our physical senses have not touched Him or experienced Him in the flesh, yet we love Him, and yet we have not seen His presence. Brothers and sisters, by faith in the heart, we believe in Him.

And this is the faith that obtains the final outcome of salvation, the salvation of our souls, that we are to abide continually, brothers and sisters, by faith, in loving and believing our Savior. This is the safest place for the soul. Salvation starts with faith, but salvation continues and is nourished through saving faith. Saving faith is that which makes Christ live in us. and the life that now i live in the flesh i live by faith of the son of god who loved me and gave himself for me it is the faith of the son of god in us having the life of christ in us by faith the ones that makes us long for christ and believe in him so that our faith in the end of the days will be found to be genuine, a faith that is for the glory and the praise and the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ, a faith that will be not the honor of the person, but a faith that will be for the glory of God, for the glory of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who gave us the power to believe in Him and to continue believing in Him.

It is the necessity, brothers and sisters, it is the duty that we will feed that faith, that we will continually empower that faith through the preaching of the Word, through the Word itself, through the communion with God, through the abiding in Christ, that our faith might not be weakened by the circumstances of our life and by the things that are passing away and by the attacks of Satan, but rather that we might be empowered In our faith, brothers and sisters, if the salvation of our souls depends on this type of ongoing, continual faith, how are we going to be negligent with that type of faith? How are we going to take that for granted? If we eat food every day to sustain our bodies, how are we not going to be diligent to continue nourishing our saving faith, the one that takes us until the end, the one that takes us until the salvation, the final and ultimate salvation of our souls? It is loving and believing in Jesus Christ. but not only that brothers and sisters he has given us a context to do this and another way in which we can endure until the end it is by bringing glory to God through the love of the church through the love of the saints and the service to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is by bringing glory until the end to God the Father through the love of one another, the love of the saints, and the service in the Church. If you go to 1 Peter chapter 4 in verse 8, 9, 10, and 11. If you go to 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 8 through 11, we are told of this glorious reality. He says the Apostle Peter says, above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. show hospitality to one another without grumbling, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace, whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to Him be glory, to Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen. After this he's going to start with his portion speaking about trials and tribulation and before this he said that the end of all things is at hand. the end of all things is at hand, yet He calls us in the context of the church to above all the things love one another earnestly. Why? Because love covers a multitude of sin.

And not only to love one another with love that covers a multitude of sin, but also to serve the church with the gifts that the Lord has given us and to be partakers of the community of the church so that our lives will bring glory in everything to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ. The context of the churches I have tried during many sermons, brothers and sisters, to show you, it is very important. The context of the local church is that which empowers the life and the soul of the Christian, preparing the heart, preparing the soul to bring glory to God and to grow in conformity to Jesus Christ so that we can endure until the end of our days when the Lord Jesus Christ comes. And the third and final way of enduring until the end is given to us in the beginning of chapter 2. If you go to chapter 2 in 1 Peter chapter 2 in the first three verses, we are told something that we are called to do.

It is not only that we are to love and believe in Jesus Christ, nourishing our faith and strengthening our faith. That is the first thing. Second thing is that we are to glorify God in the context of the church, loving one another, serving one another, bringing glory to God in the context of the church. But also Peter has exhorted us to put away, verse 1 in chapter 2, put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk that by it by the word, by the spiritual milk, you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. If we are going to endure until the end, brothers and sisters, we are to hate the passions of our flesh, We are to hate them so much that we are to be willing to put them away, that we are to remove them, to make war against the passions of our flesh, as he will say later, to put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander, all maliciousness that can be in us to be put and removed.

Contrary to that, we are to long for the Word of God, which is the spiritual milk that is to be cleansed from the powers of the flesh by the continual and ongoing renewing of our mind in the Word of God. We cannot put away the passions of the flesh if we are not strengthened and we are not continually growing into salvation by the power of the Word of God? How are we going to love and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ if we are not attached and connected to the Word of God? How are we going to glorify God through loving one another and the service in the church if we do not know how to do it through the Word of God? How are we going to put away all of our sins and fleshly things, the passions that are within us, if we do not desire to know the mind of God as He's given to us through the Word of God?

We are to be students of the Word, brothers and sisters. We are to be diligent students of the Word. Yes, we are to study books and study different things that are available to us, but we are to be diligent students of the Word of God. We are to invest our efforts in constantly reading, in constantly memorizing, in constantly studying the Word of God. This is not something that is done by someone on behalf of someone else.

This is done by the soul. Each soul is responsible for the endurance of their own soul and heart. So we are responsible for growing up into our salvation by the longing, desiring, the emotional attachment to the Word of God, if you have tasted that the Lord is good. This is the message, brothers and sisters. This is the true grace of God that we have been called to endure by God's grace, by God's power, through our faith, while we grow in faith and in love to the Lord Jesus Christ, while we grow in love and service to His church, while we grow in love and holiness in his word, dying to self, because Christ lives in us.

And I think, brothers and sisters, that this is why verse 14 makes so much sense. Every time in the last couple of sermons that I preach to you, beloved of Christ, Every time that I read that last statement, it just made so much sense. Not sense in the sense that I understand the words, but rather so much sense given to my heart by His grace, in which in the final words, the Apostle Peter will say, Peace to all of you who are in Christ. These are people who are going through trials, tribulations, difficulties. It's not that after the writing or the giving of this letter, their circumstances are going to change.

They're going to continue to be persecuted. Many of them will have been thrown out to the beast. Many of them would have died because of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the apostle can say with complete certainty, peace to all of you who are in Christ. In times of trials, in times of tribulation, in times of uncertainty, in times of weakness, in times of despair, in times of anxiety, in times of questions, in times of hopelessness, in times of not knowing what is coming, and in times of affliction, in times of attacks of Satan, in times of attacks of his demons, in times of discouragement, in times of lack of consolation, in times of sin, The Christian can turn his eyes upon the realities that are given to us by Scripture in the person of Jesus Christ.

And we are the only ones in this world that can, in the midst of these whole circumstances, have peace in our hearts. A peace that surpasses all understanding. A peace that falls into the category of craziness according to the standard of the world. A peace that moves us to produce more faith. This is for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And the Apostle finishes this letter just by telling us which is the safest place in Christ. That is the safest place of our souls. In Christ, it doesn't matter that we're weak. It doesn't matter that we're needy. It doesn't matter that we are aware of our sins.

It doesn't matter that we have done this or that. For the saint, that is the safest place to be in Christ. In that place, there is forgiveness. In that place, there is consolation. In that place, there is empowerment.

In that place, there is love. In that place, there is care. In that place, there is exhortation. In that place, there is correction. In that place, there is reproof.

In that place, there is fullness of joy forevermore. the presence of Christ that empowers the saint to endure until the end, to count it all loss, to count all loss in our life, to put our eyes in the things that are coming ahead and the things that are above, not on the things of the earth, so that when the situations around us change, we can be partakers, just as the saints of these churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, of the peace of Jesus Christ that surpasses all understanding. Amen.