A Rock-Solid Finish

Please note that Peter did not further to God is the God of all fairness to God about justice, though he absolutely is that Peter did not refer to him as that, nor did he call him the God of all truth and correctness of view. Certainly that one thing he wanted to leave his audience with is that the character of their God is the God of all grace, God's love and grace to view the broken heart repair broken line to deal and connect with Skip Heitzig Skip shears encouraging truth to help you continue running the race of faith in the face of trials first Skip wants to share about another great way you can hear his uplifting teachings. I want to invite you to follow my podcasts so you can get even more inspiring teacher. Just search Skip Heitzig. That's HD IT CIG on spot a five Apple podcasts or anywhere you listen to your podcast and don't forget to follow the podcasts so you know when the new teaching is available. Thank skip. Now we're in first Peter chapter 5 as we dive into the teaching with Skip Heitzig as Peter comes to his Finish Line and raises up the eyes of his readers to consider their Finish Line. This is what he says in verse 10. May the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. After you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. By Saul Vanness, our faithful brother as I consider him. I have written to you briefly in a semi-were going briefly we been in it all year. That's me, not him, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. She who is in Babylon elect together with you agree to and so does Mark. My son greet one another with a kiss of love, peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. As Peter closes his letter he sums up what we have spent months looking at. He sums up in Col. nugget form all of the great truths that he has talked about.

He calls it is the true grace of God I told you about God saving grace is sanctifying grace, grace to keep you secure to you get to heaven grace to endure pain, citizen hardship and trial and that's verse 1011 that's a sort of a summary statement.

Then in verse 12, 13 and 14 is his own personal note, it is here where I believe Peter picks up the pen and finishes the letter up till now. Like in most ancient letters he has dictated what he wanted to say to a guy named Saul Vanness.

His name is mentioned. That's the formal name of Silas we know about Silas. He was one of Paul's companions and so Peter is dictating the letter to this scribe a secretary formally called in a amanuensis and then at the end he picks up the pen and he writes the last three lines. There are six things I want to show you six things you and I need to know as we approached the finish line.

I was reading this week about our Canyon runner, one of the most amazing things if you if you've watched people from candy. It's almost like the whole country has produced great runners and at one of the Olympics. Someone asked one of these Kenyan long-distance runners was what why is it that your country has produced so many great athletes and he smiled and he said I think it must be the roadsigns.

They say beware of lions and we have seen that in our book that we not work, Peter says your adversary the devil roams around like a roaring lion out of keep you going. But there's more than that, and so allow me to unpack verse 10 in verse 11, and give you six things you and I as Christian athletes on this track of life need to know to make it to the finish line number one, you need to know God's character. Please notice verse 10, but may the God of all grace, stop right there. One of the great titles of God is this all called him the God of all comfort. Peter calls in the God of all grace, that's how God introduces himself to Moses back in Exodus 34. He says I am the Lord, the Lord God, the merciful and gracious.

Please note that Peter did not refer to God is the God of all fairness for the God of all justice, though he absolutely is that Peter did not refer to him as that, nor did he call him the God of all truth. The God of all correctness, though he is certainly that one thing he wanted to lead his audience with is that the character of their God is the God of all grace, need, you know people who have forgotten that he's the God of all grace, I run into Christians all the time. I know other Christians because they receive Christ.

But I know they have forgotten that he's a God of grace which is difficult to be around or judge mental attitudes is the God of all grace David in Psalm 86 said you oh Lord our God, full of compassion and gracious.

That's a great word when we come to the New Testament that were takes on a whole new complexion because it's the very covenant that we relate to God with it's a covenant of unmerited favor grace John chapter 1. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

So under the law, God demands righteousness from man under grace, God gives righteousness to me under the law.

Righteousness is based on our good works under grace. It's based on his good work. His finished work on the cross under the law. It only takes one sin to make you a sinner under grace. It only takes one Savior to fix it all. So to put it in its simple form. Grace is how God deals with you. It's not based on what you deserve, it's based on what Jesus did, or even more simply take the word grace GRA CE and make it an acronym. I know you've heard this grace is God's riches at Christ's expense.

God can deal with you and I based on what Jesus did, so he can treat you differently. Second Corinthians 521 God made him Jesus, who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. In other words, God treated Jesus Christ like you deserve to be treated so he can treat you like. Jesus deserves to be treated as a covenant of grace.

You need to know God's grace to make it to the finish line. You're saved by or secured by, and we sing about it every time we sing the song amazing Grace member that stanza was grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. So no matter what you're experiencing today in your life. God is looking you like this is not grace. I know some people may be but not your God is a God of grace at his character. The second thing you need to know is is calling God's calling. May the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory stop right there. This tells me that God's purpose for my life goes beyond grace filled life and includes eternal life.

The glories of heaven.

You remember that the Lord Jesus Christ prayed a private prayer to his father in John 17 and he said father I want all those that you have given me to be with me where I am, that they may see my glory that the father will answer that prayer one day and take you with Jesus to his glory.

Now this second truth in this verse is based on the first truth in this verse because God covers us in his grace. He can call you to his glory. Second is based on the first.

Why is this important. What this does to his audience and hopefully to you and I is it raises our horizon. It lets us see beyond the pain of the race beyond the pain of this life to something that is beyond this life. Paul said it this way in first Corinthians 15 if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable life can hurt. It can hurt a lot, but beyond the hurt. There is heaven, and honestly, we often forget this. We often forget this until reminded of it. We forgot it was on a conversation with a buddy of mine about a year year and half ago and we were he's a pastor we're talking about haven't noticed I disclaimer pastors on always doing this or not. I was talking about heaven when there with each other is not like that. So sometimes you know what I will motorcycles believed I might have in this day actually having a motorcycles move along, but that's another story and were talking about heaven and the they were talking about the millennial kingdom of Christ and then the eternal state and all the different aspects and and my friend paused in the middle of this conversation and he looked at me and he said were going to see that it's as if we are, we studied it.

We've taught it, we know it, but it dawned on us suddenly this is real were actually going to experience all of these things does something to you when you live that way. Second Corinthians chapter 4, the apostle Paul says therefore we do not lose heart even though we are wasting away outwardly yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. And so we fix our eyes. There's the horizon we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen as temporal. What is unseen is eternal live. Looking forward to what's beyond life couple years back I was at a local baseball game and I love baseball and I love local baseball and I'm I'm watching the game was a warm summer evening. Afterwards there were would be fireworks and there were in front of me were a couple of gentlemen who were friends and they were enjoying the game and they had a beer and then another and then another and then another. Then several more by the end of the game. By the time of the fireworks. They were well saturated in their drink, and as the fireworks went off one guy holding a beer turned to his buddy. It was like a bad Budweiser commercial. Trust me on this return to his friend in a slurred speech to visit this and I think oh goodness gracious really in our couple beers at Junior baseball team game with a few fireworks and that does it for you and I'm thinking it's going to get a lot better than this. There's grace to make it through this life and there's glory that were called to afterward to get a lot better.

CS Lewis said Christians who do the most for this present world are those who think most of the next payment heaven and you get thrown in a matter thing you get neither. So God's character is a God of all grace, God's calling. He's called us to eternal glory. But there's something attached to it. I don't want you to miss this. There's a condition to that God's condition it says by Christ Jesus made the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus as to what this tells me you will not automatically enjoy God's grace in life and automatically enjoy God's glory in heaven. They only come by Christ Jesus.

So the first two now are dependent upon the third grace and the glory depend upon. Do you know Christ Jesus you have a relationship with God through his son is not automatic. You don't enjoy these things just because you're alive. I've been doing a lot of funerals I've done a lot and I've been to a lot and some that I have been to. If I were just to walk in and listen to eulogies and listen to some preachers I could assume by what I hear at some funerals that the only condition there is for you to get to heaven is just to be born so good to be born, live anywhere you want make any choice you want, but at the end will find some preacher who will push you into heaven, say nice things about how wonderful you were.

I heard about a scoundrel. It was his funeral. I mean this guy hated God never wanted to go to church, never want to got mentioned in his house and everybody knew them when he died he had a funeral and some preacher who did Noam gave the eulogy and gave the sermon and talk about how wonderful he was when on for like 10 minutes of praise and accolades and everybody in the audience looking like I and finally the life of the poor deceased man nudges her son is it go up there looking at casket. Make sure that your dad she thought I may be at the wrong place. You don't get to heaven by just being born. You get to heaven by being born again.

Jesus said I am the way, the truth than the life.

No one comes to the father except through me.

Heaven is exclusive the grace to live this way, and the glory that is promised or to those who relate to God through Christ Jesus is like my iPhone case.

I brought my iPhone case here it so this is a wood grained very thin and if I would monitor them to give you my phone case, give you my case, what you get when I get in my case and I can okay thank you my phone my phones attached to my case.

So if you get my case you get my phone. If you go to the store to buy a case there's there's how works they will sell you a case and they always have a picture of the case, holding a phone, but on the front of the case, it says does not include phone, they want you to know what you think. For 20 bucks for you to get a brand-new phone, but if I give you my case today you would get my phone comes with it. That's when I can give you my case. However, that's how it works with Christ when you take Jesus Christ what comes with him is the whole package of the grace to live through all the tough stuff, and the glory that will follow in the end, but you must take the Savior to get the glory. It's all part of the package. One of the biggest surprises in heaven will be who's not there and one of the other big surprises in heaven's who's there we might as look at each of Skippy, here, here, by God's grace before thing to notice is God's curriculum. Again, he summing up his whole letter. God's curriculum. Notice what he says may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. After you have suffered a while. Why did he write this is why it's obvious because suffering is a part of life. Everyone's life. Everybody goes through suffering, but is also part of God's curriculum to mature us pain happens to every person but purposeful pain happens only to the child of God. Everybody goes through pain and they look back and they wonder and they'll get this understand that just a bad thing that happened enough, a believer believer knows the truth of Romans 828 that all things work together for good to those who are called to God by God according to his purpose. Everything works together purposeful pain is what children of God, get in chemistry. You can take to substances that by themselves would be dangerous for you to ingest sodium is an alkali metal. If you were to take it in its pure form is not good for you enough to do damage to you.

Chlorine could be a poison to you, but if you combine those two things and make sodium chloride. That's just table salt. It could be actually beneficial. So it's the combination of things God can cause all things bad, worse good and combine them and make something beneficial. The right combination of even harmful things can actually be beneficial. A great example is the apostle Paul. He spoke about a thorn in the flesh. Some of you will remember the passage I'm referring to. Second Corinthians 12. He basically said I saw so many wonderful cool things in visions and that God gave me her whiskey was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. I thought about that passage yesterday because I was reading my yard and I had gloves on, but there are some weeds you know this about some weeds that there's sort of impervious to lives. They got thorns and and and this happened to be a pulled weed out I got a thorn in my flesh and I had it. Most of the day until I that's what that thing is bothering me and I pulled out the tweezers thorn in the flesh. I thought about what Paul wrote.

He said I had a thorn in my flesh. Big difference between my little sticker and the form that Paul spoke about his he was referring to a sharp impaling stick that killed people's stake in the flash and most scholars believe he was referring to an eye disease that he lived with for years until the Lord took him on the glory.

But the way he described it, is what is most noteworthy.

Listen to what he says because of the revelations I saw there was given unto me a thorn in the flesh, and the word the way it's written, was given to me is an aorist passive indicative which simply implies God gave it to me.

It was God that gave me this thorn in the flesh to listen to how this sounds and sounds a little where therefore God gave me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me buffet means punch says that Paul is saying so that I wouldn't get so prideful God the father, my God who loves me allowed one of Satan's own demons to beat me up a little bit and I prayed three times to be delivered from this and God finally said my grace is all you need and therefore Paul said, I rejoice in my affliction and I embrace. That's quite a statement.

Why would God allow a choice. Certainly Paul to go through pain like that is the earth shattering truth.

It was good for him was good for him. It was helpful. It was beneficial. David said it was good that I was afflicted was beneficial. Satan wanted to destroy him.

God used it to develop him what Job said Job after all of his struggles and trials.

Remember what he said was wife said, shall we accept only good from God, shall we not accept adversity mean Micah to be so shallow person that when I get some happy experience it all. That's from God and man can't pain comes a mullet.

That's not the goddess from the devil.

It might be but God allowed to strengthen you to develop your thought about God's curriculum something else up. Please notice this. How long do you suffer look what he says if you suffer what a while. It's not long. It's a deliberate comparison to the word he used previously eternal. Please notice he's called us to his eternal glory. Until then, we suffer a while get it were suffering temporarily.

We have some eternal, this is passing that's permanent just a while, then Skip the message from the series rocks. Now we want to share about a special resource that will spark the deeper passion in you to live for Jesus, you know.

Proverbs 31 go to passage that describes the ideal Christian woman in life. To be honest ideal can be as intimidating as it is inspiring.

Here's get high with more can I just tell you it's exhausting to just read that, let alone how on earth women, could you ever do that. Let me say first of all, you can't do that in a day is not giving the 24 hour description of the virtuous wife. This is a woman over time. Get to know some of the most incredible women in the Bible and in history with two inspiring resources, six message CD collection from pastors and prominent women in Scripture seven women by best-selling author Erica Texas.

This bundle is our thanks when you get $35 or more to help expand the Bible teaching outreach of skintight think charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Call now to request these captivating resources as our thanks for your generous gift 800-922-1888. Get online securely connectwithskip.com/offer. The Bible brings growth direction and joy to your life equipping you to serve the Lord bring the word of God to more friends like you. You can help keep these teachings coming your way and make them available in more places around the world through your generous support. Today so please come out again and help keep this program going strong. Call 892 1888 at 892 1888 orifice to connectwithskip.com/donate.connectwithskip.com/donate.

Thank you. Tune into my escape. I should share several important principles to help you build a mature faith that last one will lead to.

So if you have faith that will produce a life of virtue, and if you have a moral excellent life that will lead to knowing God better and when you know God better you become more self-controlled when you're more self-control available to persevere under the load. Better you do that you become more godly and that leads to genuinely care for people and sacrificial. One leads to Skip presentation of connection occasions changing truth ever-changing time