Lesson 27

How To Keep On Going For God

I Peter 5:10-14

This is final five weekend at Dearborn Baptist Church. We've come to the final five verses of I Peter.

I Peter 5:10-14 forms the conclusion and benediction of Peter's letter. While saying "Good-bye and God bless", Peter uses this last section to remind us of those fundamental attitudes that will lead down the path of spiritual maturity. And in these final five verses, Peter closes by explaining and illustrating how to keep on going for God.

We are all tempted, from time to time in our Christian life, to give up. The way is hard, there are many obstacles which cause us to stumble. There are disappointments. We weary of fighting our adversary the devil. We face the problems of our own flesh and our personal failures. We experience people problems, strained and broken relationships, hurts and griefs. We just want to throw up our hands in exasperation and say, "That's it. I quit."

We need help and encouragement to keep on going for God! If there was every anybody who could help us keep on going, it would have to be Peter. Think of his life through the gospels and through the Book of Acts - the adversity that he faced and yet he wouldn't quit. Peter is the right person to give us the instruction and encouragement not to quit.

It there was every any passage to help us keep on going, it is these final five verses of I Peter. We find here four things to do to help us keep on going for God. Let's identify these four things.

Appreciate What God Is Doing, 5:10.

Verse 8 tells us what Satan is doing. He is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. In contrast to Satan, verse 10 begins with the word "but God". Satan is at work against you but God is at work in you. Peter reminds that He is "the God of all grace". He is a good and generous and gracious God. He is not against you. He is on your side if you are a Christian. He is not out to harm you, he is out to help you. He is not withholding good things from you. Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. He is the God of all grace.

He is the God "who hath called us unto his eternal glory by (through) Jesus Christ." His ultimate purpose for our lives is "eternal glory". This is a promise from God. The call, here, is the summons to salvation. It is through Jesus Christ and it unto his eternal glory. God has promised us and is taking us to glory.

But before we get to eternal glory we must "suffer a while." (See 1:6-7). The pain is part of God's plan. It is part of what God is doing in our lives. The pain of the present helps accomplish God's purpose for us in the future. The pain is intended to "make you perfect."

Perfect is used here in the sense of sinless but in the sense of complete or mature. The suffering for a while is part of the maturing process of God. God is, through the temporary suffering, going to "stablish, strengthen settle you."

"Stablish" means to turn you resolutely in a certain direction. Luke 9:51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.

"Strengthen" - is just that to make you strong.

"Settle" - means to ground you or to lay a solid foundation in your life. It means to make your Christian life stable.

Some people struggle with stability. They are in and out of church, up and down on a roller coaster, hot and cold for the Lord. High and low. We can all enjoy the highs but I believe there is great value to a sense of stability in our Christian lives.

Put this all together and we see that our good and gracious God who is taking us to eternal glory through Jesus Christ in the future, is, in the present using pain to perfect us, to give us the resolve and the strength and the stability that we need.

By knowing what God is doing in our lives, we should appreciate it. And by appreciating what God is doing, we will keep on going for God.

Worship God In Your Heart, 5:11.

It seems that as Peter, as he thinks about what God is doing in our lives, is suddenly just overwhelmed with a desire to praise God. And so, in verse 11, he just bursts forth with "To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

Peter is worshiping God as he writes the letter. He did this back in 4:11.

A worshiping heart keeps you from questioning God during tough times. Thus a worshiping heart is another key to help you keep on going for God.

Stay Faithful, 5:12.

Verse 12 speaks of Silas (Hebrew - Silvanus is the Greek equivalent). Silas was with Peter when he wrote this letter. It was common for the apostles to dictate their letters to younger associates and then to pick up the pen at the end and write a closing personal word. Perhaps that is what Peter is doing here.

Silas is an example of a faithful man. He is an encouragement to us to stay faithful to "the true grace of God wherein you stand." We should follow the example set by Silas and stay faithful.

Just staying faithful will help you to keep on going for God.

Love For God's People, 5:13-14.

The word "love" does appear in these two verses and by way of example, we can see that Peter demonstrates love and affection in these two verses.

Babylon is believed to be a reference actually to Rome. In Revelation 17-18 it does. "It's a cryptic name for Rome. In times of persecution, writers exercise unusual care not to endanger Christians to whom they wrote letters. For instance, when John was banished to Patmos during the persecution instigated by the Roman emperor Domician, he called Rome, Babylon. Peter, who mentions persecution in nearly every chapter of his epistle, died a martyrs death near Rome. According to tradition, he was crucified upside down. In short, Peter wrote this epistle near the end of his life when he probably stayed in the empirical city. He didn't want the letter to be found and the church to be persecuted so he protected under the code name Babylon."

He mentions also Marcus here - John Mark, Peter's spiritual son who wrote the gospel according to Mark probably knowing the details of Christ's life from Peter.

The word for "saluteth" means to greet and to embrace. It is like saying, "Hug the believers for us." A word affection followed in verse 14 by an outward expression of affection. Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity.

Kiss everybody. The kiss of charity is was customary part of early church greetings, much as we shake hands. The Christians in Mexico do this. Romans 16:16 Salute one another with an holy kiss. 1 Cor 16:20 All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with an holy kiss. 2 Cor 13:12 Greet one another with an holy kiss.

1 Th 5:26 Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.

Just loving God's people and expressing it to outwardly will help you to keep going for God.

So how can you keep on going for God?

Appreciate what God is doing in your life.

Worship God in your heart.

Stay faithful

Love God's people and show it.

Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.