Unshaken | Part 2: Unshaken Grace | Chris Vaught

Let's worship together. Come on. Sing I was headed for hell until He rescued me. I was stuck in my shame. Now I've been set free, now Heaven's my home for all eternity. I once was blunt, but now I see I was headed for hell until He rescued me. I was stuck in my shame. Now I've been set free, now Heaven's my home for all eternity. I once was blunt, but now I see. I believe in Jesus' name. I believe He died to save. On the cross He cleared my name. Isn't that amazing grace? I believe on the third day that He walks right out the grave. Full of life with Him, I'm raised. Isn't that amazing that I was headed for hell until He rescued me. I was stuck in my shame. Now I've been set free, now Heaven's my home for all eternity. I once was blunt, but now I see. I believe in Jesus' name. I believe He died to save. On the cross He cleared my name. Isn't that amazing grace? Isn't that amazing grace? Isn't that amazing grace? Isn't that amazing grace? Isn't that amazing? I'll lead to the man on the middle cross. 'Cause he didn't know the debt, but he paid it off. And he rolled away the stone, now I'm getting up.

I'm getting up. Oh, come on. I'll lead to the man on the middle cross. 'Cause he didn't know the debt, but he paid it off. And he rolled away the stone, now I'm getting up. I'm getting up. Oh, now I'm getting up. I'll lead to the man on the middle cross. 'Cause he didn't know the debt, but he paid it off. And he rolled away the stone, now I'm getting up. I'm getting up. Oh, now I'm getting up. I'll lead to the man on the middle cross. 'Cause he didn't know the debt, but he paid it off. And he rolled away the stone, now I'm getting up. I'm getting up. Oh, now I'm getting up. I was headed for hell until he rescued me. I was stuck in my shame. Now I've been set free. Now, heaven's my home for all eternity. I once was blind. But now I see I was headed for hell until he rescued me. I was stuck in the shame. Now I'm dead, but now heaven's my home for all eternity. I once was blind. But now I see I'll lead to the man on the middle cross. 'Cause he didn't know the debt, but he paid it off. And he rolled away the stone, now I'm getting up. I'm getting up.

Oh, now I'm getting up. I'll lead to the man on the middle cross. 'Cause he didn't know the debt, but he paid it off. And he rolled away the stone, now I'm getting up. Oh, I'm getting up, now I'm getting up. I'm getting up, now I'm getting up, now I'm getting up, now I'm getting up, now I'm getting up, now I'm getting up, now I'm getting up. I believe in Jesus' name. Come on, I believe he died to save. On the cross he cleared my name. Isn't that amazing grace? I believe on the third day that he walked right out the grave. Pull of life with him, I'm raised. Isn't that amazing? Come on, live just shout today, church. There was no way until you made one, yes. Oh, grace upon grace, hallelujah, even though I don't deserve it. He did it, thank you Lord, and even though I couldn't earn it, you gave it. Come on, every voice, sing it out, sing who am I? Daddy, you keep me on your mind, God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. # You've been right here by my side # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # God, I'm just grateful for you, yes # # Holy, holy # # But there's only one # # And I give you glory # # For all that you've done # # And even though I don't deserve it # # You did it, yes you did # # And even though I couldn't earn it # # You gave it # # Who am I? #

# That you keep me on your mind # # God, I'm just grateful for you, yes # # And all my life # # You've been right here by my side # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # God, I'm just grateful for you, come on # # See who am I? # # That you keep me on your mind # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # God, I'm just grateful for you, yes # # And all my life # # You've been right here by my side # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # Oh, God, I'm just grateful for you, yes # # Oh, we're so grateful for you, Lord # # 'Cause you've been so good, come on, let's sing # # Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah # # Oh, I'm lifting both of my hands # # Why? # # 'Cause you gave me chance # # Yes, come on, sing it out # # And ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah # # Oh, I'm giving all that I am # # 'Cause you gave me chance after chance # # After chance # # Oh, I'm lifting both of my hands # # 'Cause you gave me chance after chance # # After chance # # Stand by # # Oh, I'm giving all that I am #

# 'Cause you gave me chance after chance # # After chance and who am I? # # That you keep me on your mind # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # Oh, God, I'm just grateful for you # # And all my life # # You've been right here by my side # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # Yes, God, I'm just grateful for you # # Oh, who am I? # # That you keep me on your mind # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # Oh, thank you, Jesus, grateful for you # # Thank you, Jesus # # Oh, my life # # You've been right here by my side # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # Oh, God, I'm just grateful for you # # Yes, I survived and I survived # # And I'm here to testify # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # And I'm all right # # If they say I'm out of my mind # # God, I'm just grateful for you # # Oh, God, I'm just grateful for you # Come on, lift your praise, church. Amen. And as the Lord been good, amen. If this is the day that the Lord has made,

today we're going to rejoice and be glad in it. I'm so thankful that you're here today. I want to welcome you, and especially if you're new here today. I want to say welcome. I don't believe you're here by accident, but I believe that the Lord woke you up and brought you here this morning so that He may have an encounter with you. That you may know who He is, amen. And then if you're new, if you could scan the QR code on the screen or text the word "guest" to the number, or you could just tap the tag on the seat back in front of you. We want to let you know who we are as a church and we want to get to know you. One of those things about us is we're a church that believes in the power of prayer. Last Saturday we had or not. But we had this moment and it was the moment that I was looking forward to the most. Where we practiced what James 5 says. This is if you have a need, if you're sick, if you're hurting, come and ask the elders of the church to pray over you, anointing your head with oil in the name of Jesus. It goes on to say that a prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. And so we spent 30 minutes that night just praying over people.

Praying over the needs, praying over the hurting and the broken and the sick. We'll never know the impact that that moment had, that that night had until we get to eternity with Jesus. But we're a church again that believes in the power of prayer. We pray in faith believing that God can do what he wants. Amen. Amen. So as we continue to worship today, our prayer workers are gonna come up. They're gonna lie in this stage. If you have a need today, you wanna be prayed over. You have something that you want us to agree and prayer with. I encourage you to come forward as we are believing in praying in faith that God can do what he wants to do. Amen. Amen. Let's continue to worship church. ♪ You thought I'd find you at the lowest place ♪ ♪ Who thought you'd feel me in the crowd ♪ ♪ Who knew you'd make good with my mistakes ♪ ♪ You're nothing like I thought you were ♪ ♪ You're better, what a God, what a good ♪ ♪ What a God, what a good ♪ ♪ What a God, what a good ♪ ♪ Know it to you all, what a God, what a good ♪ ♪ I thought you'd show up for perfection ♪ ♪ 'Cause what kind of God looks for the lost ♪ ♪ They say it's over for a sinner ♪ ♪ No, but you say ♪ ♪ No, it's not, no, it's not ♪ ♪ You say, no, it's not, no, it's not ♪

♪ What a God, what a God ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God ♪ ♪ Oh, what a God, what a God ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God ♪ ♪ Know it to you all, what a God ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God ♪ ♪ Know it to you all, what a God ♪ ♪ Oh, what a God, what a God ♪ ♪ Know it to you all, what a God ♪ ♪ I can't help but praise you ♪ ♪ I can't help but praise you ♪ Come on, everybody, sing it the highest. ♪ If the highest place I reach is at your feet ♪ ♪ Then I've done it all ♪ ♪ And if the best thing that I've seen is your glory ♪ ♪ Then I've seen it all ♪ ♪ 'Cause your love has saved my life ♪ ♪ Forever satisfied God ♪ ♪ You are my ♪ ♪ Come on with hands lifted all across this room ♪ ♪ Let's sing ♪ ♪ If the highest place I reach is at your feet ♪ ♪ Yes, then I've done it all ♪ ♪ And if the best thing that I've seen is your glory ♪ ♪ Well, then I've seen it all ♪ ♪ 'Cause your love has saved my life ♪ ♪ I'm forever satisfied God ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ And if one word is the only thing you ♪ ♪ Then I've heard it all ♪

♪ And if I feel your heart and never see you ♪ ♪ Yes, I still have it all ♪ ♪ 'Cause no treasure of this life ♪ ♪ Could ever satisfy God ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything as you are ♪ ♪ Oh, you are ♪ ♪ Oh, what a God, what a God ♪ ♪ Oh, you're so faithful ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God ♪ ♪ I'll do you, what a God, what a God ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you Lord ♪ ♪ If the highest with the highest place ♪ ♪ I'll reach His out of your feet ♪ ♪ Oh, and I'm done it all ♪ ♪ And if the best thing that I've seen ♪ ♪ Is your glory ♪ ♪ Oh, and then I've seen it all ♪ ♪ 'Cause your love has saved my life ♪ ♪ From forever satisfied ♪ ♪ God, you are ♪ ♪ I am ♪ ♪ And the forward word is thee ♪ ♪ And the forward is the only thing you speak ♪ ♪ And then I've heard it all ♪ ♪ And if I feel your heart and never see you ♪ ♪ Oh, I still have it all ♪ ♪ 'Cause no treasure of His life ♪ ♪ Could every satisfy God ♪ ♪ You are my head ♪

♪ Oh, sing, you are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my head ♪ ♪ Sing it the highest place I reach ♪ ♪ Come on church, sing it out ♪ ♪ Then I've done it all ♪ ♪ And if the best thing that I've seen ♪ ♪ Then I've seen it all ♪ ♪ 'Cause your love has saved my life ♪ ♪ Yes, forever satisfied ♪ ♪ God, you are my ♪ ♪ If one word ♪ ♪ And if one word is thee only thing you speak ♪ ♪ And if I feel your heart, thank you Lord Jesus ♪ ♪ There's no treasure of this life ♪ ♪ It could ever satisfy God ♪ ♪ You are my ♪ ♪ Come on cry out today, sing you are ♪ ♪ Oh, you are my everything ♪ ♪ Yes, you are my ♪ ♪ Take this world, forgive me Jesus ♪ ♪ You are my ♪ One more time, you are my everything ♪ - Amen. Question for us today is, is he or everything? What stands in the middle between us and the Lord and going all in? Question that I would just lay up on our hearts this morning is what? What right now in this moment do you need to surrender?

To just say, Lord, I'm laying everything down. I'm gonna make you everything in my life. For me, this week it's been distractions. Honest confession. Told some guys I needed to just block social media for a while and then I picked it right back up yesterday. Just to check one thing. Full surrender is literally full surrender. Like partial disobedience is full disobedience to the Lord. So what is it today on our hearts so we could just say, Lord, it's all yours. The old hymn I surrender all. Let that be a question in our hearts this morning as we go about the rest of our worship service. I'm Pastor Josh, family life pastor. I'm thrilled that you guys are here. You can stand up with me the whole time you'd like or you can be seated if you want. Just blessed to have you guys here this morning. Welcome all of our friends on the Pando app online. Make them feel welcome, if you will. Man, God is good. Seen some incredible stuff happen from that the last few weeks. Can I tell you something just from my family life pastor point of view, my hope and my prayer for you guys and our staff hope and prayers that you don't just walk in, fill up and then leave and do nothing with it, but that you start to live a life on purpose, right?

So we have starting point coming up today in third service if you're trying to figure out like man, what Tyke said about plugging in new here. Next steps starting point is an awesome place to just learn about the DNA of CPC and learn. We'd love to have you partner with us in that Here's my challenge to you don't walk in there and just go alright Pastor Josh said I should do that So I'm gonna check the box, but walk in there and go What is a life-on-purpose look like for me if I go to starting point if you can't make this week You saw on the screen the next one is November 8th Man got his good. He's got some awesome opportunities for us We can't go to places We feel like the Lord is leading without the help of all of us jumping on board, right? And so we've worshiped through song Pastor Chris is gonna come out and we're gonna worship through the word We like to worship through our giving around here as well and they're gonna throw the slide up in a second But I want to tell you The Lord has been working on my heart lately just to love on marriages And to try to strengthen the home and as the family life pastor this whole last week. I just spent time in prayer Pouring to the Lord just pouring out my heart is that Lord? What would it look like if we just? helped Rescue homes or the ones that are strong. How do we make them stronger? How do we take the strong ones and let them pour into the ones that need the love and the support? How do we support the single mom or the single dad? So these things are heavy on my heart. I just I'm just gonna tease it I'm not gonna tell you anything else other than this something awesome is coming and If you want to strengthen your home I'm gonna partner with you and the church is gonna partner with you and that's all I'm gonna say You just start praying about it. Somebody stop me in the lobby like hey Tell me a little bit more and I was like I'll give you this much more That's it

But will you join me in prayer to strengthen the home? Will that be something that we can do the only way that we're able to do that is through our giving though? So we have There we go. It takes the word give to the number on the screen. You can go online The website you can use the drop boxes in the back or you can snail mail You're giving if that's the the way that you'd like to give can I just challenge you? to look deep Into your giving and say what it looked like if I gave back to the Lord and I actually did take the vision and the mission that we have here at CBC It's a heart and just went man. I just want to run hard after people I want to see people come to know him personally. I want to see them get connected and living a life on purpose We're just grateful that you're here. I'm excited about Pastor Chris's message to you here coming up Who's ready for a good word? 17 people hey, hey, there we go more love it Hey, we're blessed that you're here this morning. Can I go to the Lord in prayer with you guys father guy? We just love you. We just thank you for the opportunity to just come Lord Lord has been a week for me, it's been a heavy week just Trying to lift the arms of people that need the arms lifted and just trying to Strengthen weaken knees Lord as we just cry out to you for families and for Illnesses and all the things the Lord right now. I just come before you. I just ask that you would just help us help us Make you the center of everything that we do Lord help us to seek your face Lord and not just your hand but your face Lord may we be more like Mary Instead of your feet then like Martha just doing help us to just be beers and doers of the word and to hear it as well Lord help us to Take the message today Walk it out this week as we go Lord take this giving that we bring to you and multiply it beyond our belief as we try to reach Southeast Missouri and All over the world. Lord. We thank you for the pando app and the reach that it's had to be able to reach people in prisons all across the US Lord what an amazing thing to just walk in obedience to you Lord may the obedience like that Become so evident in all of the other things that we do in the future. We love you We trust you we ask that you would cleanse our hearts and today help us to rid

Distractions and tune into you We ask all these things in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well good morning If you're excited about Jesus, and you know what a God you serve Can we give him seven seconds of our best praise this morning? Come on. He deserves it. Amen He is worthy God we're just grateful for you. Amen. Hey fistbump two people right now and tell them I'm grateful for you, too Glad you came out and joined us here this morning at CPC as we're grateful for our online campus and those watching on the pando app Let's put our hands together for them right now and those in overflow Love you guys this morning. Thank you for being part of it. Hey, if you're watching online, you can download our message notes right now take notes with. We're going to dive into a message just more than I believe we all need. I don't care who you are, where you're at in life right now, we all need this. In fact, in fact, there's some of you that as we're going through this message today, you just need to take notes, stick it in your Bible, keep it there. You'll come back to it later. And when you need it, you need to be able to bring it up and you need to remind yourself what Peter had to say to us from the Word of God. This is a message we all need from time to time. If you're new with us today, thanks for being here. I'd love a chance to meet you. I'm going to be right outside these doors in between services. Come by and say hello. And here's what we're doing. We're reading through the New Testament in the book of Psalms this year in our church. We got a reading plan. You can pick one up at the next step station or online. You can download it. It's real easy. One chapter a day, five days a week. And then I'm preaching from somewhere in that. The cool thing about our church right now is we have some incredible students of the Word of God. These people in this church, if you're new here, I want to brag on our people, they're reading a book a week right now. Last week, they read the book of James, five chapters. This week, they read first Peter, five chapters. Next week, they're going to read second Peter. So we have like readers, like champions in our church right now. Amen. So, so we're excited. We want you to come and join us today. I'm going to preach to you about the big theme of first Peter. And as I said, this is a message that I think everybody needs to lean into, include me, right? In-house and online. Let's pray Father in Jesus' name. Thank you for this morning. Thank you for allowing us to come and worship you. Worship you through song, worshiping through our giving, worshiping through serving. God, we want to worship through your word now. We need this word. And I pray that God here this morning, you give us ears to hear

what you want to say to us. Let our eyes behold wonders, truths from your words, that our minds comprehend it and our hearts receive it. And God, we pray that we look more like you in the end than we do ourselves. We need that transformation, that redemption. God, our world is reeling in darkness and it needs men and women, boys and girls who are serious about their faith to be transformed into your image because our world will be a lot better off if we all acted a little more like Jesus. So God, help us. Have a mind of truth today from your word. Let us leave with voices of hope. Let us have hearts of compassion for those around us. Let us live out with hands of service as we walk out with feet of purpose, the purposes and plans you have for our lives. It is our prayer in the mighty name of Jesus. All God's people help me. Amen. Amen. Well, I got a question for you this morning. I need honesty. Will you be honest with the pastor this morning? Come on. Nobody wants to say anything to you. I got one. I got one. I got one there. All right. We're going to be honest. How many of you, I'm going to use my Bibles as a, because I didn't bring another book out here. How many have ever been a bookstore? Somebody said, hey, you need to read this book and you go to the bookstore and you grab the book and you're looking at the book and you're questioning your head. Do I really want to spend the time to read this big, long book? How many of you have ever done this? I just wonder, I just wonder, how many of you, how many have ever instead turned into the front and read and how many chapters are in it and what they are. Do they grab your teeth? How many have you turned to the back? Read the last few pages, maybe the last page itself and then decided if you wanted to start at the beginning and read the rest of the book. Anybody else on that? Or is that just me? Oh, y'all are lying. Y'all just want me to look guilty. Well, I've done it hundreds of times over my life. Now, my kids, no, no, no, no. Sicker the book, the better. They love to read. They just want to read anything. Read, read, read, read. Me, let me read the last page. I'll tell you if I read the rest or not, right? It's how it is. It's almost like a sermon, right? I mean, if you get fast forward to the end of this sermon, you would say if you wanted to listen to the rest, but we're not going to tell you the end from the beginning. So you got to listen to it all. Amen. But the cool thing about 1 Peter is today, I want you to know that you can go to the end of 1 Peter and one of the last verses of the book actually tells you the entire reason for the letter. The whole book can be summed up in this little passage here and it's what I want us to see. 1 Peter 5, 12, Peter's dictating this message. He's speaking it. Sylvanas is most likely his helper who's actually pinning it down on parchment

through Sylvanas. A faithful brother, I can, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly in order to, everybody shout the next words, encourage you, watch this, watch this, and to testify that this is the next two words, true grace of God. And then he gives a charge at the end of it. Let's all say the charge together. Stand firm in it. Now what you need to know is if you and if you you're interested in getting to a here journal or launching one, they're called huddles. In our church, we actually have an orientation meeting getting ready to come up in November. But here's the deal. It's a simple Bible outline that our study pattern is ATAR, at least in those podcasts every week. This is what we're doing. We're highlighting a verse. Then we want to ee, explain it in context. So you can apply the truth and then you can respond appropriately. You've got to know the context. In the context of why Peter writes this, it's probably just before 80-64. We don't believe it's after that. We believe second Peter's right in the middle of 80-64, maybe 80-65, because something happens in 80-64. This is where Nero launches an all-out on slaughter against Christians and that hasn't happened yet, but tensions rise in when you're in first Peter. Here's the other thing you need to understand that Peter is writing to. Who's he writing to? He's writing to Gentiles who have come to faith in Christ who live in Asia Minor modern day Turkey. And so these aren't Jews. Primarily these are Gentiles. They're living in a country that is oppressing them because they have converted to a Jewish Messiah and they're not Jews. On top of that, you have the Jews who live in Asia Minor who do not receive Jesus as their Messiah. And now they're persecuting these Gentiles, these Turkish men and women, boys and girls who have come to faith in Jesus. Then you add on top of that, the political scene is heating up against Christianity very, very fast from Rome. And so you've got these believers who have nowhere to go and they're suffering. Last week, we talked about suffering. Sometimes comes from spiritual warfare or trials and tribulations. When you come to Peter, you've got to deal with suffering again. But this time, lean in close, lean in close, lean in close. This is why all of us need this from time to time. This is when suffering comes to you at the hands of others. This is when spiritual warfare or trials come to you and there is a human person on the other end that is bringing about the oppression or the pressure. These early believers are being pressured and they're being pressured by the political scene. They're being pressured by their community, their own culture, and even those outside their culture. And they are struggling. And Peter says,

I reason I'm writing this to you brothers and sisters is this. I want to encourage you. Somebody shout amen to that. We need to come to church and be together and get a little encouragement in the struggle, right? And I want to testify. What I want to testify. And when you read the book, here's what you find. He keeps going back to this one key doctrine, the true grace of God. The true grace of God. And then he gives the charge and we've already read it out loud, but I won't make sure in-house and online, in prisons across America, we get a hold of this. This whole book is about standing firm in the grace of God. I came across this little paragraph from Chuck Swindall. I thought it was very powerful, very relevant. He's a pastor and an author, been used by the Lord for more than half a century. And he said this. He said, unjust or unforeseen suffering is one of the great problems that grips the heart of people today. How many agree with Brother Chuck? Amen. He said, "We struggle with frustration, anger, and uncertainty when trials strange and unexpected land on our doorsteps. Too often, as is in the most difficult moments of our lives, watch this. Confusion reigns while contentment wanes." Questions arise while prayer subsides. And then he asked the question that Peter is answering for us today, "How do you react when suffering comes?" When you read this book this week, here's what my prayer is, that the Holy Spirit helps you understand and brings it all together, that the whole message of the book is that when you're in suffering, whether you're there now or that's a come and you'll have to drag this outline out of your Bible somewhere in the future and remind yourself, here is the challenge. Stand firm in the true grace of God when you find yourself in difficult times. Because here's the truth about the grace of God that we're learning from Peter. The grace of God will not keep you from the fiery trials of suffering but it gives you a good place to stand when you're in the middle of it. And so there are three ways to stand in the grace of God that I want us to see today, out of the Word of God. Here's the first one, write it down. We should stand on the living hope. We should stand on living hope. And here Peter is going to give us a Pretty in depth. who are persecuted and it just amazes me how he writes it. In fact, in fact, when I read it and I'm like, "Peter, how in the world could you write like that?" I think he probably was bad to costal in this moment. Now, I know some of you don't have a clue what that term is. Me and Peter, we got it down. All right, we just know. I believe he's paced. And remember he's dictating while Sylvanas is writing it. And I believe in this moment because when

you read it and when you read it in a moment, you're going to see. It's like this dialogue that he's having about the incredible grace of God. And this is how he opens to people who are suffering. And it just doesn't read like what you would normally think of somebody trying to encourage somebody who's suffering. I mean, it's just like praising Jesus and looking at heaven. Look at how he starts this letter. He says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Stop right there. If you're writing a letter to encourage somebody who's struggling, who's suffering, do you think you would start the letter by saying let's have a worship service for Jesus? Blessed God. No, no, no. Most likely you would if you're from where I'm from, if you're from the south, you would say it like this. Bless your little heart. How many know what it means when somebody from the south says bless your little heart, by the way. I promise you after this illustration, you'll never see it the same. I went into a coffee shop to have coffee with a guy this week. This first time I'd ever been in that particular coffee shop. And I'm just kind of looking around and I noticed they've got some mugs for sale in the back wall and I go over and look at the whole and the mugs say bless your heart. I just start chuckling. I said to the baristas there in the coffee shop, I said, do you all know what this means if you're from where I'm from? And they all kind of chucked it a little bit like, yeah, we do it. Minsurians don't rise. See, if you're from the south, when somebody says bless your heart, what that means is poor pitiful soul. You've poor pitiful. So right. I would probably started my letter to encourage some people saying bless your heart. Bless your heart. I'm with you because we've been there right? No, no, no, no. That's not how Peter starts it. Look how Peter starts it. Peter starts out. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Come on. Because of his great mercy. He has given us new birth into a living hope. And he says, and listen, listen, listen, this is where your hope comes from. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And then he just keeps going on. It's an inheritance and it's imperishable and it's undefiled and it's unfading and say the next couple of words when you're ready, it's kept in heaven for you. It's kept for you in heaven. And you are being guarded by the God's power through faith. And listen, let's just stop there for a moment because this is just part of it. He's not even through with the opening yet, but just stop for a moment and look at what he's saying to these believers who are struggling and I pray you let us sink

in for you. He's saying that when you get your eyes off of what you're going through right now and just remind yourself of who you belong to. If you are in Christ Jesus, you have a living hope that the world did not give you. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. And no matter what you're going through right now, cannot take it away. There is a hope that is alive. There is hope. You may not feel like anything's alive right now. You may feel like death warmed over, but I'm telling you, Peter says in this moment where you slow down, listen to me in this room and online, and you remind yourself that there is a living hope and it's been given to you through the resurrection of Jesus. Your hope is not found in what you're going through or who you're surrounded with. Your hope is in an empty grave. And sometimes you've got to stop and remind yourself that Jesus came up out of that grave and if He came out of that grave, you're going to get through whatever you are facing today. And it is an inheritance. It is imperishable the world. It can't decay and watch this, watch this, watch this. God is guarding it for you. And you've got to sometimes remind yourself that God is guarding your real inheritance and He's guarding you for that inheritance. And Peter says, I need you to remember this moment. I know you're struggling. I know you're hurting, but you're also heirs of a promise, of a hope that's given to you through the resurrection of Jesus. And listen to me, hell can't defeat what He couldn't hold in a grave. Amen? But then He doesn't stop there. He continues on. Look at this. He says for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. And now He is tying this to not only do you have a living hope that's reserved for you in heaven, but one day this living hope is going to show up when the sky splits and Jesus comes back. How many of you still believe that Jesus will come back someday? Do you believe that? I believe it. We believe in the physical return of Jesus Christ. And no, it switches. Remember, he's writing to people suffering. And then he says, you rejoice in this. You know someone is in the crowd going, rejoice? Do you know how bad I'm hurting right now? Peter's like, yeah, I do. God does too.

And he actually acknowledges it in the next line, even though now for a short time. If necessary, you suffer grief in various trials. So that, and I love when God puts a so that in there. You're proving character of your faith, more valuable than gold, which through those perishable is refined by fire. And in this moment, what Peter does is he calls us back to remember something, ladies and gentlemen. Then whenever you're going through a difficult season, it feels like it will never end. Amen, it feels like I'll never, I'll never smile again. I'm never going to laugh again. I'm never going to be happy again. I'm never going to feel peace again. I'm never going to be able to move on from this. The devil is a liar. And Peter, through the word of God, the power of the Holy Spirit says in that moment, you can still find a rejoicing that you have a promise in heaven guarded by God himself. It is sealed for you through the resurrection of Jesus. One day it will come to pass, even if for now for a short time, you suffer. But even in the midst of this suffering, God is going to make something good come from it. If nothing else, your character is going to be refined as through fire. Years ago, about 30 years ago, I got thinking about this.

It means it's been a long time ago. It's about 30, I'm getting old. About 30 years ago, I was a Bob Vocational Pastor and I was working in an aluminum industry. And I worked over a furnace. I had a furnace of melted aluminum. And I still, it's crazy how stuff gets embedded in your mind. I can still tell you what the temperature was of the metal that I had to keep that aluminum. It was 1,490 degrees. I know that because it splashed out only many times and burnt me in places. I wear the scars. And I know that it's 1,490 degrees. And here's the crazy thing. The hotter you get the metal, watch this, watch this, watch this. The heat doesn't destroy the pure metal. It purifies it. The impurities rise to the top. And what one of my jobs was is I would have to, on a frequent basis, come in with a skimmer and I'd have to skim off all this black crusty mass that was floating to the top of this metal. The hotter we got, the more impurities flowed to the top. But after we skimmed it, I could see my reflection in the metal. You may not realize this right now because it's hurting. Maybe you're going through a time of suffering or one day you will be. But here's what I need you to remember in that moment. You may not see how anything good's gonna come out of this,

but God sees more in you than you see in yourself. And sometimes it's the hottest part of the trial. It doesn't destroy your faith. It'll purify your faith. And maybe, yes, maybe he'll reveal some things to you that were blind spots. Maybe he'll reveal some things to you. You've got to confess and repent. That is not because he doesn't love you. It's because he does. And it's in the heat of that moment. He's helping purify you and raise you up so that you can become the man or the woman that he has called you to be. Because watch this. He has ultimate goal in your life and in mine, even through the trials that Satan tries to destroy you. God's gonna make something good come out of it is to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 'Cause here's the true heart. If you're a believer in Jesus, though you have not seen him, you love him. Anybody in the room and online say amen to that? You haven't seen him, but yet you love him. Yet you haven't seen him now, yet you believe in him. Anybody in this room believe in the Lord Jesus is real as if he was sitting beside you right now, amen? And one day you will rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy because you're receiving the goal of your faith,

the salvation of your soul. Here's what I need you to get to hope. Here's what Peter wants you to know. The reason we can stand on living hope is because what grace gives you is a hope that the world can't take away. Your suffering can't take this grace away, this hope. The grace of God gives you a hope that nothing can take away. But then there's the next piece of it. Not only do you stand in that hope, but especially when you're suffering and maybe that suffering comes from someone on the other side of this situation and your heart is heavy and broken, like it was for these believers. Peter then says there's a second way to stand in grace. The second is you stand down from getting even. This one's gonna hit home. 'Cause this is not what the world teaches us. This is gonna be opposite of what our culture says to you. But this is the gospel. This is how our lives are transformed. Is we learn not only to stand on living hope in the midst of suffering, we also learn how to stand down and not try to get even. Notice what Peter says in chapter two. Remember what these believers are going through, the struggle for what credit is there

if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it. How many know you just got what you were old? Look at the next line. But when you do what is, next word, good and suffer, suffer if you endure it. Read the rest of the verse with me in-house online where you go. This brings favor with God. How many of you in this room and online want the favor of God over your life? See, see, here's the thing. You gotta decide who gets to fight your battle. You can fight it and hope a good thing happens and you don't mess it up even worse or blow it. Or you can endure it and trust God with it and let the favor of God rest on your life. This word favor, by the way, in the Greek is chorist. It's the same word for grace. When you endure it, even when you're innocent, when you endure it, when you are suffering at the hands of someone else, there is, watch this, watch this. There is a grace that God can put over your life. Now, we're gonna get into something very practical in a minute and I'll answer a question I know is running through your brain. So don't run ahead of me. Look at verse 21, "For you were called to this." Watch this, watch this, watch this, you ready for this? Because Christ also suffered for you. Read the next line in-house online, ready to go. Leaving you an example that you should follow

in His steps. Now, we all say that those of us who claim Christ, we're saying that we surrender to the lordship of Christ and we wanna follow Him, amen? And it's good, it's not, man, we come to church, we get our sins forgiven, we feel good, we are baptized, we join the church. We're like, "Wow, look, I'm living for God, this is great." And it is great, it is, it's wonderful. But following Jesus is more than just simply not going to hell when you die. If that's all Jesus means to you, I doubt you've ever truly been saved. If he's just to get out of hell, free card. Following Jesus is following His lordship and letting Him be king and supreme. And it means you are followers of His ways and His ways are great when you're happy, when it looks good, when there's favor, when people are happy with you. But listen, following His way also is following His way through suffering. And the way Jesus reacts to suffering is different than the way your culture tells you to react. Our culture says, when you're under pressure, you respond with panic or a punch. I want you to see how Jesus responded. Peter talks about it. He witnessed it firsthand at the crucifixion. It says, "He did not commit sin."

Talking about Jesus when he was betrayed by Judas. Judas, rather, he was betrayed by the Jews. He was crucified by the Romans. He did not commit sin. No deceit was found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he did not insult in return. In today's terms, that would be voice, text, print, video, social, how many people we just keep going on, right? He didn't insult in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten. What did Jesus do? In house online, in prisons across America, let's read it together, ready to go? But entrusted Himself to the one who judges justly, lean and close. 'Cause here's where we gotta get real about where your faith lies today. Are you ready? This, when you're suffering, and you want to, with all your heart, to seek vengeance, to go after and retaliate. And yet Jesus didn't do it that way. Instead, on the cross, He's saying, "Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing." Lean and close. It forces you to rescue, Is God just? Are we really all going to stand one day before His throne and give an account? Do you believe what the book of Hebrews says when it says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God?

I promise you, if you truly knew what that verse meant, you'd pray for your worst enemies to find Jesus and get saved before it's too late. I believe what the biggest struggle for us is on standing down so that we can stand on grace is for most of us, listen, I'm tempted with it at times two, is that we're like, well, what if I don't see God punish them for what they did? Some people even challenged me about Christianity at times by bringing up Hitler. When will Hitler get his due? What if he asked God to forgive him right before he committed suicide? What happened there? Listen, what do you believe about God? I promise you, we all will stand. And the only hope any of us have of spending eternity in heaven is through the grace of Jesus. But don't even think for a second there isn't a reason Revelation says even before we walk through those pearly gates, he's going to wipe away the tears from our eyes. I don't know what all that's going to feel like or look like, but I believe it's real because I read it in the Bible. Are you with me, ladies and gentlemen? We struggle with this and it makes you have to answer the question, do you believe God judges? Justly? Do you believe God's going to judge the ones who mistreated you and hurt you? Listen, here are three things that come to my mind. These aren't on your message notes, you can write them down if you want to. I'm going to give them to three practical ways to stand down to trust God to do what only God can do. Number one, give it to the Father like Jesus did at the cross. Give it to the Father. Trust Him. Listen, in trusting God with it is not ignoring it. It's not saying it's over.

It's handing it over to the one who can do with it what you can't anyway. Number two, remember that vengeance belongs to the Lord. Vengeance and justice are not the same thing. You can seek justice. Vengeance is different. Vengeance comes from a root of bitterness that's defiled in your soul. The reason Romans 12 says vengeance belongs to the Lord, let him repay is God's the only one who can do it without sin. God's the only one who can do it without a root of bitterness. Here's the thing, listen, listen, listen, listen. God wants us to give vengeance to Him because He's protecting you. He's protecting your heart because if you don't give that, whatever it is, it's hurt you. Whatever that wound, if you don't give it over to the Lord, it will grow inside your soul and poison you from the inside. And God is trying to pluck it out. Some of you today have got things in your life that you've never told a soul that you need to at least tell God and get it down at His feet so He can start the healing process because He loves you. There is healing found and no one else, He is the great physician of the soul. Number three, it's this, Jesus is the model and the way to protect our hearts. Jesus told us to do something in the terminal amount that absolutely causes me to scratch the back of my head some days. I bet it does yours too. In Matthew chapter five, I believe it's around verse 44 and 45, Jesus says pray for your enemies. Pray for those who despitefully use you. How many know that is easier said than done, amen? Why would God have you to pray for someone who's hurt you? It's because that's the only way you can truly give it over to the Lord and not let bitterness grow inside you. You've got to come to a point where you can actually answer this question.

Can I pray for that person? Now look at me, look at me, look at me because I know this is what some of you are thinking, some of you are thinking, but I can't forget and I can't trust them ever again, dah, dah, dah, dah. Yeah, vengeance and justice aren't the same. You will never forget, forgiveness and forgetting aren't the same thing. The fact you can't remember will give you wisdom. It will also keep you run into the Father to lay and put his arms around you and bring you comfort, but it will also keep you from getting bitter. You can't forget, but there is a way of finding forgiveness. This isn't saying it didn't happen, forgiveness is saying I don't hold you accountable. And you give it over to the Lord. See, here's a lie that many of us believe. Unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness lies to you. It speaks in your ears. It gets in your brain and it says, "If you'll hang on to me, if you'll hang on to unforgiveness and bitterness and resentment, I'll protect you from ever getting hurt again." And it's a lie. It actually keeps you chained to the one who hurts you. It makes you relive it over and over again, and it just keeps the chain. And you have to ask the question, "Can I give it over to God to find the healing that I need?" I want to tell you about this lady. Her name is Corey Tenboon. Some of you have never heard about her, never read about her, never was taught about what she lived through,

the holocaust and that frustrates me because when you don't learn from history, we're doomed to repeat it. And right now, there's such a rise in this idea of socialism, even in our own nation, that we're only seeing one side of it. And you're not, if you're not being taught, the other side of what happens when a dictator takes God off the throne of humanity and puts humans on the throne of humanity that we're all like good when we're not and that we can run our own universe. Let me tell you what happens. The human heart is deceitful and wicked above all things the Bible says. And we can do horrendous atrocities to other people. Many of you never even learned about the holocaust and that burns me and you need to understand what humans do when humans try to sit on the throne. Corey Tenboon and her family were watchmakers in Holland in the 1940s. Someone betrayed their family in 1944 because the Germans were rounding up the Jews and taking them off to these places. People didn't know where they were going, it was concentration camps. And her family began to hide Jews from the Germans and somebody snuck and towed on them. And the Germans came in and arrested Corey Tenboon and her whole family.

Within days in prison, her father dies. This is 1944. By December of 1944, Corey and her sister Betsy are at Ravenstruck concentration camp. And there in that concentration camp, her sister Betsy dies in December. The war is over about a year or so later and Corey is able to be released. And she spent the next few years housing those who were mistreated by the Nazis and going around wherever doors would open and she would preach the message of forgiveness in God. In 1947, she found herself in the basement of a church in Munich, Germany. She just got through preaching about the forgiveness of God when a heavy-set man and a gray overcoat sitting in the back of the room stood up and walked down the middle of the aisle straight at her. As soon as they got up and started walking to her and their eyes met, she recognized him. He was one of the guards at the concentration camp where her sister Betty Betsy died. In that moment, this guard walked up to her and stuck out his hand and said, "Great message, madam." As you said, I believe all our sins are at the bottom of the sea. I have become a Christian. I believe God has forgiven me. I need to ask you to forgive me. I need to hear you say it.

In that moment, the woman who just preached on forgiveness could not. She began to fondle in her purse. And while she did, she prayed this prayer, "Lord, help me. "I can lift my hand. "I can do that much, but you will have to provide the feeling." Corey Ten Boone then lifted her hand out of her purse. She rushed it out, took that man by the hand into her own astonishment. She heard with her own ears, her mouth say words. She never thought they'd say. And she said, "I forgive you, brother, "with all of my heart." Corey Ten Boone later would write this. I want you to listen to what she wrote down. She said, "Forgiveness is an act of the will, "and the will can function regardless "of the temperature of the heart." Sometimes you don't feel it. But by faith, you provide it. And then God brings the feeling. Here's what Corey Ten Boone learned that day. Grace frees you. When you stand down on grace, it actually frees you. Watch this for number three, to stand up with the right answer. See, sometimes we think if I stand down, You just gotta learn how to stand up and do it the right way. Stand up with the right answer.

In fact, that's what Peter says in chapter three. He says, "Who then will harm you if you're devoted to what is good. But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are," say the next word in the house. Come on, come on online, blast. Now you don't feel blessed in the moment, but here's what the word of God says. It's not about your feelings, it's about your position. You are blessed. And so he says this, read this next line in the house online. We'll be reading it, read it. Do not fear them or be intimidated. And here is the answer, you ready? But in your heart regard Christ the Lord as, say the word, how do you should you regard Christ? Holy, meaning you trust Him. He's gonna do what He can do and only He can do. You're gonna believe that He sees you in that moment and you are holy. And why is this so important? Do you remember the words of Jesus when He said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth shall, how do you stand up and answer correctly? Before you let your mouth run, you center your heart. And you stand on Christ. You declare Him to be holy. And then and only then are you ready at any time to give a defense. And this word defense here means a reasonable answer

to anyone who asks you for the reason of the, say the word. In the middle of suffering, you've got a platform. Yes, you've got a problem, but you also have a platform to declare that Christ the Lord is holy and you can give an answer for the hope that you have. Watch this. And yet you do this with gentleness, with reverence, with keeping a clear conscience so that when you're accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good if that should be God's will than for doing evil. How you answer matters. And in this moment, you're able to be a witness because you act more like Jesus in this moment than you do in your flesh and the way the culture tells you to respond. I really believe this. Our world will be a whole lot better off if we could all, and me too, learn to act and react a little more like Jesus and a lot less like the rest of the world. Amen? In the second century, Christians were suffering tremendously. Now the Roman onslaught against Christians is at an all-time high. Christians are being burned at stakes. They're being fed to lions before 50,000 cheering members

of the Roman society and the Colosseum. It's horrendous. And there was a letter written in defense of Christianity called the letter to "Diagnetius." And in that letter, here's the testimony about Christians in the second century who are being persecuted so terribly. Here's what they said about them. They love all men and they're persecuted by all. They are reviled and they bless. I don't know if you know this or not, but this, this right here, this, the way Christians lived under difficult times is what historians believe, help bring the Roman Empire crashing down because Christians just lived differently. The power of the gospel, changing lives and moving in a moment where we get to respond to our pain differently than everybody else. It has grace shapes how you respond. Here's why I'm preaching these messages and unshaken. I mean, God knew exactly how to write these books. Amen. I'm just going through the passages. I'm just showing you what's there. I didn't come up with this. This is the word of the Lord.

And here's what you need to remember. When your world is shaken, heaven isn't. And you and I can stand unshaken in the grace of God. Here's your big takeaway and remember that grace always finishes what it started. Here's the good news of the gospel. You ready for this? Grace, not your suffering has the final word. In fact, that's what Peter wants us to know. He says, "Dear friends, don't be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, say the next word, ready to go, rejoice. How are we going to rejoice right now? Rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ so that you may also rejoice with great joy. Read the line, read the line. When his glory is revealed. How many believe one day he is coming back? This guy is going to split open. And how many know that in that moment, all the suffering of the world will grow quickly dim in the moment of his presence. Amen. I mean, we're not going to think about any of this in heaven. Amen. It's going to be eternity in the presence of the Lord. And so Peter says, here should be our response. In fact, in this room right now, I'm going to ask everyone to stand

because I need you to say this with some gusto. Let's read Peter's admonition to us and let's put our hearts into it in this room online. You can join us. In fact, look at your neighbor right now and tell him, we're going to do this together. 'Cause this is what spiritual families do in your suffering. Whatever you're going through right now, we're in this thing together with Jesus. Here's the way we're going to respond. Ready? Read. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you at the proper time. Casting all your cares on him because he cares about you. And then he goes on and says, for the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen and support you. After you've suffered a little while, to him be dominion for ever and ever. Amen, amen, amen. You believe the word of the Lord, amen? He will strengthen you. He will establish you. He will put you back together. For yet, this word restore in the Greek is the same word. When Jesus called Peter and John, Peter and Andrew, James and John, to follow Jesus,

if you read that in the gospels, it said they were mending their nets. Peter uses this word because it's experienced for him. The word mending is the same word for restore. Here's what God will do. You may feel like you've been drug on the bottom of the sea. You may feel afraid, weakened, beaten. Jesus knows at the proper time if you'll trust him, how in grace to start putting it all back together. Amen, trust him. Father in Jesus' name, we do trust you. What a God we serve today. We love you so much. We give you praise. Thank you that we can trust you in these moments of life, and we just pray that right now you'll speak to your people. You'll encourage them. Some of them are struggling today. Maybe they need to come to the altar and pray with someone today. Just hand it over to you. Maybe they somehow online. These are prayer team online to pray with them right now. I don't know. God, there's some that this was just a message, but God, there's gonna come a day. They're gonna need to remember this. Remind them, Holy Spirit. Remind them of your grace, to stand on grace.

And Lord, stand firm in it. And then there are others in this room and online right now, Father, who need grace. They need to stand in grace and receive the gift of salvation. And I pray you would give them an open door to trust you right now for salvation. Strengthen my brothers and my sisters, help them give you their burdens. And for those who have yet to trust you, let them say yes today to the grace of God. Heads bowed. If you would like to pray and receive Christ today, my friend, would you pray with me? If you're ready to come out from the world and come into grace, would you pray with me? Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. I believe you love me. You died and you rose again to give me eternal life. Today, I call on your name. I ask you to forgive my sin and receive me and your gift of salvation. I put my trust in you alone. Now receive you now in Jesus' name. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]