Episode Description
Grow in Grace Through Suffering
October 26, 2025
2 Peter
3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
·
How
do we grow in grace through suffering? By humbling ourselves before God; By resisting the devil; By
trusting our Sovereign God; By standing firm with fellow believers
How
do we grow in grace through suffering?
1.
By
humbling ourselves before God
(vv. 6-7)
·
Memory
Verse 1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of
God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, having cast all your anxiety
on Him, because He cares about you.
·
Anxieties
– Greek word meaning to divide
·
There
are two things we doubt in a time of intense trial
·
God’s
sovereign control over circumstances – “where is God in all of this?”
·
We
doubt that God cares for us – “if God is in control & cares, then why is
this happening to me?”
·
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God.
2.
By
resisting the devil
(vv. 8-9)
·
During
times of trial, we are especially vulnerable to the enemy of our souls
·
Adversary
– opponent in a lawsuit
·
Devil
– slanderer – one who throws things against you
·
Revelation
12:10 - “accuser of our brothers and sisters”, “the one who accuses them before
our God day and night”
·
Verse
6 comes before verse 9 for good reason
·
We
must bow before God before we stand against the devil
3.
By
trusting our sovereign God
(vv. 10-11)
·
4
ways to develop your faith
·
Put
the trial in perspective
·
It
will only last “for a little while”
·
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our momentary, light
affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all
comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal.
·
Put
God in perspective
·
He
is “the God of all grace”
·
Put
God’s calling and purpose for you in perspective
·
He
“called you to His eternal glory in Christ”
·
Put
God’s purpose for trials in perspective
·
Perfect
- to equip, repair or render complete
·
Confirm
- to fix or set fast
·
Strengthen
– only time this Greek word is in the Bible
·
Establish
- to lay the foundation
4.
By
standing firm with other believers
(vv. 12-14)
·
We
don’t go through suffering alone
·
We
go through suffering with other believers
·
These
final verses are full of relationships
·
Silvanus
(Silas)
·
She
who is in Babylon
·
Mark
·
Finally,
Peter extends peace – shalom, well-being
·
We
are to stand firm together in God’s true grace – v.12
·
Jude 1:4 For certain people have crept in
unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation,
ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into indecent behavior and deny
our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
·
False
grace portrays the Christian life as a hang loose, go with the flow, don’t
worry about sin, be tolerant of everyone sort of thing
·
True
grace exhorts us to be holy, even as God is holy
How
do we grow in true grace through suffering? By humbling ourselves before
God; By resisting the devil; By trusting our Sovereign God; By standing firm
with fellow believers