Linda, she really, when I say sister, it really resonates with me because she looks, sounds, talks, and even stature-wise is exactly like my oldest sister. Like, it's weird almost. It's freaky. So, Linda, I when I call you sister, I mean it on two levels. But it's great. And Chris, is it your actual birthday today? Well, happy birthday to Chris. And be extra tender and kind to Chris. It is his birthday and he's stinging after yesterday's hockey game. So, just be kind to him.
That's good. I We're in this no man's land between our last sermon series, the Christmas through the Psalms, and the sermon series coming up starting on January 11th, through Thessalonians. And so we have this middle ground here, this sermon this week and the sermon next week where we don't have a series that we're in. And so a privilege as a pastor is to end the year with the saints in the word of God and then to begin a new year with the saints in the word of God.
And so what do we do in these in these kinds of weeks? And so I thought for this Sunday we would examine a verse that I trust I hope will encourage you, will lift up your countenance, especially if you have found yourself weary or discouraged or troubled, whether it be now or at any point this year. And then next week, the passage we're going to look at is actually the passage that Richard read for Linda from Ephesians 3. We're going to look at that passage next week to chart the course for what lay ahead.
But this week we're going to be in First Peter chapter 5. So if you have a Bible, you can turn there. Winston Churchill seemed so dafted as a youth that his father actually believed that he would be incapable of earning a living in England. GK Chesterton, the famous English writer, could not read until he was eight years old. And in fact, one of his teachers told him, quote, "If we could open your head, we should not find any brain but only a lump of white fat."
End quote. Thomas Edison's first teacher referred to him as someone who was adult. You can look up what that word means later. And his father convinced him that he was, to use his father's words, a dunce. Albert Einstein's parents feared that their child was altogether dull in mind. And in fact, he performed so badly in all of his high school courses with the exception of mathematics that is actually a teacher that encouraged him to drop out of high school.
Every one of these had trials, significant trials that lingered for quite a time through their childhood and even into their teen years. It was difficult. And yet of we know all those names because they would go on to accomplish great things. They persevered. Well, for you and I, for the believer this morning, we don't we know that we don't persevere on our own strength. We can't. But God enables us to persevere. And things may be difficult.
There may be trials for us in this moment now. But the Lord will enable his people to persevere and press on to glorify his name and to do good for his people. And so that's the passage we're going to look at today. In fact, the verse we're going to look at today, I trust will encourage you that the Lord will enable you to do exactly that. So, 1 Peter 5 specifically and verse 10. We're going to look at this verse primarily this morning. And here's what we read. Starting Yeah. Just just this verse.
Starting at the start of it. Starting at the start of it. Yeah. 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. Just reading that verse should give us a measure of encouragement. But we're dropping into the middle of a book. In fact, we're not even dropping into the middle of a book. We're dropping into the end of the book.
This is right basically at the tail end of first Peter. So you have if you're a regular at this church and you've been here for a long time, you've heard me say this and I'll say it again. The three most important words in Bible study are context, context, and then context. If we don't know the context, we're going to misapply and misunderstand various verses in the Bible. We need to understand the context. So we need to do a little bit of work in understanding what is going on in First Peter. What's the context leading up to this verse?
So, let's do a little bit of of spade work here. Peter is writing to a troubled group of Christians. If you go back to chapter 1 and verse one, we read this. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontis, Galatia, Capidoshia, Asia, and Bethnia. So they are exiles. These believers who are part of the dispersion that is they have been dispersed in large part because of the persecution that's come through Nero.
Now if you know anything about the emperor Nero, he was a tyrant. He was an evil man and specifically hunting down Christians. He lit them on fire literally in his backyard. This is Nero. And so they were fleeing for their lives. They have been dispersed to all these different regions, not in their home region, which is difficult for them. And they're called exiles. In fact, they're called that as well in chapter 2 in verse 11. There we read, "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles."
So they're not in their homeland. And it's difficult. If you read about the exile of the Jews in the Old Testament, how hard was it to not be in their homeland in the promised land? And for these folks here, they're driven out of their homes for fear of their very lives. They're being persecuted and they're being persecuted for righteousness sake. Right? So in chapter three in verse 14, we read this. But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed.
They are being persecuted for their faith. That is to say, they're living it out. You know, a Christian who says they're a Christian but doesn't live it out. They're not going to face a lot of persecution. Satan's not going to spend a whole lot of time on the person who's just with their lips says they're a Christian. Maybe they even prayed a prayer at some point, which you can't actually find in the Bible. And but I'm a Christian, but I don't I don't live like a Christian. They're not going to face any persecution. It's only the ones who are living as a believer that will face persecution.
And these folks are they're actually to be commended because they're facing persecution. They are living for righteousness sake. And because of that, they're being troubled. And it's difficult for them. It's hard for them. And their suffering in a lot of ways mirrors the suffering of Christ. Look at chapter 4. 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 sins so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.
So there is this sense of hey my lord suffered for me. What a privilege it is that I might suffer for him and for his sake and for righteousness's sake. So, it's an honor to suffer the way Jesus suffered. And so, they're suffering because of their bold stand for Christ in a time in a in a in a world that hated Christ, that wanted to snuff out the Christian witness. But simultaneously, there is a common suffering that they're also facing that everyone faces.
Some might not face the suffering that comes from persecution, but you're going to face suffering of other kinds. Look at chapter 1:es 6 and 7. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. But notice, there's a purpose to even these trials, so that the tested genuiness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
So these trials show whether your faith is genuine. Anyone can say they're a Christian when times are good. Anyone can look like they're a Christian when times are good. It's the trials that will show whether you're truly saved. And so even these difficulties reveal something about them. And so they're going through the trials that come from persecution and the daytoday various trials that we all experience. So, it's a hard time.
It's a hard life for these folks. And just like Paul, if you if you remember the passage that Dennis read to us earlier in in 2 Timothy 2:10, he says, "For the sake of the elect, I'll do whatever I can that they might obtain salvation, that they might understand their standing with Christ. Whatever is necessary, I'll do for them." Peter is the same way. I want these precious saints to be built up in their faith in the midst of hardship. And so what does he ch what does he do in first Peter to encourage them? Well, I'm so glad you asked that question.
In chapter one, he makes known to them a the blessing and the inheritance that is theirs both now and is being guarded for them for a future time, eternity. Look at verses 3 to 5 of chapter 1. 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.
So, you have this great blessing, this wonderful inheritance that's being that you have. You have it. You possess it right now and it's being guarded for eternity. That's good news. And notice he starts the whole letter off like that. Why? Because they're downtrodden. And so, he starts off by encouraging them. But not it doesn't end there. He encourages them in their identity. The identity that they have now and as I would contend is also being guarded for them too in chapter 2 verse9 but you are so s if you're a Christian here this is your if someone says who are you could actually just quote verse 9 here's who I am if you're a believer if you're not a believer you don't have this identity and quite frankly your identity is pretty pathetic but if you are a believer This is your identity.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. In fact, the very next verse says, "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."
These are all part and parcel of what makes up our identity as believers. And so he encourages them. You have this blessing. You have this inheritance. You have this newfound identity. And your persecution and your trials don't change anything about those things. Those things remain true. That's good news. And he goes on to say that godly conduct glorifies the Lord. Chapter 2 verse 12, look at what it says there. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they see, pardon me, when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Godly conduct glorifies the Lord. Precious saint. He's saying to them, you're struggling. You're in the midst of trial. It might feel like you you want to throw the towel in. You might want to give up, but don't press on. Live for righteousness sake. Even in the face of trial, do not cease to live godly. And in fact, from this point from 212 through the rest of chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, he shows them what godly living looks like. He gives practicalities to that. And then he tells them in chapter 5:es 6 to9 that humble resistance isn't futile.
Look what we read here in verse 6 and on of chapter 5. 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 sober minded. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
Lest they think that they're the only ones facing trial and hardship and suffering. No, every saint feels it. Same for us. Sometimes it could feel like my suffering is like no one else. The brothers and sisters around the world are facing suffering just like you are. Sometimes there might be different things, different nuances in our suffering. Sure. But every saint is going to have suffering and trial and hardship that sometimes God brings about to refine them to test the genuiness of their faith to make them more like Jesus.
And so that then leads us into this verse, verse 10, that he's basically concluding the letter with. And so what do we see here? After you have suffered a little while, there's that phrase. I mean, actually, if you were listening, we saw that little phrase a little while in chapter one. In chapter 1, it says in verse 6, "In this you rejoice though now for a little while if necessary." You are being grieved by various trials.
That little while can be decades. It can be the entirety of your life. And you might say, "Well, that's not a little while." Actually, it is. You know what eternity is? Eternity. Our finite minds can't grasp that. But eternity is exactly that. Forever without end.
If you have to suffer for 80 years, it is infantessimal in comparison to eternity. And so he says for a little while. Now their their suffering here is sometimes that little while can be referred to you know the the entirety of the whole of your life. Let me take you to 2 Corinthians chapter 3 or pardon me 2 Corinthians 4 pardon me. In 2 Corinthians 4 picking it up in verse 16 we read this.
We do not lose heart though our outer self is wasting away. Their inner self is being renewed day by day for this light momentary affliction. He's talking about the little while, the suffering that you experience for a little while that might be the whole of your life. This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look to the things that are pardon me, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are transient.
That is to say, here today, gone tomorrow. By tomorrow, it might be 80 years from now. But really, again, in the grand scheme of eternity, that's transient. But the things that are unseen, the things that we can't see right now, heaven, the presence of Jesus, those things are eternal. Here in in chapter 5:10, when it talks about a little while, it's likely referring to after you've walked through suffering for a season because of what he's going to the context of the verse helps us understand that that's probably what's being conveyed.
When you've gone through a time and a season and it might have been a long time and a long season of suffering, what? Well, the God of all grace is going to do something. The God of He is the God of all grace. There is an inexhaustible supply of grace that God has. Now, some might take umbrage with that and say, "Well, if he's the God of all grace, why do I have to suffer?" It's because you don't have a proper theology of suffering. Suffering is God's means of helping you grow, of making you more like him, of sanctifying you.
Remember what is the will of God? 1 Thessalonians 4:3, the will of God is your sanctification. That's his will. If you say, "God's will is only my justification." Well, you're going actually against the Bible. God's will is that you be justified and be sanctified. 1 Thessalonians 4:3. And so, he's he's going to sanctify you. And the greatest way that he does that is through suffering, through trial. I I would You've heard me say it before, I'll say it again.
I don't know how many people have been sanctified on the beaches of life, right? You're you you don't grow very much when things are easy. We grow when it's hard, when it's difficult. Is Zach here? Zack? Yeah. How do is it How is it that you grow as a bodybuilder or as as a weightlifter? Pardon me. Is it be by by lifting light things? No. You have to lift heavy things. You have to push yourself.
It's going to hurt. Does it not hurt? >> Hurt every day. And but that makes you stronger. Yeah. It's that's the process. We hurt every day. God brings hurt every day for our good. So he's the God of all grace even in the midst of our suffering. It's actually grace. So what? So he's the God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory in Christ. Isn't that a beautiful picture?
He called us to his eternal glory in Christ. If he called us, he is not going to leave us bereft of his aid. That's just not going to happen. He is going to walk with us. Remember Matthew 28:20, the last words of Jesus before he ascended to heaven. I will be with you to the very end of the age. And so this wonderful God who called us to his eternal glory in Christ, who understands that we're going through suffering in his grace, he's using it for a purpose. That's a wonderful thing.
It reminds me of this hymn we Richard read an old hymn earlier. I'm going to read another one for you, at least the chorus of it. If you're of a certain vintage, you'll know it. But it says this, "Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me on. Help me stand. I am tired. I am weak. I am worn through the storm, through the night. Lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord. Lead me home. That's what we need from him.
And this is what he promises actually in here. So, having understood that background, if you're a if you're a notetaker, you've seen four points in your bulletin. The four points are right there for you. I'm sure you can just fill them in now already. There are four verbs. And notice what leads into the four verbs that this God will himself do these things. These are not verbs for us to accomplish. These are verbs that God has promised to accomplish in us.
This is a This is So if if it's up to God, will they be will they come to pass? Absolutely. If it's up to me, will it come to pass? Maybe not. But God's the one who's going to bring it to pass. He will himself do these four things, four verbs. So this should fortify us in the midst of and through our suffering. What is it that he will do? First thing is restoration. He himself will restore you. Well, what does that mean? To restore.
Here the verb means to complete or to perfect. Some of your different translations may use those words depending which translation you have. That is to bring to this place of of wholeness. Some of the verses that that you could look at here, I'm going to take you to a couple of them that that help show the what's being conveyed. One of them is Philippians chapter 1. Well-known verse verse six it says this I am sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion there's that there's that tone there bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ we have the same thing for us in the book of James chapter 1 there we read this in verse four let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing.
God is going to bring the saint to a place of completion because he's the one who started the work. He's going to sanctify us. I I referenced 1 Thessalonians 4 earlier. He's going that's his the will and God will never not bring his will to pass. He the will of God, Job says, cannot be thwarted. He will bring it to pass. Is going to sanctify his people. He will bring them to the place of completion. He will restore.
This is a promise. This is what he will himself do. So, if you have felt like you're out in the woods a little bit lately and you're like, "God, where are you? Have you forgotten me?" You kind of get that sense often from the psalmists, don't you? From David and others. Have you forgotten me, Lord? It can feel like that. God never forgets his people. 400 years they were in Egypt under a tyrant in bondage.
I am sure that they felt forgotten. But we know in Exodus 2, God had never forgotten them. There was 400 years between the end of the Old Testament and when we read what we read in Matthew and it might have felt there too like God has forgotten us and we know what happens in Matthew 1. God does not forget his people. And in fact, he will do this ongoing work of bringing us to completion to making sure that we who though we are broken like jars of clay, we will be brought to this place of wondrous completion in him when he takes us home to be with him.
And that's a lifelong journey. But he will never forget you. He will restore you. Years ago, there was a man, a troubled man, who went into Rik's Museum in Amsterdam, and he got to Rembrandt's famous painting called the Night Watch, and he took a knife out, and he began to rip through that painting, and he destroyed it before someone could finally stop him. A short while later, a man, a hostile, distraught man, went into St.
Peter's Cathedral with a hammer and began to smash Michelangelo's sculpture called the P Pieta. These were two cherished works of art. And so what did the people do? Well, that's it for them. Just toss them out. No, that's not what they did. They brought the world's greatest art experts together and they set about to restore these pieces of art to their original glory. We have been marred by sin.
We live in a sinstained world. And yet God in his wondrous grace through Jesus Christ and the in the finished work of Christ has set out to restore his people. And he will do that. He'll bring us safely home one day. And that restoration process will happen certainly in its finality then, but it's happening even now in the sanctification process. Because as John 5:17 says, our God is always at work. He's always at work. But notice also that he says he's going to confirm.
This confirmation happens. He himself will confirm. There's a sense here of being set in concrete. If if our resident construction worker here, Vince, decided to pour concrete and you decide, you know, I'm just going to stand here and let him pour it around me. However long it takes concrete to set. If you stood there for a day or two and then try to move your feet, good luck to you. You've been set. And that's that's what is being conveyed here.
To be set in concrete, h to have a sense of resolve. That is to say, you've read the word of God. You've read in times that are good what the word says about who God is, about his character, about his nature, about our neediness of him, about what he will do in the life of the believer to hold them fast like we sang this morning. But now I've gone through the suffering. It's no longer theory for me. He has confirmed his word to me.
He's confirmed his character to me. These things are not merely things on a page anymore. I believe them and I am settled in what I believe to be true about him. Reminds me of what we read in Isaiah 40. If you have a Bible or you can keep your finger here in Peter and go to Isaiah 40. Again, if you've grown up in the church, these are probably familiar verses to you, but they're worth reminding ourselves of again and again.
Starting in verse 28. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint. To him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. In Psalm 16 verse 8, we we read this. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be shaken. So when the one who's walked through trial, who's felt weary, like we read about in Isaiah 40, when they understand through the trial how the Lord has sustained them, they realize, boy, God has confirmed himself to me, and I'm all the more settled in my resolve to serve him.
It's a beautiful thing. This is what awaits the believer through trial. This sense of becoming more and more unwavering, unflinching, immovable. That's a good thing. But but then he goes on to say he will himself restore, confirm, strengthen you. So having been set like concrete, now you got to build upon that concrete. Right? If you lay a foundation for a building, that foundation is set. That's like being confirmed.
I God has confirmed himself to me, but now I actually have to build a structure on top of that foundation that with can withstand all the elements. Well, that's the strengthening process. God is building that structure that's going to endure the future trials because guess what, friends? If you're in the midst of trial right now and or maybe you've just come through trial and now you're you're on the other side of it, you're like, "Ah, things are good." You're going to face trial again in this world. You will have trouble. Suffering is an neverending cycle until the Lord returns.
So, you're going to face trial, but now he's going to strengthen you for the trial that lay ahead. This is the beautiful truth of our Lord. It's like being braced for the storm winds that are coming. That you will hold fast and you're not going to move even though it's going to batter against you. It reminds me a little bit of what we read in 1 Timothy 3 in giving the instructions to the church in 1 Timothy. In chapter 3:1 15 Paul said this to Timothy.
The church the church of the living God is a pillar and buttress of the truth. A pillar and a buttress. That's strong support. It holds it up. It's a similar thing that's being conveyed here. That God is going to strengthen you upon that foundation. He's confirmed to you to endure the future suffering. Take your Bible if you will, go to Luke 22. You have a graphic example of this given by the Lord Jesus Christ. And of all things, remember this is Peter that we're looking at.
First Peter 5. Who's the author of First Peter? God through Peter. Right? Go to Luke 22. I'm going to pick it up for you in verse 31. His name here in the ESV is listed for us as Simon. But who is Simon? Peter. It's the same guy that we're reading about here in 1 Peter 5. Simon. Simon. Behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.
When you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. When you turn again, that is to say, after he denies knowing Jesus three times, then he meets Jesus on the beach, has fish with him, and the Lord says, "Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep. Be the the the the voice to start the church." in Acts two and on, he is that that bedrock foundational figure at the outset of the church and he feeds the lamb.
He does exactly what the Lord's called him to do because the Lord has strengthened him that he might then strengthen the brothers. The foundation has been laid and now he's building upon it that which is going to stabilize them moving forward. This is a beautiful thing and this is what God has promised for the believers here in First Peter and for you and I. After you've suffered for a little while, this Lord, this God of all grace, this one who's called you to eternal glory in Christ Jesus will himself restore you, confirm you, strengthen you, and what? Establish you.
Now, there's a similarity here to that confirmation word we had. He's going to establish you. It's the same word, though, interestingly, that's used in Ephesians 3. We're actually going to look at this passage next Sunday. Ephesians 3. It's the one that Richard read for us earlier there in verse 17. Listen to this this phrase here. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. That you being rooted and grounded in love.
Grounded is the same word here as establish in in Colossians 1:23 the word there is stable. So he when he establishes us he grounds us and he stabilizes us for the days that are ahead. Once you've come through trial and you have seen how he has been restoring you through sanctification, how he's confirmed himself to you, how he has strengthened you, you get to this place and and you dear saints, many of you have gone through many trials.
You can I'm sure this will resonate with you. You'll be at the place of saying, "What can the world do to me? I'm established in Christ." That's not to say you're not going to have the moments of wavering. We all do in our sinful flesh. But there is this place of confidence we have in the Lord. My favorite animated movie is The Emperor's New Groove. I'm dating myself because that goes back a lot of years.
In the movie, the Emperor becomes a llama. Long story, but at one point the emperor llama is tied to a tree branch with the other main character and they're back to back and the branch begins to break and they know they're about to plummet to the waterfall below. The llama is looking up so he can't see what's beneath them. And so he asks the other guy, "Waterfall below us? Yep. Sharp rocks below us? Yep.
Almost certain impending death probably and then there's a long pause and the emperor says bring it on. That's what we have here. Bring it on. When he has established you, you get to the place where he's strengthened you such that yeah, I know I'm going to face another trial. I know it's coming, but I know how the Lord has worked. I've seen his faithfulness in the past. And because I know he's going to be faithful again, bring it on.
It reminds me we read in in Psalm 118 there in Psalm 118 in verse 6, we read this, "The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me?" If the Lord is on our side and he's confirmed these things. He's given you a new renewed resolve. He's strengthen you in your inner man. You know these things and you go, "Yeah, it's going to be hard. There's going to be moments where I'm going to feel the weight of these things. Absolutely.
But I know he'll be with me again like he was in the past. He has been faithful then. He'll be faithful now and be faithful in the future." Hebrews 13:6 quotes Psalm 118. So, Old Testament and New Testament, we have this confirmed. What can man do to me? What can Nero do to you? Is what Peter is saying. The Lord has established you. Nero might kill you. He might burn you up on a steak. Praise God. You're home with him.
What can he do to you? All he can do is kill you. That's it. If you're in Christ, you know that that's Praise God. He's ushered my He's ushered me home quicker. Rejoice. Now, if you're not in Christ, you might say, "Well, that's terrifying." You need the Lord. You need the saving work of Jesus so that the identity spoken of here, a people for God's own possession who has received mercy can be yours. Because apart from that, all of the things we're talking about don't apply to you. Don't you want this?
Don't you want to know that God is restoring and confirming and strengthening and establishing you by his grace? This can be yours today. Now, you might find yourself in a trial and you might have been in it for quite some time. You might today be feeling weak and weary as you travel along the path of life. But know this, these are promises from God.
Notice the word will in verse 10. It doesn't say might. He will himself accomplish these things. So that as 2 Corinthians 3 says, we will be transformed into the likeness of Christ with everinccreasing glory. He's making us more like him every day through the trial. Many years ago during the 30 years war from 1618 to 1648 in Europe, the king of Sweden, Gustavas Adulus was killed while he was with his troops when as they were winning the battle of Luton in Germany.
Sweden was of course thrown into to mourning. Their beloved king had died and the government officials were meeting to try to chart the way forward without their king. And so there were some suggestions. One suggested that they they turned themselves into a republic. Others said that they should give the crown to Adulus's cousin, the king of Poland. But then the chancellor of Sweden arose and he said this, "Let there be no talk of a republic or of Polish kings.
For we have in our midst the heir of the great Gustavos, his little daughter." His little daughter at that point, depending on which story you read, there's conflicting reports. She was either five or six years old. And so understandably there was protests. She is but a child. How can she reign as the queen and many had never actually even physically seen her. So they said, "We've never even seen her." And so the chancellor said, "Okay, just wait here."
And he went and he got her. Her name was Christina. And he brought her out and he put her on the throne. And one of the main protesters walked up and apparently looked her closely in the face. And having done that, he turned to the people and he said this, "Look at her nose, her eyes, her chin. I see in the countenance of this child the features of the great Gustavas. She is the child of our king." And at that moment, apparently from all the corners of the room, they all shouted together, "Christina, Queen of Sweden."
Why? Because she looked like the one from whom she came. And if you're a brother or a sister in Christ, what the Lord is doing through the trials is he is making you look more and more and more like the one from whom you came, the Lord God Almighty. And the way he does this is through trial, through suffering, but in that he has promised that he himself will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
So take heart, dear brothers and sisters. So father, I pray that you would encourage the weary, the faint-hearted, those who have gone through trial and are perhaps continuing to go through trial. Father, we thank you for these promises, these actions that you are going to take and continue to take in the life of your people. We pray that in as you restore and confirm and strengthen and establish the saints that we would never turn our backs, turn to the left or to the right, thank you that you don't forget us, but that you're always working even when we can't see that work, but that you're doing this mighty work in our midst.
And we pray that we would take heart in those moments when the trial is the absolute heaviest. May we not forget your promises. And so minister to us as we enter a new year. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
Transcribed automatically from YouTube captions, so names and words may be misheard.
