Living a Christian Life and Church Life
Under the Government of God
for the Economy of God
Message Five
Grace in Peter’s Epistles
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
2 Pet. 1:2 Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
1 Pet. 3:7 Husbands…assigning honor to them as also to fellow heirs of the grace of life…
4:10 Each one, as he has received a gift, ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the varied grace of God.
Word of Appetizer
What four unique expressions concerning grace in 1 Peter we have? What it means for grace to be multiplied?
In 1 Peter we have four unique expressions concerning grace: grace of life, multiplied grace, varied grace, and all grace. The grace of life is being multiplied in us. Then it becomes the varied grace and eventually, the all grace. As a result, we do not have grace just from one direction but from many directions.
The word multiplied indicates that a certain thing is present and that instead of having another of the same thing added, we need what we have to be multiplied. This means that we need the multiplication of the grace we already have. We do not need another grace. What we need is to have multiplied the grace we have already.
Spiritual Burden
“The God of all grace”—who has called the believers into His eternal glory—perfects, establishes, strengthens, and grounds them through their sufferings; this “all grace” is the “true grace of God,” into which the believers should enter and in which they stand.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Grace is Christ Himself as our enjoyment—grace is the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit giving Himself freely to us, being everything to us, and doing everything in us, through us, and for us.
The multiplication of grace is the grace that multiplies in our daily life in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; the grace of God in His economy is rich, multiplying, and abounding.
The grace on which the believers set their hope perfectly will be brought to the believers at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
“The God of all grace”—who has called the believers into His eternal glory—perfects, establishes, strengthens, and grounds them through their sufferings; this “all grace” is the “true grace of God,” into which the believers should enter and in which they stand.
The Experience of Life
Grace is multiplied to us through our sufferings, limitations, and weaknesses; grace is Christ as our burden bearer; the more burdens we have, the more opportunities we have to experience Christ as grace.
The grace of life is the inheritance of all the believers, whether strong or weak. We are heirs to inherit the grace of life and vessels to contain the grace of life.
Grace as the processed Triune God for our enjoyment becomes our inward motivation and outward expression in our intimate fellowship with God and our consciousness of God.
Practice and Application
Day by day we should be open vessels to be continual receivers of grace and set our hope wholly and perfectly on this grace.
We need to be good stewards of the varied grace of God, speaking the words of grace as the oracles of God and ministering out of the strength and power of grace, which God supplies.
We must be willing to be made humble, lowly, under the mighty hand of God in His discipline and to throw our life with its care upon God, because He cares for us lovingly and faithfully.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The grace of God in His economy is rich, multiplying, and abounding (1 Pet. 1:2; 2 Pet. 1:2)
(Please illustrate that this grace is not dead but living and multiplying; it is being multiplied to us day by day.)
T2 Grace in different aspects and of different categories (1 Pet. 1:2; 2 Pet. 1:2)
(Please illustrate that what four unique expressions concerning grace we have in 1 Peter. )
Day 2
T1 Peter used the Old Testament prophets to confirm his teaching concerning the New Testament salvation (1 Pet. 1:10-11)
(Please illustrate that in 1 Peter 1:10…grace is a synonym for salvation.)
T2 Peter speaks of the grace that was for the salvation of the believers’ souls (1 Pet. 1:10-11)
(Please illustrate that what Peter teaches as grace is not the grace that saves our spirit or our body, but the grace that saves our soul.)
Day 3
T1 The grace destined to be given to us came with the appearing of the Lord Jesus (1 Pet. 1:13; 2 Tim. 1:9-10)
(Please illustrate that this grace is the Triune God Himself given to us to be our enjoyment.)
T2 Peter charges us to set our hope perfectly on the grace (1 Pet. 1:13; 2 Tim. 1:9-10)
(Please illustrate that grace was brought to us by the Lord’s first coming. It will be consummated by His second coming.)
Day 4
T1 The Christian life is a matter of behavior (1 Pet. 2:19-21)
(Please illustrate that 1 Peter 2:19 speaks about our behavior in our daily life as Christians.)
T2 The grace is expressed in our living (1 Pet. 2:19-21)
(Please illustrate that if we are those without the divine life, we will face problems in our married life, no matter how much we may love one another.)
Day 5
T1 The varied grace of God indicates the riches of the grace of God in its varieties ministered by the saints to one another (1 Pet. 4:10)
(Please illustrate that grace varies according to our situation and environment.)
T2 All of us should gird ourselves with humility toward one another (1 Pet. 5:5)
(Please illustrate that if you are humble, grace comes. If you are proud, grace goes away; you have hindered grace.)
Day 6
T1 We need to grow in grace (2 Pet. 3:18)
(Please illustrate that we need to grow in such a grace for His glory today and unto the day of eternity.)
T2 The consummation of the believers’ experience of the grace of God in His economy is the church as the Body of Christ (Eph. 2:7)
(Please illustrate that how is the Body of Christ produced.)
