Grace For the End

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"With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it."

1 Peter 5:12

Main Readings: Colossians 3:1-17 & Revelation 21:1-8

Supporting Readings: 1 Peter 5 & Psalm 25

Here we are, at the end of Peter’s first letter. And it would be easy to think that the best is over, and that this is nothing more than tying up loose ends.

I don’t think it’s helpful to receive the closing salutations of the apostolic writers in that way. All scripture is God breathed and useful – even closing remarks.

And I would add that the culture we enjoy in life, finishes with a flourish also. Films and books do. Music often does. Even football is worth remaining to the end for (if you don’t leave early, you don’t miss goals at the beginning of extra time, right, Matthew?).

And so, I want to exhort you to stick with this book right to the end because Peter has good things to convey to us right to the very end.

Peter is keen at the end of the letter to tell us more about the kind of life the Holy Spirit, through this book, is calling us to.

Which is why, in God’s providence, it’s especially significant that Silaswas the one to help Peter write the letter down – you can see that in verse 12. And that Mark was also with Peter. And we’ll see why shortly.

But I want to start by pointing out that this letter is Peter’s owntestimony - we know that he himself authored this letter to the five churches in Asia Minor.

It isn’t Silas or Mark who is the mind and the heart behind this letter, it is the Apostle Peter. One who walked so closely with the Lord Jesus. One who was an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ, and who himself suffered for as a follower of Christ.

And that should give us great comfort. The author of this letter hasn’t been preaching from an ivory tower, he has spoken from personalexperience and testimony.

Which gives his letter lots of weight.

He knows how we feel, and he knows what it was like to feel Jesus’ rebuke when he sought to sidestep the sufferings God had willed for him.

He says in verse 12 that his testimony – by which I think he means his personal experience of these things – confirm the true grace of God.

In fact, he says that it is the twin engines of encouragement and testimony that serve to commend the letter as being true.

Yes, it’s a short letter – Peter acknowledges – but it’s not light because it’s short. It’s actually weighty. It carries abundant guidance – that’s what he means by ‘encouraging you’ - guidance and exhortation to livea certain way as Christians in, what is, a perverse and foolishgeneration.

It's Peter’s mature Christian experience, developed at the coal faceof being with Jesus, that makes his guidance and exhortation carry the kind of weight we need it to carry.

We can have confidence in this letter and trust it’s emphasis, becausethe man who wrote it experienced the things he encourages, firsthand.

Acknowledging Peter as the author is vital here, but notice Peter practicing what he’s been preaching.

Even though the thoughts are Peter’s thoughts and the expression is Peter’s expression, what appears to be the case is that Peter didn’t penthe letter himself. He had help.

This man, Silas, helped him write it down – acting as his secretary.

It’s important not to regard the letter as having joint authorship – thatwasn’t the case. But Peter wants to make sure he attributes credit where it is due. It would have been easy not to have. But he’s living by his own words. He’s clothing himself with humility towards Silas.

And just as I have lent on others for help in my preparation of these messages and my understanding of this book, people like DA Carson, Matthew Henry, John McArthur and John Piper - and Dave Forward - soPeter lent on the help of Silas to pen this letter – and probably to deliver it too.

Peter was a man who had had little formal education – unlike Paul – and it’s possible that he couldn’t write the Greek necessary to communicate the thoughts he wanted to convey to these churches. And so, he lenton this man Silas.

And I want to point out how apt a candidate Silas was to note down this letter and to deliver it too.

If you have time later, you could take a look at the record of Silas in the book of Acts and note his prominence.

It’s safe to say that Silas was a man who was acquainted with sufferingin the cause of Christ Jesus.

We first encounter him at the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 where he was chosen by the church in Jerusalem to go with Paul and Barnabas to speak into a conflict situation.

It says he was chosen as a leader from amongst those believers. And there at that time he would have heard and known Peter.

After that his journey closely aligns with the Apostle Paul’s. He was in prison in Philippi with Paul (Acts 16). He was also dragged off to the authorities by an angry crowd in chapter 16. And he was hunted down in Acts 17.

But, wherever he went he encouraged the believers, he preachedChrist; he was actually secretary to Paul on two occasions also.

When in prison, he was happy enough in Jesus, to be found with Paul singing and praying.

This was a man who embodied the very things Peter is exhorting us to in his letter.

He had a reputation, according to Peter here in verse 12, as a faithfulbrother. Peter regarded him that way.

And there’s only one way you get a reputation and that’s by showingwhat you are like. He showed he was a follower of Christ, willing to suffer for Christ because he was so happy in Christ.

Willing to serve Christ in whatever situation, because of the upward call in Christ to eternal life.

Peter was the one moved by the Holy Spirit to author this letter including all its contents; Silas was a faithful helper to get it down on paper and delivered to those who needed it most.

And we have it today because of God’s unbelievable mercy to us and because of the faithfulness he worked in Peter as an Apostle and in Silas as a servant. Peter wants to credit Silas with that, and he does that here.

It seems like Silas - even though he had been closely acquainted with Paul - was able to move between Peter and Paul to provide his assistance to both of them at this time.

Especially if Peter was imprisoned in Rome at the same time as Paul, which is possible.

In verse 13 Peter uses the phrase ‘Babylon’ in a way that seems similarto the way it appears in the book of Revelation – as a code word for Rome. And he notes that Mark was there with him.

Peter calls Mark ‘his son’. And what an amazing thing it would be if the reason for that, was to show his own resemblance to Mark.

Remember, it was Mark who had abandoned Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey and who Paul had been reluctant to take on their second mission because of that fact.

That had led to a dispute, and Barnabas split with Paul and went with Mark to Cyprus.

But just as Paul had received Mark back, so Peter also gives his Apostolic seal of approval to Mark – calling him his son.

Why? Well, could it be because Peter saw in Mark the very same surrender to temptation that he himself had been through. And the very same restoration at the grace of the Lord Jesus he had been through also.

I think that’s possible.

Peter knew what it was like to be faced with suffering and to abandonChrist. And he knew what it was like to be restored. Peter had affinityfor Mark. And oh how God went on to use them both!

The lesson for us is, if we fail when faced with suffering for Christ. If we run away. And if we repent and turn back to Him, we will find forgiveness.

And we must - on the back of that forgiveness - like Peter and Mark, equip ourselves with an alert and sober mind to resist that urge in the future. To remain faithful in the face of suffering in the future. Boththese men learnt from their former mistaken responses to the prospect of suffering. So must we.

It could be construed that there is too much emphasis in this letter on our own performance. And too little emphasis on the grace of God.

I just said that we need to learn from the example of Peter and Mark. I just said, they learnt from their mistakes, and so must we.

Peter, by his own admission is verse 12, has been exhorting us to live a certain way. In chapter 5 alone he has said things like: submit to your elders; clothe yourself with humility; humble yourselves; be alert and of sober mind; resist the devil; stand firm in your faith; and he’s about to say greet one another with a kiss of love.

So, Peter isn’t shy to emphasise doing. But, nor is he shy to emphasise grace: the prophets spoke of the grace to come to you (1:10); set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming (1:13); treat your wives as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life (3:7); each of you should use your gift as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms; and now here in chapter 5, verse 13 – this is the true grace of God.

I’m sure you’ll have noticed that most of those references to grace that Peter has made, come in the form an exhortation. Commands that are rooted in the grace of God.

In other words, Peter’s concept of grace is that it produces in Christ’s people two things not one. It does produce forgiveness of sins. But it also produces power to contend with sin, and Satan, and this world.

He asserts here in verse 12 that ‘this is the true grace of God’. And then he exhorts us to ‘stand fast in it’.

So, the first question is: what is he referring to when he says, ‘this is the true grace of God’? What is the ‘this’ in that sentence. And the answer to that question is surely the entirety of the contents of his letter.

He tells us that this is the true grace of God right after telling us that he has written to us briefly encouraging us and testifying to us.

So, Peter thinks that everything the Holy Spirit has moved him to write here is true grace.

Not just grace but true grace. Meaning, there is something that goes in the name of grace that is actually false grace.

What would that be? Well, Jude verse 4 gives us an example of the kind of thing that presents as grace but is false. ‘Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God [false grace] into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only sovereign and Lord’.

So, there is a way that grace can be used to justify behaviours that denies the power of that grace to overcome sin and says, ‘don’t worry, there is grace for willful disobedience’. Jude says that’s a denial of Jesus Christ.

In other words, there is a domain of Christian work that grace enables, which, if it is missing, is a denial of Jesus. That’s a big deal!

So big in fact, that Jude calls it a perversion of grace.

He implies that it’s very subtle because the people who promoted this teaching had ‘slipped in among them’ – under the radar so to speak. And he says condemnation is reserved for them.

So, this is of upmost importance. We have to get grace right. We have to recognise when people are perverting grace like this.

And to keep us keenly aware of what that perversion looks like we should be able to say, grace has two major effects not one.

It produces forgiveness of sins, and it produces power to overcome sin.

Anybody who denies the second aspect of grace is either misguidedor is perverting grace for their own ends.

Listen to how Paul puts it in Ephesians 2: ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no-one can boast’. That’s the first aspect of grace which is beautiful and true and necessary. No gospel without it!

He goes on: ‘For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which he prepared in advance for us to do’.

This is the second aspect of grace which is also beautiful and true and necessary. No gospel without this either! Because a gospel without this second truth denies the transformative power of the cross.

Peter says, everything he’s taught with all his exhortations is the true grace of God. It’s from God. God has set it up this way!

And he exhorts us to stand fast in that very grace.

How can he say that? Well, because he believes that the cross has imparted the power to stand fast in it. That’s a power that we exercise. And so, he exhorts us to exercise it.

I’m afraid that evangelical Christianity is becoming increasingly allergic to this truth.

But Peter wasn’t allergic to it and he tells us to hold fast to this truthand not let go of the true way that grace is designed to function in our lives.

The church is too precious to God, for God to allow it to falter in the idea that grace is a one-dimensional reality.

The bride of Christ is protected, is cared for, is loved, is presented spotless as a result of both the foundation of grace – the forgiveness of sins - and the fruit of grace - the overcoming of sins.

You know it's striking here that Peter refers to the church as a female. He says, ‘she who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings’.

I think it’s safe to say he’s referring to the church in Rome when he says, ‘she who is in Babylon’ because he adds that she is also chosen, ‘just as you are’.

In other words, ‘I’m writing to you five churches from here in Rome, and the church here in Rome - who is just like you - sends you her greetings’.

It’s fitting to refer to the church of Jesus Christ as ‘she’ because shehas a husband. And that husband is Christ.

Christ died for her. Christ protects her. Christ loves her. Christ is sanctifying her. Christ will present her spotless in his presence when he comes again.

That’s especially encouraging given that the theme of this letter is that the churches are being persecuted for Christ.

It’s as though Peter reminds us that the church of Jesus Christ hasn’t been abandoned by Christ. She still belongs to him, even though she suffers for him.

And he will bring her into his promised rest – the fulness of his husbandly care - when he returns, at the end of the age.

So don’t lose sight, church of Christ, of your value and belonging to your husband, Jesus. Don’t think to yourself that your husband has abandoned you because you are going through suffering. He hasn’tabandoned you - he will come for you.

And there will be a wedding banquet when, you the church, will be presented to the lamb of God spotless and without blemish, to enjoy him forever.

It's no small thing that the church in Rome sends its greetings to these five churches. Why?

Well, because Peter is probably writing under the reign of Nero in Rome. And few Emperors of Rome committed more violence against Christians than Nero. Paul and Peter probably both died under Nero.

So, when Peter says ‘greetings’, I don’t think he means a casual ‘hello’. I think he means: the church here in Rome experiences the sametrials you do over there, and they are praying for you; they know how it feels; and they are with you in it - to the very end.

And that kind of greeting needs to be the kind of greeting we have for each other in this church and when we get together with the otherchurches.

This is why the joint prayer meeting with other local churches matters. We saw last week, there is a spiritual attack centered on us, and on every church of Jesus Christ, every day – from Satan. We know what it feels like. And we know that we must all resist and endure.

How can we send our greetings to our fellow churches, like Rome did to these five?

We can go to the joint prayer meeting and hear what they are struggling with and pray with them, for them. And they can do the same for us.

Peter models for us the inter-church camaraderie that is necessaryin these end times.

And I would testify that every time I have been to that joint prayer meeting, I have been built up; I have been strengthened for the fight.

And I trust I have been able to do the same for those other churches too.

So, send greetings to she who is in Lupset. To she who is in Mirfield. To she who is in Huddersfield. To she who is in Dewsbury. Because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

I think you’d agree that this is a kind of affection that Peter is conveying. The church in Rome is saying ‘we’re not island’. They’re saying, ‘we care about other churches because they belong to Christ too’. ‘We care about them because they are under attack’. ‘We have a deep affection for them’.

I doubt they were failing to pray for them!

Well, Peter moves from inter-church affection to intra-church affection for his last exhortation of the letter.

He says, ‘Greet one another with a kiss of love’.

I think ‘one another’ probably means, the individual members withinthe individual churches.

I doubt he means when the churches meet together – though he wouldn’t exclude that inter-church contact from this command surely.

Nevertheless, this seems too intimate for it to be as infrequent as it would be if he only meant this for when the churches met together.

I think the intimacy of this command points to the members withineach church.

It's obvious to every single one of us, isn’t it, that a kiss is an expression of love.

Not necessarily though, the love between lovers.

A kiss can be given to a child by a parent that conveys a love that is different to the love a husband has for his wife. A kiss can be given to a friend that conveys a love that is different to a lover’s love. We all know this.

And in some cultures, a kiss is a normal part of greeting one another.

So much so, that it can go very badly wrong if you forget which kissing convention applies in which country!

In our culture a kiss is not part of our cultural greeting convention – and some of us are very relieved about that.

And so, I’m not going to stand here this morning and say that Peter means for all Christians, regardless of culture, to greet one another with a kiss.

However, I am going to say that the principle behind what Peter is exhorting here does need to be honoured in some sort of outwardexpression.

Here’s why I’m going to say that.

If Peter thought that conveying your love for a brother or sister could be done passively then he would not have exhorted us to an outwardexpression – like a kiss.

That is to say, it is not enough to say, ‘everyone here knows I love them, I don’t need to show it’. I think Peter would say, ‘no you do need to show it’.

This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him’ 1 John 4:9 says.

When we come together Sunday by Sunday there isn’t time to dosomething for all the brothers and sisters that shows you love them.

But there is time for a kiss. There is time for an embrace. There is time for a warm hand shake maybe – if a hug is too much for you. There istime for a warm word. There is time for sharing a promise or bearinga burden. This is time for a short prayer for that person to lift up their burden to God for them – and for them to hear you do it.

There must be expressions of love and care and camaraderie in the church.

It is not familial enough to come Sunday by Sunday and to say nothing that would strengthen your brother or sister for the fight they’ve got ahead of them this week. Not familial enough to come and ask nothing of their struggles and needs. Not familial enough to come and show no signs of affection. Not familial enough to come and not pray for someone.

And so, I guess, I long for a day when not only is everyone hugging as they walk into the room, but after the service is over, there are pairs of heads all over this room bowed; and a low-level hum of prayers being lifted up to God for brothers and sister in this church. I would love that. And I think Peter would and maybe his final exhortation will encourage us to go there - even today.

Peter wants there to be peace in the churches and that’s his final word. It’s the peace of Christ that he passes on to us.

If we follow his letter to us, we will find that the anxiety of the suffering that comes with the Christian life, will be replaced with the peace that only Christ can give and which surpasses all understanding.

We are in Christ, as Peter says, and so his peace should be our peace.

It can be our peace.

We just need to go back and heed all the things Peter has been telling us through this letter. And his peace – Christ’s peace - will dwell richly in our hearts.

And that is surely something we can stand fast in as we see the day approaching.