Turn in your copies of God's Word or scroll down on your phone to 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5 verses 12 through 14. The closing verses of this letter to the church in Asia Minor and those who are dispersed abroad in this time of persecution. Let us one more time hear God's Word read to us today. With the help of Silas, whom I consider to be a faithful brother to you, I have written briefly, exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. The church that is at Babylon elect together with you, greet you. And so does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be with all you who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever. Well, today we draw to a close our time in 1 Peter, which I was confident we would be doing indoors, restored to our regular programming schedule. and thinking that COVID would be done by now. This is why I'm not asked to serve on any boards of the CDC or anything else. And I think after this we will press on to 2nd Peter, keep the theme going. And if we're still in the state we're in, then we'll circle back around at that point and pick back up in Matthew. where we were and find God's encouragement for us there. We are in a difficult day. Mental health professionals will be studying for years the impact of this time on our culture and society. It's been felt through job loss. It's been felt through sickness and the loss of life. It's been felt even by some of you young people who were off to college and then all of a sudden were not off to college. You had to come back home. And even the older folks in the congregation can remember once that mental break happens, it's hard to reconnect that and live as you need to. There's been confusion. There's debate. There's anger. Why aren't more people doing this? Why are people doing this at all? It's a time of turmoil. And it mirrors in some respects the time of turmoil in which Peter is writing. What we're questioning is some of this that's going on in our day and age to control the church, to try to control the worship of God, In that day and time, they had no doubt that Rome hated them as believers and would do whatever it took to snuff them out. Peter reminded them in this text, and he would remind us today of three resources or kinds of resources that the Christian possesses in a time of uncertainty and frustration. The first one is gospel grace. Simply put, gospel grace. The second half of verse 12 says, I have written briefly exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. Peter has given them a confident certainty in His writing. This is the true grace of God in which you stand. Whenever you're looking at a pronoun, you have to understand what it's pointing to. In our home, we have a line, we'll kind of put our hands up and say, too many pronouns. I don't understand what's going on in this story. Because once he talks to her, and she goes over and talks to him, and then they went together to the thing, and I'm lost. I have no idea. So what is Peter saying here? This. Well, he's pointing to all that he has written to them. This is the true grace of God in which you stand. And in the doubts and questions that have come to them through the pain, through the harassment, through the persecution, He has given them firm answers in His proclamation to them and in His telling them of their position. Their position in Christ. In His proclamation, He points out that there are two different aspects to the proclamation. He has exhorted them and He has testified to them. Now in the testifying, we understand this to be the doctrinal, the facts of life in Christ. What is true of us, no matter what we are feeling or even experiencing. The doctrinal reality. And then he also says, though, that he has exhorted them. And that exhortation is the application, how to live out the doctrinal truth that he has given them. We see a snapshot of this, this is throughout First Peter, if you just go back and scroll through, you'll see a lot of sentences that begin with therefore. Therefore. Therefore. You say, this is true of you, therefore act this way. Act this way because this is true of you. They moved the airport again, I think. The more direct line of it. 1 Peter 1, starting at verse 22. We read, "...since your souls have been purified by obedience to the truth through the Spirit unto a genuine brotherly love..." That's the doctrinal. That's the testifying. "...then He exhorts them, Love one another deeply, with a pure heart. For you have been born again, not from perishable seed, but imperishable through the Word of God which lives and abides forever. For all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever. This is the Word that was preached to you. Doctrinal. Therefore, as we go into chapter 2 now, therefore put away all wickedness, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking. As newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the Word that by it you may grow, if it is true that you have experienced that the Lord is good. Do these things if these doctrinal realities are true for you. Then live this way. He tells them, I've been exhorting you, I've been testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand and And he is telling them, you gain firm footing as you believe rightly and do rightly. But see, there's a little twist here that this standing is an imperative. He is telling them to stand in all that he has testified to them and exhorted them to do. The standing isn't a happenstance. It's a command. It is not something that, in a sense, kind of accidentally happens or is second handed. We are commanded to stand in these things. This gospel grace. Secondly, he encourages them with gospel friendships. First part of verse 12, with the help of Silas, whom I consider to be a faithful brother to you. Verse 13, the church that is at Babylon elect together with you, greet you. And so does Mark, my son, greet one another with a kiss of love. What happens when we get scared? What happens when uncertainty sets in in our circumstances? So often we turn on those whom we need the most. How many marriages fall apart because of circumstances that overwhelm the man and woman? And rather than turning to one another and turning with one another to the Lord for strength and grace in that moment. They turn on one another. Well, it's your fault this is happening. Well, you should have. Well, you could have. And on and on it goes. And it's not just in marriages. It's in friendships. It's in business partnerships. It's in so many relationships that God gives that we are to pursue the glory of God. And we turn on that other person And Peter points to the relationships present in their lives and spurs them on to understand those relationships, to keep those relationships, and to develop those relationships. And he starts with Silas at the very beginning of this section. Silas is the one who helped him write this. It might have been an amanuensis, a secretary who he would have been dictating to, who might have even giving him a little back and forth to help finesse and refine the language and the approach. However, he helped to serve. He helped Peter in the writing of this letter. And then it seems he was the one who would be delivering it because Peter gives him this credential that Peter trusts him. He loves him. He counts him as a faithful brother. And we see this throughout the letters of the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 16, we hear it of Timothy. In Ephesians 6.21, in Colossians 4.7, we hear it of Tychicus. In Colossians 4.9, we hear it of Onesimus. Titus 3.12. Paul's not sure if it's going to be Artemis or Tychicus that delivers the letter, so he gives them both the credential, just in case. And we hear Peter encouraging them to trust Silas, to not be afraid to see him as an advocate and an ally in the Gospel as he delivers this letter to them. He also points them then to the church at Babylon. And you need to understand that Peter is not actually in Babylon. He's not greeting them from Babylon. He's in Rome at this time. And so he's drawing out this analogy from the Old Testament as Babylon was the primary harasser of God's people in the Old Testament. Rome was that harasser in the New Testament. In light of that, change our name to Trinity Church of Babylon. There is a church in the center of the power that is oppressing God's people. And he wanted to encourage them that though they couldn't see one another, they couldn't zoom together, they couldn't FaceTime, they couldn't call, they couldn't text, they couldn't email all the the luxuries that we have and yet still don't find the time to connect with one another. He's encouraging them that these saints love you and are praying for you and they want to greet you. They understand that God is working in them too. They are elect together with you. And this was not just the election of salvation, but the election of suffering as well. And how we have brothers and sisters Not just in Reformed Presbyterian churches, but in all kinds of churches all over the globe. Even some Baptists. He points them to Mark or John Mark. Now remember, this was the young man over whom Paul and Barnabas had parted ways. Look at Acts 15. quickly. And this is something that I tend to forget, but it's part of the history of the church and something that we should be encouraged by. Because so often we think of those in spiritual leadership as having it all together and working together in good ways. And as Acts 15 starts off, we are in the Council of Jerusalem, right? There's been this question, do Gentiles need to become Jews before they become Christians? That's the question beforehand, before the council. And as they debate and dialogue, you read in verse 12, the entire assembly remained silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. The great and wonderful things God had done in bringing the Gentiles to Himself. And then after they were finished talking, after they had said all that they needed to say, Then James, the elder statesman, stands. And gives wisdom to the court, and they go with what what James says there. Then then there's the reply of the council. Verse 22. then it pleased the apostles and the elders with the whole church to send chosen men from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers." Here's Silas again, tucked in there. He just kind of pops up on the scene here and there. But here are Paul and Barnabas, the ones who are commissioned to take the letter to these saints and give them the decree of the council. And I can imagine being a young elder, a young pastor sitting at that council and listening to the stories of Paul and Barnabas. And I can I can imagine this because I grew up in a pastor's home with a dad who was not afraid to ask anybody who other small church rural pastors would have been afraid to come speak at their church. My dad had no problem. And so we had missionaries and evangelists and pastors from all over the world who would sleep in our upstairs bedrooms where my brother and I slept. And we would sit at dinner. We would just hear them tell their stories. And can you imagine sitting in Jerusalem at the council? And here are Paul and Barnabas. telling about all the amazing, miraculous things that God had done as the Gospel broke into that pagan culture, and God was saving people and bringing them to Himself. You can imagine thinking, wow, these guys are the dream team. They are amazing. Think of what they are going to do together. over the coming years to grow the kingdom of God. And the last thing you know is you see the letter handed to them. You see Paul and Barnabas and their entourage right off into the sunset to deliver this letter to God's people. And before the chapter is out. They have fought about who should be on the next short term mission trip, and they've parted ways. over John Mark. But see, God uses that division. To create multiplication. He uses even the sin. Of these leaders in in dividing over something so silly to multiply the church, and here we find John Mark inextricably linked to the Apostle Peter. helping him, serving him, serving as one of the evangelists capturing for all time the Gospel that is from Peter's teaching, which we know as the Gospel of Mark. You know that throughout this series, if we had a Gospel reference, if it was covered in the Gospel of Mark, I'd want to go there and say, let's hear Peter's words about this. This is his viewpoint. His perspective. See, Peter wants to even encourage them in how God had used Mark and how God had used him in Peter's ministry to the point that he would call him, my son. He wanted to encourage them with the way God had blessed him with this brother who had been in the center of this conflict and in the center of this turmoil. And then he encourages them with one another, with one another. Obviously not written in the time of COVID when he tells them greet one another with a kiss of love. Brothers and sisters, I ask you, do you love one another? Paul tells those in Corinth and Thessalonica to use a holy kiss. But you know when there's conflict, when there's turmoil, when there's external pressure, sometimes there is love lost. And Peter is encouraging them to show their love to one another. Even in how they greet one another. Do you show your love to one another? How do you do that? When do you do that? Where do you do that? The third and final resource that Peter gives in this text is gospel blessing. And he pronounces this benediction, this good word that is short, but very sweet. When he says, peace be with all you who are in Christ Jesus. This peace that he speaks of is a direct blessing from God. It comes from Him. It is not a peace as in the absence of dire circumstances or the absence of war. Do you ever say in your home, you know, when things calm down, when the schedule settles down, we will do this, that, or the other? And you realize, you know, we've been married for 40 years and we're still saying when the schedule settles down, you think maybe maybe when the kids get out of the house. I don't know. Does it does it happen? I'm guessing no. There will never be a time when there is not some sort of external pressure that could create strife and conflict. It's not an absence of those things. It is God's favor within those circumstances. What are you waiting on before you are willing to stand firm? To trust the proclamation of the gospel and your position in the gospel in which you are to stand. What do you keep fomenting in your heart that keeps you from receiving the blessing of the Lord of this peace? Peter points to the primary, the first catalyst for this peace. When he clarifies, peace be with all you who are in Christ Jesus. And I would ask you today, are you in Him? Are you in Christ? Are you loving Him? Are you serving Him? Are you walking in all of His ways? Have you been justified and adopted in Him by the Father? Has the Spirit filled you with power to love and live and obey Him. That is the linchpin in this blessing from God. Because all blessings are ultimately a curse if they are apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ and make you think, I'm just fine. I'm okay because I have this, I have that. I'm fine. If you are not in Christ, then the blessing of the peace of God is not ultimately available to you. Seek after Christ. Seek to be found in Him. Confess your sin. Receive Him as He has given to us in His Word.