1 Peter 5:10-14 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 12 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. 13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
The Objective: Glory
One final time before closing out this book Peter wants to remind us again that we have been called to eternal glory. Peter has been telling us this all through the book. He started with it right off the bat in chapter 1 pointing us to that glorious inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you Peter has made repeated references to that Day when Christ is revealed, the Day of visitation, the end of all things, the Day His glory will be revealed and we will be overjoyed if we have rejoiced in suffering for Christ in this life. Even in this chapter, Peter used that crown of glory as a motivation for elders to serve humbly and eagerly. For Peter, understanding our calling into eternal glory is so critically important for living the Christian life. That living hope is absolutely fundamental. If you are not walking through life with your eyes on that future, heavenly prize, Peter would say you are not going to have a successful Christian life.
And what is the marvelous future reality that is our great hope? Eternal glory. Glory refers to everything that is wonderful about God - all His attributes. The reason you are going to like heaven is because you will have firsthand experiences of those attributes. The reason you like the things you like on earth is because they are an experience of some faint shadow of God’s attributes and glory. But all our experiences in this life - both good and bad, are momentary and light. In heaven they will be eternal and weighty - heavy - substantive. We understand that in a relative way in this world. If you stub your toe or spill something on the floor – that is light. If you are diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor – that is heavy. If you scratch and win a free order of fries at MacDonald’s - that’s light. If your first child was just born - that’s heavy. We understand the difference between light things and heavy things. And according to 2 Corinthians 4:17, the experiences of the attributes of God we will have in heaven will be so real and so life-changing and so substantive that they make every single thing in this life light by comparison.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory.
We will have experiences: God’s wisdom, His power, His kindness, His creativity - all His attributes, and those experiences will be uncontaminated with our own sin, unencumbered with this fallen world, undiluted, unmixed - those experiences will be direct, immediate engagement with the countless attributes of God. No matter what it is you like in life - whether it be money or relationships or family or recreation or excitement or adventure or learning - whatever it is you like, you like it because in some way it is an experience of some faint shadow of God’s glory. Even sinful pleasures are typically good things that have been twisted and perverted in some way. But God is the source of all good and the source of all true joy. The level of joy in your life depends totally on how much you experience God’s glory. And what Peter is saying in this passage is that God has called you into eternal glory after this brief time of suffering in this life. That is the objective. That is our goal - to make it to eternal glory.
The Problem: Suffering
Threatens Glory
But there is a problem. We have an enemy who does not want us to make it to glory. The devil utilizes all kinds of tools to prevent us from making it to glory. And one of those tools is suffering. Satan wants to use suffering to cause you to destroy yourself by convincing you to let go of your faith.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith
The enemy does not want you to make it to glory. And Peter does not say, “When he attacks - just laugh it off. It’s a joke. He can’t succeed. He can’t do you any real harm. He can’t prevent your reaching glory.” He does not say that. He says just the opposite: be sober and alert! Keep watch! Be on your guard! This is a real threat so take it seriously and resist. And we talked about how to do that last week. We spent the whole time learning how to fight this war, and what all we need to do to make sure we emerge victorious.
And it is definitely a good thing to know what you are supposed to do. No question about that. But sometimes knowing what you are supposed to do can also be a little overwhelming. You learn what is required of you, and you begin to have fear: “What if I can’t pull it off? What if I give it my best shot, but I fall short - just like I do in so many other things in life?” If Peter just left us with a big, long “to-do list,” and then ended the discussion right there, that would be incomplete. So in verse 10, after telling us what we need to do, now Peter tells us what God will do. Peter knows there is a fine line between the good kind of anxiety, that motivates us to be alert and to keep watch and to stand firm in the faith and resist the enemy; and the bad kind of anxiety that makes us so afraid and intimidated that we become de-motivated and give up. And the factor that will make the difference is this wonderful promise in verse 10.
The Solution: Strength
10 And the God of all grace, who called you, after you have suffered a little while, to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
The God who called you to glory will provide all the strength you need to make it to glory. And He promises four things. This is what God said He will do:
1) Restore
First, He will restore you. That word means to repair or to fix what is broken, in order to make it fit for use. When the disciples were mending their nets, this is the word translated mending. God will do that to you. He will fix what is broken. And He will keep fixing what we keep ruining. God is a redeeming, renewing, restoring, re-creating God. No soul is ever beyond repair for God.
That’s great news, right? Because many of us are really messed up. Some of us have made some horrible decisions in the past, some have had a terrible upbringing, some were abused sexually and got messed up in all kinds of ways, some were led astray with bad teaching for years and years, some have given ourselves over to a sinful habit for so long that the impulses just absolutely master us, some allowed anger and bitterness and unforgiveness to eat away at our soul for so many years that only God can understand how much damage we have done to ourselves. We have suffered many defeats at the hands of the evil one and are now really, really messed up. Raise your hand if you are messed up. I am messed up in ways I don’t even understand. If you raised your hand, you are an excellent candidate to be one of God’s people, because God loves to put on display His ability to repair broken people.
2) Strengthen
The second word in the list in the NIV is that God will make you strong. Your Bible might say establish or confirm. The Greek word is sterizo (st?????). We get our word steroid from it - it means to make strong.
Luke 9:51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
He set out with a determined, hardened resolve - nothing was going to stop Him. And the promise here is that God will make you like that. It is God’s desire that you be spiritually strong.
Summary of the Ministry
In fact, that one word can be used as a summary of what ministry is all about. We do what we do in the church for the purpose of strengthening people spiritually. After telling Peter that Satan was going to sift him like wheat, Jesus said this:
Luke 22:32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
Jesus summarizes the entire ministry task of Peter’s life in that one word: strengthen your brothers. And the implication is that the purpose of strengthening is to do the same thing for them that Jesus did for Peter - make sure that their faith does not fail. We need strength not mainly to avoid a nervous breakdown, but mainly to keep our faith from failing. Being spiritually strong does not just mean you maintain your composure in hard times. The purpose of being strengthened is so that we might live in holiness and be blameless when Christ returns.
1 Thessalonians 3:13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
2 Thessalonians 2:16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself ... 17 strengthen you in every good deed and word.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command.
Being strong does not mean you are intimidating or harsh or that you bully people to get your way. Being strong means you win the battle against sin. And the summary of Peter’s whole ministry was to strengthen the brothers in that way. This was also the goal of Paul’s ministry.
Romans 1:11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong
And Timothy’s.
1 Thessalonians 3:2 We sent Timothy ... to strengthen and encourage you in your faith
So this is a strengthening of faith that results in holy living. It is the whole point of ministry, and the way it is done is through Scripture.
Romans 16:25 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ
3) Make Firm
So, promise #1, God will restore you. Promise #2, He will strengthen you so you can do what is right. The third word in the list, the NIV says firm - your Bible might say strengthen – it is basically a synonym for the last word. Both words mean to strengthen. Peter is just using a variety of words to really drive home the idea. God will give you every kind of strength. Not just defensive strength that can hold its ground under attack, but offensive strength, that can proactively do damage to the enemy’s work. Not just a strong shield, but also the ability to deliver a powerful blow with the sword. Not just steadfast faith, but powerful love. And unshakable resolve. And unflappable patience. Steadfast self-control. Energetic zeal and vigor in the Christian life. Ability to overcome obstacles. Every kind of strength and enablement and empowerment that you need, from the inside out.
4) Establish
Then the fourth word: make steadfast, or establish This word means to lay a foundation. A firm, solid foundation keeps a structure from falling. Jesus said if you build your house on a rock, the storm does not faze it. Build on a soft foundation and the storm flattens it. God promises to make your life solid, like a house on a rock. It is a hard thing to go through life without a foundation, so that all the storms of life knock you down every time - turn your life into a chaos of confusion and anxiety and worry and second-guessing, failing to follow through on commitments, etc. You become wishy-washy, and up and down, and moody, and unreliable. But when you are established on a foundation, that enables you to persevere to the end without abandoning the faith no matter what storms come. This is the same word used in Colossians 1:23.
Colossians 1:21 Once you were alienated from God ...22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.
You will be presented holy and blameless to God on Judgment Day if and only if you have this virtue - a life that has roots like an oak tree, so the mightiest storm does not budge it.
This is such a crucial element of strength. What good would it be to have all the other aspects of strength, but not this one - the one that makes it all last? What good would it be to have the greatest strength in the world if it is only temporary? All that does is postpone your defeat a little while. Peter just told us in verse 9 to resist the devil. James promises that if we do that, the devil will flee from us. But then what happens? What happens when you do battle with the enemy and you win? You trust God, follow God’s way, rely on God’s Word, and refuse to sin? What does Satan do? He does the same thing he did when Jesus defeated Him in Luke 4:13 – he leaves until an opportune time. Then he comes back when you are at your weakest and most vulnerable. And that is when you will fall if you do not have this aspect of strength - and an established, solid foundation. What good is it if I have all the virtue in the world today, but tomorrow it is gone? If you tell your spouse, “I don’t lie to you every day, only about half the days,” is that satisfactory? If I don’t steal from you today or tomorrow or the next day, but the day after that I rob you blind, what good is it? If you are strong today, that is good. That is better than being weak today. But if your strength only lasts for today, that is not good enough. There is no victory in running fast if you do not make it to the finish line. If you are going to make it all the way to Judgment Day with your faith still intact, you are going to need this fourth kind of strength.
And the promise here is - you can have it. God will supply all four of these. God will supply you with strength that will cover every angle. It is adequate with regard to quantity, quality, amount, time, and endurance. If you have this power you will be safe. This is the impenetrable armor of God. It is divinely reinforced. Bulletproof. Devil-proof.
By Faith (Not Automatic)
How do you get all this strength? Is it automatic? Is it unconditional? You do not have to do anything - just become a Christian, and from that day on there is no more threat? Obviously not - otherwise Peter would not have to warn us to keep watch and be alert and resist. Nor would there be any need for the first word in the list - restoring. If the strengthening were automatic, God would restore us one time the day we first believe, and from that moment on there would be no more failure and no more need to for restoration ever again. The fact that we have continual failures, suffer continual defeats, and are continually in need of restoration from God proves that this strengthening is not automatic or absolute in this life.
So if it is not an unconditional promise, then what is the condition? What do you have to do to get all this strength God offers? Peter already answered that question in the very first paragraph of this epistle. How can a person make sure he is shielded by God’s power all the way until the end?
1 Peter 1:5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
The power and protection are not automatic, but we always have access to them, as much as we need, through faith.
And that is great news, because faith is always something that is possible for you. It is always within your reach, which means all this strength is within your reach. There is never a time when you will not have access to enough strength.
Just look at your Christian life from the time you first came to Christ until now. Hasn’t God strengthened you the whole time? The answer to that question is yes - if you are still a Christian. Many times we have failed to utilize the strength God makes available, but even so - look at us – we are still Christians! Even with all my failures to trust God, even with my often pathetically weak faith and my many, many failures, somehow, I still love the Lord! If you were a Christian last week and you are still a Christian today despite all Satan’s efforts, that is proof that God has been fulfilling this very promise in your life. You persevered up to this day because God enabled you to. Even though you feel so weak, God made you strong enough to resist Satan’s tactics so that you are still a believer at this moment.
The Source: The God of All Grace
So, is there a condition on this promise? Yes - faith. We must trust Him, and the more we trust, the more strength we get. The way to gain access to this power through faith. But make no mistake - the faith is not the source of the power. Faith has no power. Faith is not the source - it just gives us access to the source. The source is the God of all grace. Always remember - grace is the power. Grace is the gasoline that powers the motor. Faith is just the hose that gets the gas from the pump into your tank.
That is why if your faith is in the wrong object - you are trusting in the wrong god, or trusting in religious ritual or trusting in yourself - it will have no power. That is like hooking up the hose to an empty pump. You can have all the faith in the world in thin ice, and it still will not hold you up.
So faith is not the source of the power, but faith is required. Now let me ask you - does that ruin the promise for you? Some people say that if you have any part to play at all, that totally ruins the promise. They say if we have to continue to trust God in order to get this strength, then that makes it a matter of works instead of grace. They say, “If anything at all is required on my end, then I have no hope. I’ll never be able to pull it off.” If you think that way you are ignoring a very important truth. You are missing the fact of God’s motivation.
You have to realize, God’s wants you to enter glory. Remember - this all started with God calling you into glory. That is how you became Satan’s enemy in the first place.
1) He Called You
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ after you have suffered a little while...
This whole business started when God called you into eternal glory. I mentioned at the beginning eternal glory has been a major theme for Peter throughout the book. Peter wants us to live with our eyes on that prize.
God Wants You in Heaven
That is the point he has been making throughout the book, but his point here is a little different. Here he's not telling us to keep our eyes on that prize. Here's he's reminding us that God has His eyes on that prize. God wants that to happen - He wants us to make it.
Suffering is Part of the Plan
"It sure doesn't seem like He wants it to happen. Given all the trouble and temptation and suffering God is allowing me to go through right now, it sure doesn't seem like His plan is to get me to glory."
If that's how it feels to you, don't be fooled by your feelings. God's plan from the beginning is for you to pass through suffering on your way to glory. Do you see that phrase after you have suffered a little while? The major translations all take that to refer to the time when God will restore and strengthen you. So the idea is that after the suffering is over then God will finally strengthen you. He leaves you weak during the suffering, but then after the suffering you get strength. I don’t think that is what Peter is saying. Most of the Greek authorities I read affirm that the phrase after you have suffered a little while refers not to the strengthening, but rather to the idea of being called into eternal glory. So it is still part of the description of God. Here is how I would translate it:
10 And the God of all grace who called you - after you have suffered a little while - to his eternal glory in Christ...
So the idea is that God has called you to suffer a short time then go to glory for a long time - forever. The thing that takes place after the short suffering is eternal glory.
So it is not that you have to wait to get to heaven before you get the strength you need to fight the battle. That would be terrible! We need the strength here and now in order to make it to glory. And the rest of the New Testament promises that strengthening here and now in this life. So it is not the strengthening that has to wait until after suffering. The part that has to wait until after the suffering is over is the eternal glory.
And so Peter’s point is this: God called you to glory and intends to bring you to glory, and a little suffering in the meantime does not mean the deal is off. A little suffering in the mean time - a short, brief little period of 80 or 90 years of suffering - that should not be interpreted as an indication that God has changed His mind about bringing you into eternal glory. In fact, that was part of the deal all along.
1 Peter 1:5 through faith [you] are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith ... may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Peter wants you to understand - God called you because God wants you to enter into eternal glory some day. And the suffering is just a short-term, temporary measure that was part of the plan all along.
Acknowledges Suffering
As a side note - I love the honesty and realism of God’s Word. Peter is giving a benediction here, and he brings up suffering. Usually when you give a benediction (when you say something to wish someone well), you generally do not mention suffering. The world’s benedictions always leave out suffering and sorrow.
“Have a great day!”
“Have fun!”
“Merry Christmas!”
“Happy New Year!”
“Happy birthday!”
“Happy holidays!”
Happy, happy, happy - Let’s just ignore reality and imagine nothing but pleasantness and no difficulty. Our benedictions tend to be very upbeat and positive, but not very realistic. Biblical benedictions do not do that. They do not take a head-in-the-sand approach to suffering. Peter gives a benediction here and he is not afraid that mentioning suffering will ruin it at all. The suffering actually plays a role in the blessing.
Ok, so the first thing you have to understand about God is that He still desires to bring you into glory, which means you can count on the fact that He will provide strength during this present struggle. Of course He will provide the strength. Why wouldn’t He? If He calls you to something that means that is what He wants. He is not going to be indifferent about whether you get devoured by the enemy. If His desire is for you to make it to glory, why would He not provide you with all the strength you need to make it to glory? We get all that from the concept of calling - He called you to glory.
2) Eternal
And not just glory, but eternal glory. He called you to something eternal. When God called you, He did not call you to try out for the team. “Give it your best shot - maybe you’re the right person for this job; maybe you’re not - we’ll give it a six- month trial period and see what happens.” No - He did not call you to something short-term. He did not call you just for something in this world. He called you to eternal glory. That is what it said on the invitation the day you became a Christian. And if God is calling you to something eternal, He is not going to allow your tank to run dry halfway there.
3) God of Grace
Thirdly, if you have doubts about whether God will provide you with the strength you need, look at the title Peter uses for Him: God of all grace. Grace is the supply of absolutely everything you need. Would the God of all grace be so miserly with grace that you wouldn’t have enough to do what He calls you to do? “God of all grace” - does that sound like someone who would call you to something and then make it impossible for you to obtain it? If your employer assigns you to a task in New York, and he also happens to own an airline, is he going to make it impossible for you to get a flight? He is the God of all grace; you had better believe He will supply enough of that grace to enable you to persevere all the way to the end.
4) Through Christ
Fourthly, notice how God called you. He did it in Christ Jesus. It is through the work of Christ - through the cross - His death and resurrection – it is by means of all that that God called you. Did God put His own Son to death for something that He has mixed feelings about following through on? Is He going to be half-hearted about bringing your soul to glory after having paid the highest imaginable price for it?
5) Himself
And don’t overlook that word, himself. That is the fifth observation. It says God will, Himself restore you. Peter wants us to think of it as the very direct work of God. Not just something He set in motion, not just a situation where He gave us a roadmap and said, “Good luck.” It is something He is intentionally, directly carrying out.
God delegates a lot of things, but this is something He does very directly. He has to - who else could do it? Who else could be there for you when you are all alone and need the strength the most? Who else can be there with you when you have been abandoned by your family or spouse or friends? Think of where you need this strength - inside your heart. Who else can go there? Who else even knows what is going on in there? Who else could weep with you in the dark of night and hold you when you are all alone? Who else could be with you in the secret place in your soul that you can’t even describe to your closest friends? This is something God wants us to think of Him doing directly, not indirectly. He Himself will do it.
6) Powerful
11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
When you see a phrase like that in a doxology (To him be the power), that means to God belongs all the honor for all power that exists. God deserves all the credit for all power, because God is the source of all power. And that is a sixth reason to believe that God is willing and able to supply you with all the power you need to persevere. He is the source of all power that exists. He has more than enough to spare. There are no power rations in heaven. There are no rolling blackouts of grace in His kingdom during the high usage hours. However much power you need to overcome a particular temptation you are dealing with - however much strengthening and enablement you need to do what is right and follow God’s way - however much empowerment it would require for you to be steadfast and unwavering all the way to the end - there is more than a million times that much power available to you right now.
Stand Fast
So we have everything we need. But again – that is not an unconditional promise. There is something we need to do. Peter circles back to that in verse 12.
12 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.
We need to stand fast in the truth of God’s Word. Everything Peter has written in this book is the true grace of God. The message of 1 Peter is basically this: Live in light of Judgment Day, fearing God, loving one another, avoiding evil and being built up. Humbly obey authority and follow the footsteps of Christ through suffering and into glory as we fulfill our role as God's household, temple, and priesthood. This is the Word of God. It is not the opinion of men. It is not just another person’s point of view. It is the only source of true grace. God supplies the grace, and then He calls us to remain in that grace.
Stand fast in it.
That phrase with the help of Silas probably refers to the fact that Silas delivered the letter. Silas may have helped write it as well. We know that Silas co-authored 1 and 2 Thessalonians. And he is also the one who delivered the letter written in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem counsel (alone with a guy named Judas). Peter endorses him as a faithful brother - perhaps because Silas’ job was not only to deliver the letter, but to explain it and teach it when he arrived. And Peter says I have written you briefly, encouraging you and testifying. Encouraging - that refers to all the things Peter has told us to do (the commands in the book). And testifying - that refers to all the things Peter has affirmed as true (the information in the book). And our job is to learn it and stand fast in it.
Then the closing greeting:
13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together (lit. co-elect) with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark.
Most scholars take the phrase "she who is in Babylon" to refer to the brothers in Rome, because that is where Peter and Mark were. We are not sure why he would call it Babylon instead of Rome. Possibly because this whole letter is framed in terms of comparing the scattered Christians to being like Old Testament Israel at the time they were driven out of their homeland by Babylon. Babylon was the first place God's people ever had to learn how to live amongst the world. And that is a major theme in 1 Peter - holy living while mixed in with the world as strangers and aliens. Then one final command:
14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
A kiss was a very warm greeting - normally reserved only for family or your closest friends. Our normal way of greeting one as believers should be unusually warm - beyond the ways the world greets their friends. Then Peter wishes them all peace - overall well-being.
Conclusion
The supply is there - all power belongs to Him, and He is the God of all grace. The willingness is there - He called you to eternal glory. The earnestness is there - God showed how serious He was about this by sacrificing His own Son to get you to glory. The foresight and the plan are all there - God planned right from the start that you would come to glory only after passing through a short time of suffering. God is clearly motivated to follow through on these promises. So when He promises to restore you, and to strengthen and empower you, and to give you a solid, enduring, immovable foundation so that you can persevere through all the suffering, you can take that to the bank.
Does that mean the protection is absolute in this life, or that it is automatic? No, it is all still contingent on faith. You have to trust Him to get all this power. And there is a considerable danger that Satan’s efforts to destroy your faith might work, which is why you need to be so alert and vigilant. Verse 8 has not disappeared. But if you are alert, and you do put on the spiritual armor and fight in the way God has instructed us, then you will be safe. God is motivated to bring you to glory, and so He will not hold this strength out of your reach. All you have to do is trust Him. All you have to do is trust in the most trustworthy Person there is. All you have to do is entrust yourself to the God of all grace. Will you do that? Will you trust Him? He called you to eternal glory, He wants you to make it to eternal glory, and if you fight this war by trusting Him, He will restore what is broken in you, make you strong, make you firm, and establish your roots so deep that no storm of life will overpower you. And He will do that so that He will receive all the glory and the power, forever and ever, amen.
Benediction: Greet one another with a kiss of love.
As we dismiss, remember that we are a family, and our Father is calling us to a level of warmth and love that goes way beyond the way unbelievers greet their friends. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, but how about you just take your normal level of warmth and affection and try to ratchet it up just one notch? And not just with your little circle of friends, but find someone you don't know and greet them too.
1:25 Questions
1) Which form of strengthening are you most in need of right now - restoration, strength to do what is right, or establishment (immovable foundation)?
2) What passages in God’s Word would be good to study and trust to gain that strength?
