74. Silvanus the Faithful 1 Peter 5_12

1 Pet. 5:12 Silvanus the Faithful and taking spiritual inventory

It has been a few weeks since we were last in first Peter. Previously we looked at v11. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. That verse concluded the main body of the letter. Peter moves on to the closing remarks. The end of epistles just like the introduction are often overlooked. Paul reminds us in 2 Tim. 3:16 that all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, training in righteousness. With the introduction we saw the marvelous testimony of a transformed Peter from coarse fisherman to apostle of Jesus Christ by the grace of God through the work of the Spirit and here at the end of the letter we see again the marvelous work of Spirit.

1Pe 5:12-14  By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.  (13)  She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.  (14)  Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

General Observations

When we look at these verses, we see that there are three individuals mentioned and one command. There is Silvanus, and anonymous ‘she’, and Mark.

Silvanus is the Greek rendition of the Hebrew name Silas. If the name sounds familiar it should. He is mentioned in several places in acts and the Greek name Silvanus is mentioned several times in the epistles.

‘She who is in Babylon’ many believe it is in reference to a church. The are two possibilities for the location, either the actual city of Babylon which was located in modern day Iraq or the city of Rome. Since the actual city of Babylon was mostly in ruins it is most likely that it is referring to the church in Rome. Why use the language that Peter did and not just say the church in Rome? There are a couple of likely reasons. 1) It was a time that severe persecution was about to take place in the Roman empire. Domitian would be sewing Christians up in animal skins letting animals tear them apart and crucifying them and the burning them to light his garden at night. Referencing the church as she was in an effort to protect them. Referring to Rome as Babylon was relatively common at the time because Rome had just conquered Judah and Jerusalen in 63 AD and the Babylonians were the only other nation to do that. Is that a strange thing to do? No.

The symbol of the fish was used by first century Christians in times of persecutions to identify meeting places and one another. Why the fish? Because the Greek word for fish is ICTHUS. It is an acrostic which translated from the Greek means Jesus Christ God’s Son is Savior.

This morning we are going to look at Silvanus because he is addressed specifically, and more detail is given about him than the others.

I. Background

There is not as much known about the background of Silas as we do of Paul or Peter. But we can glean from the Scriptures something about him.

1. He was a Roman citizen – Act 16:36-39  And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.”  (37)  But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.”  (38)  The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.  (39)  So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.

2. He was a Jewish convert – how do we know this if there is no record of his conversion? Where he is first mentioned in Acts is chapter 15 at the Jerusalem council where they were discussing Gentile converts. If he was a gentile convert the discussion would have already been had and it appears that he was a resident of Jerusalem at the time. Act 15:22-29  Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,  (23)  with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.  (24)  Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,  (25)  it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,  (26)  men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (27)  We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.  (28)  For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:  (29)  that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

3. From this text we also see that he was one of the leading men in the church.

4. He was a prophet. Act 15:32  And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.

We tend to associate prophecy with the telling of future events, but the primary purpose of the prophet was the proclamation of God’s word. It was in the message that they preached that they were encouraged and strengthened. The OT is full of Scripture pointing to the inclusion of the Gentiles into the household of God. Such a text was mentioned in this chapter by James.

Act 15:14-18  Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name.  (15)  And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,  (16)  “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it,  (17)  that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things  (18) known from of old.’

So to summarize we can see that Silvanus/Silas was a Jewish convert who was a leading man in the congregation who was able to preach the Word of God.

II. A Faithful Brother

Faithful simply means in this context that he was firm in adherence to the truth and to the duties of being a believer in Christ. We can gather from the Scripture that he was faithful in several ways.

1. He was faithful to his church. He was a leading man who was apart of the discussion of the Jerusalem council. How do you become recognized as a leading man? He was recognized to be of good character and display Christian love and service. You cannot be recognized as faithful if you are not a regular attender of the church you are joined by membership. People cannot know your character unless they see it on display. He was also shown as faithful in submitting to the authority of the church in sending him out with Paul and Barnabas. It is apparent that it was not a forced service but a willing one because he didn’t just go to deliver a letter and give a message but stayed some time there.

2. He was faithful to go to the ministry that God had called him to through the church

Act 15:40-41  but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.  (41)  And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

We see from the text above that He and Judas had gone back to the church in Jerusalem and in this text had been commended by the same for missionary service with Paul. He was with Paul throughout the entirety of his 2nd missionary journey. He was beaten with rods and thrown in jail with Paul in Philippi. He sang hymns with Paul while in jail and proclaimed the gospel to the Philippian jailor and his family.

Silvanus was not only faithful to his local church but to the people of God as a whole.

He did not shrink back from the faithful preaching and teaching of the word no matter what it cost him. His faithfulness did not happen in a vacuum.

3. He was faithful in the everyday activities of the faith laying hold of the means of grace that God has given us in the Word, prayer, and fellowship. While this is not explicitly stated in the text; there is no growth in Christ to a mature Christian without being a faithful student of the word, its application to every day life and of prayer in the working of the Spirit.

III. Spiritual Inventory ‘As I regard him’

The verb regard literally means to take an inventory. This letter was written around 63 AD. Peter knew Silvanus at the Jerusalem council. He is one of the those that appointed Silvanus to go with Paul and Barnabus to Antioch with the letter written by the church. So it is with years of faithful service that Peter has watched this brother and not just watched but wherever Peter now was Silvanus was there with him.

This is where our application comes this morning. Take spiritual inventory of yourself. Would you consider yourself faithful? How is your personal time with the Lord every day? Do you spend it in communion with Him or do you read your Bible to check off the list of things to do? Is the farthest we get to our prayer requests simply acknowledging the request without ever actually bending of the knee?

Evaluate yourself in regard to love of the brethren. Do you love this community of saints and by extension Christians around the world? How do you display that love? Do you look for needs within our church that you can meet? Is there something you can do to serve? We must break out of the mentality that churches expect that pastors are to do all the visiting, all the praying, all the service. This line of unbiblical reasoning has gripped churches for a long time now and we are all the weaker for it.

John writes in 1Jn 2:7-8  Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.  (8)  At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

What is the old commandment? It is love your neighbor as yourself. What is the new commandment? It is Jesus expansion of that command. Joh 13:34-35  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  (35)  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

We must love one another sacrificially like Jesus did. How far did Jesus take loving us sacrificially? All the way to the cross. And that means there are times when we must sacrifice our time, even our comfort for the sake of one another.

IV. Mark the Restored

Who is this Mark? He is the writer of the gospel of his name. A disciple of Peter who apparently had as close a relationship to him as Paul did Timothy. It is the same Mark who left Paul and Barnabas during the first missionary journey and when Barnabas wanted to take him again has such a sharp dispute with Paul they went their separate ways. According to Col. 4:10 Mark is the cousin of Barnabas.

Act 15:36-41  And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”  (37)  Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.  (38)  But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.  (39)  And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus,  (40)  but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.  (41)  And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

The fact that Paul and Silas was commended by the brothers for their trip commentators believe that the church held him in the right. No such commendation was given to Barnabas and Mark. Other than Mark’s departure in the first missionary journey there is no reason given as to why he left.

But what we do is at some point there was restored fellowship between he and Paul. He is mentioned three times in Paul’s epistles.

2Ti 4:11  Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.

Do you see the testimony of the grace of God in these verses? In Silvanus the work of grace was that he was faithful, consistent in his relationship with the Lord, laying hold of the means of grace, and faithful to the ministry.

In another the church in what was probably Rome, can’t be 100% sure. But what we can be sure of, she was likewise chosen just as the churches Peter was writing to were chosen. As the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Asia Minor were elect exiles whom God had caused to be born again to a living hope so was she. As those in the churches just named were 1Pe 2:9  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 into his marvelous light. So was this church from whom Peter had written this letter. They were called out of darkness into His marvelous light.

And we see Mark who left a missionary journey and was the point of a sharp dispute between Paul and Barnabas who then at some point writes a gospel and is reconciled to Paul with the testimony from him that he was useful for the ministry.

Peter begins and ends his epistle with people saved by the grace of God and made fit for service by that same grace. Do you see the grace of God at work in you? Are you growing in your knowledge and love of Jesus Christ and is that growth expressing itself in service to others?

Benediction: Jud 1:24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,   Amen.