Strength from God

Intro.

This morning we find ourselves in the final portion of our study through 1 Peter, and I do hope that each of you have been blessed by this study and grown in Christ!

In our last lesson, we walked through 1 Pet. 5.6-9

1 Peter 5:6–9 LSB

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be of sober spirit, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished among your brethren who are in the world.

This week, we will find ourselves mainly in verse 10, and then we will quickly see Peter’s farewell and a couple notable things therein.

Last week, we talked about the need to be humble among each other and under the hand of God — for the blessing of the humble is the grace of God! We are to throw every worry onto God, because He cares for you and will meet every need of yours! And finally that we must be on the constant alert against our adversary, because in stressful times, our pride and other temptations will be easily flared.

Now, we enter into our final time with Peter for now: 1 Pet. 5.10-14

1 Peter 5:10–14 LSB

10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, strengthen, confirm, and ground you. 11 To Him be might forever and ever. Amen. 12 Through Silvanus, our faithful brother as I regard him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and bearing witness that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! 13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ.

“After A Little While”

Peter begins by saying, “After you have suffered a little while,” and I think to myself about times of suffering I’ve experienced. When you’re in the thick of suffering, it doesn’t feel like “a little while,” does it? Yet, in hind sight it really isn’t very long in view of the years of life or the length of eternity!

Peter, saying “a little while” literally is saying “a short time.” So this suffering would be, at least comparably, a short time. Meaning, ultimately, it would not last forever! The flame is hot, the environment is hostile, the pain is very real — but the time will end! In 2022, I learned to remind myself on my bad mental health days of the quote “this too shall pass,” and incorporated the phrase “it’s only a moment” into my vocabulary. That reminder was a great help in those days. Here, Peter is giving them the same encouragement and then some! Because, he does not stop at telling them that it will only be a short time, but he goes on, “the God of all Grace who called you into His eternal glory in Christ...”

I think of Paul words in 2 Cor. 4.17

2 Corinthians 4:17 LSB

17 For our momentary, light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,

Paul’s afflictions do not appear as “light” or “momentary” — yet in the face of what awaited him through the endurance of his trials, he knew that the gain was worth the pain! And I ask myself, how often do I truly believe that the gain is worth the pain? And I know I must repent of my own hesitance and laziness in Kingdom work!

Then, Peter finishes this sentence, “will Himself restore, strengthen, confirm, and ground you.” What exactly does he mean?

Restore

Literally, the word means to repair or to prepare for service of some kind. The same word is used when we see Jesus meeting the disciples who were “mending” their nets.

Peter is saying that after their suffering is complete, “after a little while,” God will Himself mend them and prepare them for His service! They are broken now, but they will be repaired and God will fit them for His use!

Strengthen

According to a word study commentary, this word is akin to words like steadfast. In other translations, it is translated as “establish” — effectively, it means that God is going to set you firm. Some translations use the word “support”

They may feel on shaky ground and shaky knees, they would soon be firmly set and sturdy!

Confirm

This is the only time in the whole NT where this word is used.

It means to being given strength. To understand it better, let’s think of the words opposite. In English, some of our grammar is rooted in Greek. The prefix “a-” means “not, without”. “Asymmetrical” means not symmetrical! Well, the opposite of this word using that prefix is “weak, sickly”. So I think of a returning of physical strength after having been ill! If you’ve experienced the flu, surgeries, COVID, or the like you know what that return to strength is and how rejuvenating it is! That is what this word seems to be saying!

They have lost some strength through their trials and sufferings, and they are weary. But God would return strength to them!

Ground

This word can also be translated as “established” but it is a different word altogether. This word means to be well founded.

Mat. 7.25, Col. 1.23 use the same exact word for being founded and firmly grounded.

After their trial and sufferings, once they have endured the time for the suffering is over, they will be set and well grounded by God and in Christ Jesus!

And Peter concludes this saying 1 Pet. 5.11

1 Peter 5:11 LSB

11 To Him be might forever and ever. Amen.

And it is appropriate that after telling them about such an incredible grace from God as these four things are, that he should take a moment praise Him who does this for His suffering children!

This Life or the Next

One question may be, is that for this life or the next? I know one commentator believes it to be the coming glory we will share in heaven. But also, I believe God will do these things as we endure sufferings in this life too! Certainly, they will occur when we are in Heaven! But after we have suffered on earth, does God not then also give us strength and support and restoration?

1 Peter 5:12–14 LSB

12 Through Silvanus, our faithful brother as I regard him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and bearing witness that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! 13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ.

Final Things

“This is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!”

What is the true grace of God? Either it is these last 4 things he has told us will happen at the end of all our suffering in this life, or it is the sum total of all his teaching in this letter! And is 1 Pet. not full of God’s grace and how to lay hold of it in suffering? My instructor at Sunset would say this grace of God is the whole of the letter, that is why we were breaking it up into those subdivisions. Because we, in Christ, have grace even as we suffer!

“Those in Babylon” — this is nearly universally considered to be a metaphor for Rome, and I think that is the most sensible answer as to who Babylon would be.

“Greet one another with a holy kiss” — this is how we greet one another! In the ancient near east, just like in many cultures today, it was customary to greet people with a kiss on the cheek. So what makes it holy? That we greet one another as children of God! Our greetings to one another should be special because we are the family of God in Christ our Lord — how we greet one another should reflect how we love one another!

“Peace to you all who are in Christ.” — This is a final blessing, a prayer of sorts over them that in Christ they find total and deep peace. And given their circumstances, it’s something they need! Have you ever been through a period of time when you felt no peace in your soul? Well, brethren, I think we all have likely! However, it is necessary for us to know that in Christ, peace is always available! Peace is always readily given to us from God because He gives good gifts to His children! We have only to have faith and cast our anxieties on Him!

Conclusion