It is 1 Peter 5 again this evening,
1 Peter chapter 5, and
we're going through from verse 5 to the
end of the chapter this evening.
I think we're all agreed that this 1
Peter has been a great book for us
to study, no doubt at all that Peter
was a man sent from God.
And I think in these verses at the
end of this book and at the end
of this chapter, we see Peter at his
best as a teacher, because he's teaching practical
things.
And there are one or two places throughout
this great letter, first letter of Peter, where
we have seen him in his practical teachings,
and every time we've been moved and thrilled,
and so many have come and said, you
know, that was really wonderful, it was Peter
at his practical best.
And at the end of this chapter this
evening, he's not only Peter the teacher, but
he's teaching us lessons, lessons that we all
need to learn and then put into practice
day by day.
That's why I put at the beginning of
the chapter, Peter the teacher, lessons for us
to learn and we should practice them day
by day.
You notice as he begins verse 5, he
uses the word likewise, because he's been exhorting
so many right through this letter.
You know, he's gone into every department of
the local churches to which he was writing.
He's taken these local assemblies and he's taken
them at times of the whole assembly of
the elect and he speaks to them like
that.
And then he took the whole crowd together
and he said, strangers and pilgrims.
Thought they were a heavenly people, but they
were wandering through this swift howling wilderness.
I think it's always well to remember this,
some get their way up with election and
adoption and so on, but you need to
remember that you're a stranger and pilgrim down
here marching to Zion.
Good combination he is.
And he talked to the whole assembly under
these headings, the elect and strangers and pilgrims,
but then he began to go into the
different departments of the church.
Let's go back and gather one or two
of these up.
See chapter two, and when he had spoken
to them there in verse 11, dearly beloved,
God receives you as strangers and pilgrims.
Then down the chapter he begins to take
sections of the church.
See verse 18, servants, and I pointed out
to you that the word in the Greek
is really slaves, because there were a great
many in these local assemblies to which he
was writing, in Galicia and Cappadocia and Pontus
and all over Asia Minor, there were a
great many in these assemblies who were still
slaves, the very rich Gentiles.
And you have to teach them how to
themselves are slaves.
And then chapter three, you remember the wonderful
night we had when he talked to the
wives, took all the married women in the
assembly and really talked to them.
I think that's a paragraph we will never
forget.
And then when he had spoken to the
slaves and the wives, in verse seven of
chapter three, he speaks to the husbands, and
I think that was even a greater night,
when all the husbands were spoken to.
And then he came back in verse eight
to the whole assembly, and he said, all
of one mind, the all of one mind
is talking to the assembly again.
And then we found out last week that
he talked to the elders in the assembly.
And now tonight he's talking to the younger
ones in the assembly.
I think that's very good departmental stuff, isn't
it?
Because that's the whole church he's talking to.
And these local churches he talked to them
as strangers and pilgrims, and as the elect
of God, and wives, and husbands, and elders,
and now the young.
And he's saying this to the younger ones
in the assembly, it is likewise ye younger
submit yourselves unto the elders.
And it's not a matter of just an
older brother, it's the matter that this is
one of the gifts given to the assembly.
There are elders, and there are qualifications for
elders in this book.
And they're the rules of the assembly, and
you should know them which have the rule
over you.
And you should hold them very highly in
love for the work faith.
And sometimes the elders have caused to bring
a young man in, and very carefully.
And I can assure you all the elders
about this place are great men.
There is no question at all about that
in my mind.
There's Mr. Russell, and Mr. McCullough, Mr. Minnis,
and myself.
And there's one thing that's been inoculated into
us, and that is to have mercy.
We always have mercy.
But if you won't be taught to, we'll
not have any nonsense with you.
Because if you won't listen, we'll put you
on the street.
Because we're determined to rule this assembly for
the glory of God.
You'll get all the chances that there are
to listen.
And when we have to talk to you,
there'll be something to talk about.
And if you would listen to the book
now, you would learn that you should submit
to yourself.
You see, all that he's asking the younger
people to do is to respect the elders'
judgments.
And you ought to respect it.
There's nobody wants to do anything for your
only good.
It's always for your good.
Yes, there ought to be respect, you know.
I remember being in an office bearers' meeting,
not here, and I'm not telling you where,
when all the office bearers were really, absolutely
persuaded about something.
Only one man, and he ought to have
known better.
And he looked at me, and he nearly
hit me.
He said, I don't believe in this majority
rule.
And I said, well, there is only one
thing worse, and that is minority rule.
And so it is.
And if they could learn that, but also
it would never do them good.
For it's a stupid thing for to try
to make the minority rule the majority.
I know that the majority is not all
the great.
But I think there's a place in the
church anyway, and especially in the church meeting,
and especially in an office bearers' meeting, where
if the majority have their minds made up
one way, and you just don't say it,
the best thing you can do is submit.
And there are times, you know, in our
office bearers' meetings, and I'm so glad, you
know, that all the men of the deacons
and the elders, and not just men around
here, think very carefully.
And at times, I may have had something
on my mind, and it's been opposed.
And when the majority opposes it, I submit
to them.
And there have been times in my life,
when a month or two later, I found
out that they were right and I was
wrong, and it was a good job I
submitted.
Baptist church is not run by a pope
of any kind.
We've had meetings where we've all opposed things.
But it's a great lesson for the younger
to learn to submit, to be subject one
to another.
You know, Peter is teaching submission.
You'd think this was never mentioned in the
book, to hear some of them.
They'd love to come in here sometimes at
six months, say it, and rule the place.
They wouldn't know where to find Isaiah.
Ah, well, it won't work, you know.
Yes, I think it's a good thing for
all of us to learn this great lesson
and practice it.
In fact, it's a good thing to carry
into the home, too, and a good thing
to carry into the business, too.
Yes, Peter's teaching submission here.
And then he goes on quickly, because they're
related subjects.
He says, likewise ye younger, submit yourselves unto
the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to
another.
And then he goes on to the next
bit of teaching, and be clothed with humility.
You know, the word that's translated clothed, there's
a very interesting word.
It's a big, long Greek word, and I
can't say it right, and therefore I'm not
going to attempt it.
But I read it, looked at it, and
fiddled with it today, and tried to break
it up into departments, but it sort of
beats me.
Sometimes I do blame it on the bottom
teeth having no bottom teeth.
But never mind, I'm not going to have
a go at it.
It's a big, long Greek word, but I
know all about it.
But it means this.
It means, in literal Greek, wrap this round
you.
Wrap humility around you.
That's what it means.
And it has a root meaning in the
Greek language, which might mean girdle.
Of course, you know that you wrap a
girdle round you and tie it there.
This is all in Peter's mind, and I
think there was a lot more in his
mind when he said, wrap it round you
like a girdle man.
I think he was thinking of the night
in the upper room when Christ took the
towel and girded himself with it, wrapped it
around him, and became a slave to the
rest of them.
I'm sure he had that in his mind.
It would do us all good to follow
the Master like that at times, just to
humble ourselves, just to wrap humility around you
like a girdle, just to do for once
in your life what the Master did.
It's a lot of trouble.
You know, this great doctrine of humility, it's
linked with everything that's good because it's linked
with love.
Because the humble man, or a man who
humbles himself, is a man who loves.
And I can assure you it's linked with
peace.
For nobody that ever brought trouble into an
assembly was humble.
I'm sure it's linked with peace all the
time.
And I think it's linked with wrong suffering.
Oh yes, you know, you may get somebody
who says something behind your back and rattles
you when you hear it.
If you can only humble yourself and put
up with it, it's a great idea.
You know, I learned lessons in life, and
I had to learn some of them terrible
ways.
I went to preach at Monkstown Conference about
20 years ago.
A little man called Pastor Forbes was with
me.
He was a sedate wee man, always well
-dressed, usually wore a butterfly collar, they called
it in those days.
And sometimes he had the swallowtail coat on.
He was a dapper little man, but he
was a man of God.
There is no doubt about that.
And you know, he said to me in
the back room, he said, Willie, you're the
better preacher over me.
I'm preaching first, and I'm only taking about
10 minutes, and you can finish it with
it the way you like.
And I just submitted to this quite simply.
The little man preached, and he preached well.
And then the chairman got up, and what
a model of a chairman he was.
He talked about everything under God's heaven, only
the thing in hand.
And as you might know, I, as the
young man, got fed up with him.
And he talked for over half an hour.
He was wasting the meeting.
Because the little man had laid the basis
for this.
And I was sitting beside the little man,
and I said, when I get up, I'll
screw the head of that man.
And the little man never moved.
He just said to me, the fruit of
the Spirit, I can still see, it's a
straight forward, the fruit of the Spirit, love,
joy, peace.
And the next one is long story.
And then he said quite simply, you know,
there must be some place to practice it.
And surely today.
Well, I just got as much in about
two minutes as any man could take.
I got it in all right.
It just calmed me down.
Yes, this great doctrine of humility, it's linked
with love and peace and long-suffering.
And it's one of the great things that
Peter is putting out that we should practice.
You know, God promises something to the humble.
Here's what Peter actually says.
He says, all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility, for
God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to
the humble.
And then he goes on with this, humble
yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God.
That he may exalt you in due time.
And there's one thing that I can promise
all the younger members of this assembly and
all who are with us this evening.
If you can learn to submit yourselves unto
the elder when he speaks to you, and
you learn by grace to wrap humility around
you, God will give you more grace and
God will exalt you in due time.
There's a guarantee with this thing.
There's a guarantee that God will give you
grace and giveth grace to the humble.
And there's a guarantee that God will exalt
you in due time.
I think it's a great lesson to learn.
Oh, I've had to learn all the way
up.
It took me so long.
You do it quicker, please.
It'll be better for you.
But he not only teaches submission here, and
teaches humiliation.
You know, he teaches disposition.
He says in verse 7, casting all your
care upon him.
You know, I'm using disposition as the natural
tendency of your spiritual life.
This should be your natural tendency, to cast
all your care upon him.
You know, that's a knot that you need
to learn as you go along towards him.
Very difficult to learn, you know, because somebody
takes the text up and says, casting all
your care upon him, and they're worried about
something.
Because you know, when you're trusting, you're not
worrying.
And when you're worrying, you're not trusting.
There's something wrong with your trust.
And if you're tumbling all night about something,
there's something wrong.
And you need to learn how to cast
your care upon him.
Read after me.
Some people think they haven't learned, and they
get out of bed and get on their
knees, and take their burden to the Lord,
and then take it back into bed with
them.
And there hasn't been any casting at all.
You know, this word casting is a very
interesting one.
In fact, it's only twice in the New
Testament, so you shouldn't have too much bother
with it.
It's rendered casting here, which I show you
it over in Mark's Gospel, and I don't
think you would recognize it again at all.
Mark's Gospel, Chapter 2, please.
Mark's Gospel, Chapter 2.
See verse 21.
No man also saweth a piece of new
cloth and an old garb.
See the word shalleth.
Well, it's the same Greek roots as the
word that's translated casting.
And you know what we're talking about here
is patching, isn't it?
Saweth a piece of new cloth.
Mind you, when I was being brought up,
I know a lot about patching.
I'm ever so glad I came up in
the family I did.
I learned to bake there, because I had
to bake for 15 brothers.
I used to bake for the whole family,
and they all lived happily ever after.
And I used to do a bit of
patching too.
I had to do it because I was
the youngest one of the family, and all
the old clothes came down the line to
me.
Yes, you know, if my bigger brother, two
or three away from me, got a new
suit, he wore it out and tore it
and all the rest of it, and then
it came down to the next fellow, and
you know what he did with it, and
so it eventually came to me.
So I got brought up where you never
felt proud at all.
But my mother used to show me how
to cut the whole clean round where the
tear was, and get the piece of suitable
cloth and put it underneath, and it had
to be matched if needs be, and then
turn the cut piece in a little bit
and stitch it with very fine stitches.
And if you stitched it properly, it stayed
there.
And this is what you do with your
cows.
You take them to the throne of grace,
and you stitch them to the throne, and
you don't bring them back.
You leave them there.
Let me tell you, you can only stitch
your cares to the throne by real faith.
Yes, you have the needle of the promise
of God in your hand, and faith is
the thread that will stitch your cares to
the throne.
So you want to try patching them on
the throne of God, but you don't bring
them back.
And you use something to encourage you to
do this.
How lovely Peter puts this.
He says, casting, and don't forget the word
all, casting all your care upon him.
Let me put this lovely little devotional phrase
in here, for he careth for you.
You know he careth for you, don't you?
You know, our Lord Jesus Christ, in this
dispensation today, he has three wonderful titles.
He's the great shepherd of the sheep, because
he loves them, and he's the captain of
all salvation, and he's our great high priest.
And you know, if you would examine him
in these departments, you would find that the
great shepherd of the sheep, he really cares
for you.
You just go back to the 23rd Psalm,
and it says the great shepherd he's thinking
about, you know, and remembering you meet your
needs.
He never really wants you to meet your
needs, and he meets it in so many
wonderful and miraculous and blessed ways.
He will meet your needs until the journey's
finished.
And he guides your feet, he brings you
into, beside the still waters, leads you, guides
your feet, and he rests your mind, and
he restores your soul, and he calms your
fears.
I don't know who the 23rd Psalm standing
is.
And I know he cares, and if you
think him as the captain of your salvation,
he's put a helmet on your head, makes
you sure on the top story about things.
And he's put a foundation, he's given you
the sandals of peace, so that you're firm
and secure before the enemy.
And there's a breastplate on your breast, and
there's a shield on your arm, and a
sword in your hand.
This is his provision for you.
It was the captain that provided this equipment,
you know, because he cares, he knows you'll
be in the battle.
And if you think him as our great
high priest, you know, that he's able to
succor them that are tempted.
You know, just when you're tempted, sometimes he
comes and strengthens you.
Why?
Because he cares for you.
And you know when you're feeling down and
out, and almost under the juniper tree, remember
he can be touched with the feeling of
your infirmities, or he can sympathize, and remember
he can supply grace to help.
A time of need.
He's able to save you to the uttermost.
Oh, my dear friend, surely we must have
gathered this up long ago.
He really cares for you.
This helps you, you know, to go to
the throne, really attach your cares there, because
he cares.
There's an old German translation of this, I
think it's better this time.
It says, Kaufstein, all your care upon him,
for it matters to him about you.
Matters to him.
Maybe you think it doesn't matter about you.
I can tell you maybe it doesn't matter
about you to a whole lot of folks,
but it matters to him about you.
You're important to him about you, if he
cares for you.
You know, teaching is a great feature, isn't
it?
Teaching submission, and teaching humiliation, and teaching disposition.
And I think this is the great feat
of his teaching here, he's teaching fortification.
It's the breath here, I think, it says,
be sober.
Is that the word that's opposite to the
word drunk?
It is.
It's a very word, the opposite to being
drunk.
You know, when a man's drunk, his mind
is muddled.
All he knows is his own name at
times.
And you know, when you see a man
coming staggering down the street, and going from
side to side, and almost falling, for any
sakes, don't laugh.
There isn't anything to laugh at, as far
as I can see.
This man's senses has been taken away.
This man has sensed, this man has a
brain.
This man is probably an intelligent man, but
this man has taken alcohol until his very
senses have taken away.
There isn't anything to laugh about.
It's a horrible thing.
Now, as you walk through this world, you're
to be sober, he says.
He says you're to be vigilant.
Well, we have learned something about the vigilantes,
haven't we?
Bless them.
Yeah, there's some of them down in the
other quarter.
They're up all night looking after the books.
Bless them.
They're vigilantes.
They're on guard.
They're going to try to see that the
books in their district are not being hurt.
Oh, bless them.
Yes.
Well, in the spiritual realm, you're to be
sober, and you're to be on guard all
the time.
Never off guard.
You're one of the vigilantes, the spiritual sense.
And the reason that he hammers this out
is this.
You see, he's teaching fortification here, how you're
to be fortified.
He says, be sober, be vigilant, because your
adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about seeking whom he may devour.
I think that there's no argument against or
about the personality of the devil.
Peter is talking about oppression here, because your
adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about seeking whom he may devour.
And I think in the words of the
devil, and in the word he, you can
see the reality of the personality of the
devil.
He says, your adversary, it's not just the
reality of what you're taken up with, it's
the hostility that's in this personality that you
need to be taken up with.
He's against you.
You can make up your mind just now
there's somebody against you.
But it's not the reality of the personality
or even the hostility that we want to
emphasise.
He says, your adversary, the devil, as a
roaring lion, it's the bestiality that you need
to get into your mind.
Mind you, it takes a brave man to
face a lion.
And I would think that if there was
a lion let loose in the town tonight,
and it came into reports just now, you
would have bought a pass on those two
boys that's in the eyes.
They would come this way at some rate,
I can assure you.
Yes, you know, it's real, isn't it?
Ever hear a lion roar?
Well, once when I was half drunk, a
long, long time ago, I went to Dublin
for a day with a lot of boys.
And half drunk, I went round the village.
And when the keeper wasn't looking, you see,
I got over the chain and I whacked
this big lion, it was lying in the
corner, whacked it with a newspaper on the
head.
You've never heard such a wacky depiction.
It went mad.
It scared the life out of me.
It jumped to the height of the roof
and it hit those bars to the bottom
and you should hear the roar.
And drunk and all as I was, I
cleared off.
A roaring lion, the real thing.
Nobody that I know full enough to take
lip.
You know, people could preach, couldn't they?
You can see the reality of the personality,
you can see the hostility, your adversary, you
can see the bestiality.
Can't you see what he's about?
What he's about?
Can't you see the activity?
Some of the old millenialists tell me that
the devil's chained.
Chained at Calvary, they tell me.
People tell me he's walking about.
Which one do you think I believe?
I don't know what you're talking about.
This brute says he's walking about.
The old millenialists say he's chained.
Why do you think that?
He's walking about.
Man, he's walking about Ulster at this time.
There's no chains on them these days.
He's loose alright.
He gets a lot of boys to do
his work too.
Yes, you can see the activity, can't you?
Friends, can't you see the ferocity here?
Seeking whom he may devour.
It's the verse expounded for you.
You can see the personality.
You can see the hostility.
You can see the bestiality.
You can see the activity.
You can see the ferocity.
He's out to devour you, cannot he, young
preachers?
Out to devour you, young preacher.
He is.
He's a lot of ways of doing it
for you.
You can get too big for your boots.
You can think you're the whole tree and
he'll devour you if you do.
A lot of things he can do to
devour.
If he wants to devour your testimony, dear,
you could preach for the weekend then.
Yes, this is Peter teaching fortification, but let's
get the whole lot of it.
It says, be sober.
That is, be clear in your mind.
He says, be vigilant.
That's be on guard in your spirits.
And then he says in verse nine, talking
still about the devil, whom will resist steadfast
in the faith?
You know, your mind must be clear, and
your spirit must be on guard, and your
soul must resist the devil.
You know what Nicholson did, don't you?
Fella give him a bit of bother in
the meeting one night.
Oh, terrible bother.
And they put up with them for a
while.
And then old Nicholson came down from the
platform, just got them by the collar and
screwed it, drew them up there and threw
them down about ten steps as well.
Because he thought Nicholson was a softy, but
he made a mistake.
And Nicholson threw him out.
Coming in, you know, dust in the hands,
and an old lady in the back seat,
all pious, she says, the Lord wouldn't have
done that.
He says, no, the Lord would have thrown
the devil out of a man.
But I can't do it, sir.
I've got to throw man and devil and
all out.
Yes.
You've got to resist the devil.
When the modernists, so-called academics, come out
with their nonsense and deny the virgin birth
and all the other fundamentals, we must earnestly
contend for the faith.
In this book you're taught to resist Satan,
resist sin, and resist the source of every
evil against the fundamentals.
Those are the things you resist.
Good old preacher, you know, he's fortifying the
young saints.
He says, whom is this steadfast in the
faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world.
You know, some of us get into a
weak corner and moan, and we think we're
the only folks that's getting it rough.
Ah, get that out of your head, dear.
Your brethren that are in the world have
all had a time of it.
You're not the only one picked out, you
know.
The same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren
that are in the world.
My, what stories will be told when we
get home to heaven, of how God kept
his saints in this tomb, and you'll find
this tomb blue all over the world.
Yes, Peter, the great teacher, is teaching submission
and humiliation and disposition and fortification.
He's teaching consolation.
The moment that he gets these younger saints
sobered up and on their guard and lets
them see the enemy, he says, but the
God of all grace.
You know, that's a great statement.
The God of all grace, who has called
us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus.
There's been an argument about this phrase, the
God of all grace has called us unto
his eternal glory, and some people stress the
on to and say that God has saved
us, that he might get glory out of
us.
So, that's perfectly true in the sense that
you get glory out of your salvation, but
I don't think that's the meaning here.
And others say that he has called us,
that when we're landed in heaven, he'll get
eternal glory for all eternity.
And that is perfectly true, too.
He'll be glorified as I stand faultless before
the throne.
I don't think that's what he's saying at
all.
I think what he's saying is this, that
the God of all grace has called us,
and that's an effectual call.
He's called us and we have heard and
responded.
All that is in the word called there.
He has called us out of darkness, and
it's not so much out of darkness into
marvelous light here, but he has called us
that we shall go to his eternal home.
That's the idea.
It's the eternal glory of the home of
God that's before us.
And there's no loss again about it, if
he has called you to partake in his
eternal home, then you'll get there over.
I don't know what the fiddle about the
lost again for when there are eternal things.
The minute you come to Christ, you get
eternal life.
Are you trying to tell me that you
get eternal life for six months?
What sort of eternity is that thing?
It's eternal life.
The gift of God is eternal life, and
it means eternal life.
That's what it means.
Whether you are you or not, it still
means eternal life.
And you can't say, I give unto my
sheep eternal life, but.
Oh, that doesn't work.
You can't use that sort of language.
If you give them eternal life, you can't
put any buts in it.
He's got eternal life.
You know, when Christ went back to heaven,
entered the glory land, what a moment it
must have been.
There's a man walking in with nails, with
nail marks in his hands.
And all along, heaven bows, every angel and
every seraphim and all heaven just bows down.
And he walks up the golden street towards
the throne.
And there's a voice comes out of the
excellent glory there, and it says, sit down
here.
And he goes and sits down on the
throne.
And this book says, he entered heaven by
his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for
us.
Was it eternal redemption?
Am I eternally redeemed at this moment?
Yes, I am.
Because I'm redeemed by precious blood that will
never lose its power.
You know, we don't only have eternal life
and eternal redemption, but we're called to his
eternal glory.
Oh, it's eternal salvation, all that.
He's the author of eternal salvation.
Yes.
Yes, you know, all the way home it's
going to be grace.
Grace that put me on the road, and
grace that keeps me on the road, and
grace that takes me on the road.
You know, there are three things that every
believer in here, it doesn't make a matter
of what kind of believer you are tonight.
Maybe you're down in the dumps a little
bit, maybe you've made the blunder or two,
and maybe you're down in the dumps, or
maybe you're even a backslider, but you know
that you came into the blood.
I'll tell you, there are three things that
belong to you, to everything here.
And one is grace.
Oh, it's the grace for you.
And the other is goodness and mercy.
I can look forward, I don't know if
I'm 1972 or 73, but I can look
forward into the dark, and I know that
surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
days of my life.
Can you say the shout?
That's how the psalmist said it.
I hear him quoting it sometimes in the
prayer meeting, and they say goodness and mercy
shall follow me.
It doesn't say any such thing.
It says goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life.
I am sure that the amazing grace of
God, and the great gracious goodness of God,
and the enduring mercy of God will always
be mine.
They can throw me out of here, but
I'll take grace and goodness and mercy with
me.
So it's mine the whole way through.
Don't you forget it here.
You'll get away beyond that of just now.
It won't be good for you.
Grace and mercy and goodness will always be
yours.
You don't need to buy nor accept it
for these things.
They're yours.
Here's what he did say.
He says, the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto eternal glory by Christ
Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while.
You know, grace and goodness and mercy will
always be with us.
Well, I can tell you something that will
always be with God.
Wisdom and power.
You'll never waken up any morning to find
that God's gone doping.
Always been a wise man.
And you'll never waken up any day to
find that God has lost his power.
He won't lose your senses and he won't
lose his power.
And sometimes while his children are enveloped in
grace and in mercy and goodness, in the
wisdom and power of God, he allows them
to suffer.
I wouldn't have learned a whole lot of
things except I had suffered.
It's a great school.
It's the place where you really learn.
And what Peter is saying to these young
folks, are all the old devils around, all
roaring about, the God of all grace has
called you unto his eternal glory.
After that ye have suffered a while, make
you perfect.
Now it's not sinless perfection that's there.
The word is the Greek word and it
could mean to fit you for the job.
Because there's nothing fits you for the job
like suffering.
And somehow it establishes you and strengthens you
and settles you.
Yes, you know, this is consolation.
That the God of all grace has called
you home, is working it out for your
good.
Don't forget that.
You know, you need to just shout the
way he did to him, the glory and
dominion forever and ever.
Yes, you know, he is teaching consolation.
And then he says, by Silvanus.
Oh, now here's something I think that you
might walk past and not see.
The word Silvanus and the word Silas is
the same word.
And many of us are wondering, is this
the Silas that was with Paul?
And I have a feeling it's the same
Silas.
It's just another way of writing that name.
It's written sometimes Silvanus and sometimes it's written
Silas.
And I think this is a very interesting
thing and I think it bit by bit
that you won't miss it.
You know, he's teaching commendation here and he's
commending this brother and here's a great thing
he has to say about him.
He says, a faithful brother.
Mr. Russell, our elder, and I are going
on Saturday night, God willing, to the induction
of one of our young men here as
the pastor at Ballygo Martyn.
And we've got to commend this young man
to the assembly.
And I don't think any one of us
will have any bother in saying he's a
faithful brother.
Mr. Russell had the great joy of seeing
him come up in his Sunday school.
And then one night he got gloriously saved.
I can remember he was sitting on this
very seat here, in that big fellow there
sitting.
You're a believer, aren't you?
Good.
Yes.
And he heard the words.
He was being asked to the roof.
And could hardly get out of the door
or go up the street friendly.
That night he was saved.
Thank God for him getting saved.
And he has grown in grace and he's
going to be the pastor down there.
And we're going to commend him to the
church and thank God we can do that
without a quiver on our conscience.
It's great when you can say about a
servant of God, he's a faithful brother.
Pastor Irvine is here this evening and I
can say about this man, he's a faithful
brother.
Yes.
And Pastor Sam is here from Perth.
Sam Zaffran.
It's only my mind goes slow sometimes.
And I can say about that character there,
he's a faithful brother.
He's a good soul like there's ever was
one.
Yes.
Isn't it great when you can say it
without any trouble.
Elder Peter is great at this commendation and
he's teaching the church here.
And he's saying, by Silas, a faithful brother
unto you, as I suppose, I have written
briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the
true grace of God wherein you stand.
He's just telling them that although you've had
to suffer a lot, because it's the suffering
assembly or assemblies that he's writing through, and
the real core of the matter of 1
Peter is suffering.
You remember we've been through it again and
again, suffering for faith's sake, suffering for conscience'
sake, suffering for righteousness' sake, suffering wrongfully, suffering
as a Christian.
He says, you know, that's the true grace
of God.
Lots of people try to tell you that
there's a source of salvation in this world,
that if you accept it, the wind will
never blow in your face again.
That's not the grace of God at all.
This that you saw as I've gone through,
this is the true grace of God.
But here's what I want to connect for
you.
He says, the church that is Babylon.
And you'll notice, if you look carefully, that
the word church is in italics.
And there are only two translations which say
she that is a Babylon.
And some expositors think that he's talking about
his wife, because Peter had a wife all
right.
But he does say this, the church that
is Babylon elected together with you, salutes you,
and I can't accept that he would pick
out his wife and say that she was
elected together with all you Jews.
I don't think he's talking about her.
And some of the other expositors think that
it's a great spiritual woman that was at
Babylon, and I don't think he would pick
out a spiritual woman out of the assembly
and say he salutes you and was elected
with you.
I think that our good common teachers here,
our good translators rather, that they've got the
right words.
That it is the church which is at
Babylon.
Because that brings in something that we should
know.
If you know when Paul went out with
the gospel and he was going to go
into Asia, the Lord wouldn't let him.
And the Lord turned him and sent him
to Europe.
Ah, well, Peter went right out east to
Babylon.
Oh, they tried to tell me he went
to Rome.
I can tell you he went to Babylon.
That's where he went.
And that is literal Babylon.
That's a way in the other side of
the Syrian desert.
It's a way in Mesopotamia.
Literal Babylon.
And there was a church there, and Peter
was there.
He said it's the church that is at
Babylon, he's talking about.
But that's not what I'm after.
He says the church that is at Babylon
elected together with you salutes you.
And so does Marcus, my son.
And this word Marcus is the word Mark.
It's John Mark he's talking about.
Now, sometimes the preacher uses phrases that he
might be pulled up on.
And this is one you could pull Peter
up on.
Marcus, my son.
He wasn't Peter's son at all.
And I'll tell you this, he wasn't even
his son in the faith.
Now, but this young man has become survivable,
and has done so many things for him,
and has attended to him in his old
age that he can say in a sense,
Marcus, my son.
And before you pull the preacher up and
call him a liar, try to find out
the sense that he's talking in.
Because for some years, so simply, you'd never
find it.
I hear people coming over phrases of mine.
They don't seem to get the sense at
times.
But isn't Peter using the phrase?
And our Lord used phrases like this, and
Paul used phrases.
He just says, Marcus, my son.
And he means it in a certain sense.
And there's nothing wrong with it at all.
But you know, I want you to get
the hold of this.
He has sent this letter to these assemblies.
He sent it by Silas.
And here we find that Mark is with
him too.
Both Silas and Mark with him at the
end.
And that's very interesting.
Because let's go back to do this properly.
Let's go back to the Acts of the
Apostles for a moment.
And we're at Acts chapter 12.
The Acts of the Apostles.
And we're at Acts chapter 12.
Now Barnabas and Paul, or as he was
then called, Paul of Tarsus, they're just going
out into the work of the Lord.
And it says at the end of chapter
12, verse 24, that the word of God
grew and multiplied.
And Barnabas and Saul, that's Paul, returned from
Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry and
took with them John, whose surname was Mark.
They took this young man with them.
They took John Mark with them.
They're going over to Cyprus and they're going
into Asia Minor taking this young fellow with
them.
Now it says in chapter 13, now when
Paul, verse 13, chapter 13, verse 13, now
when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos
and they came to Perga in Pamphylia, and
John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
Well this young fellow got cold feet.
Paul was a great warrior and he walked
in for many dangers.
And I think he was setting the face
far too hot for this young fellow and
he ran away from the work.
John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.
And then it goes on through this chapter
and the next one where they were working
in Asia Minor and it comes to the
end of chapter 15.
They had been back to Jerusalem after the
first mission in Germany and they're going to
start out again, verse 36.
And some days after, it's chapter 15, verse
36, some days after Paul said unto Barnabas,
let us go again and visit our brethren
in every city where we have preached the
word of the Lord and see how they
do.
And Barnabas determined to take with them John,
whose surname was Mark.
That's the same fellow, giving them a second
chance.
But Paul thought not good to take him
with them who departed from them from Pamphylia
and went not with them to the work.
Paul wasn't agreeing with this at all, he
didn't think he was absolutely fit for the
journey.
And the contention was so sharp between Paul
and Barnabas that they departed asunder one from
the other and so Barnabas took Mark and
sailed on to Cyprus.
But Paul chose silence and departed, being recommended
by the brethren unto the grace of God.
And he went through Philly and Philly, confirming
the church.
And you see, these two young men come
into this very prominently, and John Mark says
that doesn't please Paul at all.
And Paul set him aside and took silence.
Now it's very wonderful that Paul in later
years restored Mark, because when he's writing to
Timothy, he says, Mark, who is precious unto
me, is the word for the ministry.
But it's very wonderful to think that both
these young men, when Paul was imprisoned, or
maybe beheaded, that both of them swam right
across the world and sought a problem to
be with people.
And silence and Mark, of course, they're with
people at the end, when Paul sins.
Yes, God directs the steps, even if there
are contentions, by the way.
I could tell you some wonderful stories.
You know, the first time I was ever
at a church meeting in a Baptist church,
the deacons had a fight.
You ever seen the deacons with a coat
on?
It was like Armageddon.
I couldn't understand it.
I was just saved.
The treasurer got the coat off, and the
secretary got the coat off, and it took
about ten to hold on both back and
ahead.
The big fellow who was the secretary said,
if it wasn't for the grace of God,
it was the grief of God and ten
men.
Yes, and the church was split from end
to end.
And I'm sitting, I was a drunkard who
was saved, and I only saw this thing
in a pub.
I got the biggest shaking of my life.
And I went out into the street and
walked around the street, and an old man
who was a godly man came after me
and said, son, you don't understand this.
I said, I don't understand anything about it.
I thought they only did that in pubs.
He said, look, you forget about it.
Some of us have got to get out.
We're starting a wee meeting in another hall.
If you want to come along, you'll be
welcome.
I said, I don't know what all this
is about, but you're a good man, and
I'll go with you.
That's all I know.
This little meeting that started out of this
contention, I wasn't five weeks in this, this
old man said to me, you and I
will preach next Sunday morning.
I said, yes, all right.
He said, that's right, you'll have to sit
in all week at your bible, and you
and I'll take a meeting.
And I would never have been pushed into
the mix, only for the love.
Because God works all things together, you know.
And Silas and Mark were being trained up
to help Peter at the end of the
day.
God knows what he's about all the time,
and don't you forget it.
Here's how Peter closes this benediction, isn't it
lovely?
He says this, yes.
He says, the church that is at Babylon,
elected together with you, salutes you, and so
doth Marcus, my son.
Greet thee one another with a kiss of
charity.
That's an all-Eastern custom, when they meet
they kiss on either cheek.
You can see the Russians doing it, and
they still do it in France.
They don't do it here, it's a good
job.
I knew a wee Methodist minister who did
this, way down in the low country.
He kissed all the women that came into
the church every night, stood in the books,
and they were lined up in queues for
the Lord.
For I assure you were not starting up,
sir.
Very wonderful that he ends the letter by
saying, peace be with you all.
Because I think he must have remembered that
when the Lord stood in the upper room,
when he'd gone to Calvary, almost the last
word he said to them was, my peace
be with you.
Right in the mouth of the whole way
through.
First you've gained something by the letter, next
Tuesday we're going on into the second epistle.
And there's some strong meat in that one,
when we come to the end of the
day, and the elements burning with fervent heat.
Peter proves to be a great man of
God.
I think we'll sing the glory songs tonight,
949.
We sing it.
Dear Lord,
part us in thy fear, and with thy
blessing, for thy holy name's sake.
Amen.