10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 12 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.

The God of All Grace

Coming now to the end of his letter, Peter sets out to commit his audience to the God of all grace (10). Like a mother who has dropped their child off at college, a father who has walked his daughter down the aisle, or parents who watch their children move across the country, Peter knows he is limited in what he can do for his spiritual children.

He is no helicopter parent. Instead, he commits the churches -- churches that existed under the threat of marginalization, slander, and even persecution -- to God. Peter knew he could not stand with them but that God could. Jesus had promised his presence in the form of the Holy Spirit, and Peter trusted God's Spirit to accomplish the work among his people long after they were done reading Peter's letter.

In committing them to God, Peter thought of God as the God of all grace (10). Grace is unmerited favor. Grace is a gift. Grace is one-sided. Grace is undeserved. Grace is good. And Peter thought of God as the source of all the grace, all the unmerited favor, all the refreshing and good and undeserved gifts that only he can provide.

Peter knew him as such because he had interacted with Jesus. His list of failures and foibles is extensive. He'd rebuked Jesus for saying he would die (Matthew 16). He'd suggested Moses and Elijah were as important as Jesus at the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17). He'd fallen asleep when Jesus told him to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14). He'd chopped off the servant of the high priest's ear in a lame attempt at protecting Jesus (Mark 14). He'd denied Jesus when pressed about being one of his disciples (Mark 14). He seems to have been so discouraged about his behavior that, even after Jesus' resurrection, he thought he should leave the ministry and go back to fishing (John 21). But, after all this, Jesus restored him and chose to give him the significant task of launching the church and preaching the gospel to the nations (Acts 2, 10). Christ honored him with the position of Apostle, even allowing this bumbling man with terrible ideas to become a wordsmith who wrote Holy Scripture!

So Peter knew God as the God of all grace, and he saw how he needed to commit this suffering church to this God. I can relate. As a pastor, the task of disciple-making can be daunting. But, with God's help, we can form a beautiful community of Jesus-followers, people who are experiencing God's aid for the exilic Christianity we've talked about during our study of 1 Peter. It is only with God that we can live this brand of life.

So today, let's consider God and the grace he delivers. First, the grace of future glory. Second, the grace we need for life today. And third, the grace of our Christian community.

1. Grace of Future Glory (10-11)

10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Called To God's Eternal Glory

The ultimate destiny for every believer, according to Peter, is glory (10). He said God has called you to his eternal glory in Christ (10). Because of Christ, if you've trusted him, you are destined for future glory with God.

And Peter describes that future glory in four ways. One day, God will restore us (10). It is the way they would describe ships that were repaired after a battle or a massive storm. And aren't there times you feel life is like a battle or a storm? In the future, God will take all those who are in Christ and restore us.

He also said God would confirm us (10), which means God will one day make us steady or firm. Aren't there times you feel you're on shaky or unsteady ground, especially as a believer who is marginalized for their beliefs? The day is coming when God will give us a firm standing.

Then Peter said God would strengthen us (10). This means God would take these susceptible, vulnerable believers, Christians without any political power or societal influence, and bring them to a position of strength. And even though we have a rich Christian heritage in our society, don't you often feel that strength weakening? One day, God will bring us into full strength.

Lastly, Peter said God would establish us (10). To establish is to settle or give a firm foundation. And aren't their times as believers when we feel we don't belong? The day is coming, Christ's future glory, when we will be established by God.

All four of these actions -- restoration, confirmation, strengthening, and establishing -- overlap and crescendo as the final act of God. What Peter is promising is that God will put everything right one day.

A world where Jesus-followers can expect to suffer simply because of their association with him and his word is not the world as God created it. But the world as God intended is coming. God will put everything right.

After a Season of Suffering for Christ

So Peter has made the suffering church a major promise. The God of all grace will be faithful and give us the grace of future glory. He will make everything right, but only after we have suffered a little while (10).

We are used to options. How much data do you want on your cell phone plan? What channels or streaming services do you want? Unleaded, premium, or super premium? Grande, venti, or tall? The guacamole is an extra two dollars. Do you still want it?

I'm sure most of us would choose the suffering-free plan if we could. But Peter is clear with this marginalized church: you will suffer for a little while because of your connection to Jesus.

This message has come through loudly all throughout Peter's letter. We might object to this brand of Christianity, but in all honesty, it is normal Christianity. And since Peter believes it will end when Christ comes in glory and brings us to glory, we should expect it all throughout our Christian lives. You might be mocked. You might have to awkwardly stand out because your convictions are vastly different from the people in your life. You might be slandered or blamed for society's ills. You might have to be in classrooms that are actively trying to undermine the faith or biblical values. You might be made to feel you're hateful or have poisonous beliefs. You might even be persecuted someday.

But Peter's point is that the God of all grace will one day rescue us from any and all suffering and bring us home to glory. He will make everything right.

So the first element of grace Peter mentions is the grace of future glory. This promise is meant to instill hope in us. And hope helps us endure.

Dreaming of God's Dominion

Peter had this hope in his own heart. This Galilean Jewish fisherman had become an international apostle and missionary. He had gone throughout the world sharing Christ and making disciples. And, as he went, he saw the dominion of the Roman government. The iron-fisted peace they enforced would seemingly have no end.

But Peter saw above and beyond Rome's dominion to God's dominion. He prayed: To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen (11). And it is striking to think that Christianity far outlasted Rome. The Empire had everything they needed to crush the church, but it could not be done because the gates of hell would not prevail against the church (Matthew 16:18). Rome had dominion, but God has the true dominion.

You see, when you dwell on the promise of future glory in Christ, you begin to long for God's dominion to be made manifest. You start praying for it. You want it to happen in the future, but you also want it to happen in your life right now. So you pray, like Peter, for God to have all the dominion forever and ever. You know he deserves it.

So the first element of God's grace Peter mentions is the grace of future glory. The second is grace for life today.

2. Grace for Life Today (12)

12 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.

The Life Peter Described Is God's Grace

We will deal with Silvanus in a moment, but the first thing I want you to notice here is the way Peter described his letter. He thought of it as an exhortation and declaration of the true grace of God (12). This is especially fascinating when you consider the contents of this letter.

Peter began by calling his audience elect exiles that had been scattered throughout the territory of Asia Minor (1:1). He told them that they might need to be grieved for a little while by various types of trials (1:6). Because of this, Peter urged them to prepare their minds for action and hopefully in the coming of Christ (1:13). He encouraged them to live a life of holiness even though the communities they were in didn't live that way (1:14-16, 2:11-12). He told them that just as Jesus was rejected cornerstone, so they might also be rejected (2:4-8). He told them they were similar to Israel in the Old Testament, a small minority, but God's representatives on earth -- a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession (2:9-10). He preached to them of submission to authority as Jesus submitted to authority (2:13-3:7). He said they would be harmed even though they were zealous for good (3:13). He compared them to Noah, a man who endured for many years before seeing God's promise come to pass (3:20). He explained to them that Jesus suffered in the flesh and that they should arm themselves with the same way of thinking (4:1). He talked of being slandered, insulted, and harmed for the gospel (4:14-19). And he revealed our true adversary in all this is the devil himself, prowling about like a roaring lion, seeking God's people in an attempt to devour them (5:8-9).

All this to say, it is an amazing declaration when Peter says, "This is the true grace of God" (12). The life Peter described is one where God's favor and help and goodness and kindness and grace must intersect with our suffering or isolation or marginalization or persecution. In short, while suffering is released, so is God's grace.

This exilic Christianity is not fluffy Christianity. It is not a faith that avoids the fire but endures it. And Christianity as the minority, on the margins, without societal power, and in a secular world, is one of God's true grace. It is a grace-filled life. You cannot do it without a constant experience of God.

Too many of us want a light relationship with Christianity, but Peter is urging us to go all the way in. And to go all the way in, we have to be ready for hardship.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, after years of singleness (you could say his whole TV show was an idolization and misapplication of it), married. What ensued was some funny material comparing his single life to his married one. He said:

Whichever side of marriage you’re on, you don’t get what the other people are doing. I can’t hang out with single guys. If you don’t have a wife, we have nothing to talk about. You have a girlfriend? That’s Whiffle ball, my friend. You’re playing Paintball War. I’m in Afghanistan with real loaded weapons. Married guys play with full clips and live rounds. “This is not a drill.” Single guy is sitting on a merry-go-round, blowing on a pinwheel. I’m driving a truck full of nitro down a dirt road. (Jerry Seinfeld, Is This Anything?)

Too many of us want the Whiffle Ball, paintball, merry-go-round, pinwheel Christianity. But we have to embrace a Christianity that is dangerous, costly, and sacrificial. We have to embrace an exilic walk that leads to rejection, hostility, and just being plain different. Like Daniel, we have to learn how to live in Babylon, and Peter has instructed us how to do so.

Stand Firm in It

But I am not trying to give you a mere pep talk about living this exilic Christianity out day-to-day (a pep talk I need, by the way). I am trying to show you that Peter saw this life as the true grace of God. As we live this way, God will "daily bestow blessings, strength, help, forgiveness, and fellowship with himself, all of which we need, none of which we ever deserve. All is of grace, every day" (Grudem).

Let's become, ever-increasingly, a church that figures out how to live this way. As I've said from the beginning of this series, I am learning how to do this myself. I've tried not to unnecessarily scare you about the future. I've tried not to sound as if our culture is so far gone that no one could come to Christ. I've tried not to replace Peter's words about suffering for Christ with more general trials that impact everyone. I've tried to hold up European believers who are ahead of us in learning how to hold fast to Christ in a secular society. I've tried to say this really isn't about so many of the political things or things we've made political. I've tried to say that this is not an easy process or that I always know what to do.

I have merely tried to accurately represent Peter's apostolic theory on how to meet times of opposition for Jesus. And now I'm telling you that this life is a beautiful experience of God's grace. So, as Peter said, stand firm in it (12).

So we've seen the God of grace will give the grace of future glory and the grace we need for life today. As we close this letter, let's consider one last grace: the grace of our church community.

3. Grace of Church Community (12-14)

12 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.

Faithful Brothers and Sisters

Peter closes his letter with a cluster of greetings, thanksgivings, and exhortations. As he does, he mentions two men: Silvanus and Mark (12, 13).

Silvanus was likely the one to have delivered this letter to that region on Peter's behalf. He might have been the one to write the letter while Peter dictated it. Either way, Peter called him a faithful brother (12). He appeared elsewhere in the New Testament as either Silvanus or Silas and was one of the leading men of the early church.

Mark is the one who wrote the gospel of Mark. He was the nephew of Barnabas and bailed out on a missions trip with Paul earlier in life, something that angered Paul. His relationship with Paul was eventually restored, but he became a spiritual son to Peter, likely using Peter as the main source of his gospel record (13).

These men were a gift. I've told you the God of grace gives us the gift of our church community -- faithful gospel servants like Silvanus and Mark are part of that gift.

And when you are living out an exilic Christianity, it is a gift to have solid brothers and sisters in Christ to lean on and to emulate.

The Apostolic Word

But the Church community is more than faithful people like Silvanus and Mark. It is a community centered and founded upon the apostolic word (the Bible). Notice what Peter said: "I have written to you briefly, exhorting and declaring: (12).

After twenty-seven sermons on 1 Peter, you might not have the impression that Peter wrote briefly, but he did. It would only take us fifteen minutes or so to read through the entire letter aloud.

But looking back over 1 Peter, it is amazing how much he has communicated with so few words. His words are so densely packed with good stuff, and it has been the joy of millions of Christians to try to unpack them. As for us, it has taken me around 100,000 words to explain this letter of fewer than 2,400 words.

But that's the gift of the apostolic word -- it has this uncanny ability to speak. The words of the apostles are static -- they aren't expanding or being added to today -- but they seem to run and expand into every area of life. There is one true interpretation of each text, but billions of applications.

In Roald Dahl's children's classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the candy maker Willy Wonka invented a candy called The Everlasting Gobstopper. It changed flavors and colors when sucked on but never got smaller or disappeared. This is similar to the apostolic word (the Bible). You can spend a lifetime learning and enjoying the flavors and truths and applications of the Word. It is a true gift to an exiled church.

The Exiled Church

Speaking of, part of the church community God graces us with are other exiled believers. Peter closes his letter by saying the church at Babylon sent them greetings (13). Because Babylon in Peter's day was a small and obscure place, this is likely a reference to spiritual Babylon. In the Old Testament days, Babylon was the ultimate city of the world system. And it was the place many Jewish believers were forced to live in exile.

And because there is some evidence Peter ended up in Rome, most believe Babylon here is a reference to Rome. So the church in Rome greeted them. Like the Old Testament exiles in Babylon, these Roman Christians were figuring out how to walk with God in a society far from God.

There is something beautiful about believers who have learned how to thrive in Babylon -- how to flourish as Christians in societies far from God. And their presence is part of God's grace to us.

Life Together

But another form of God's grace in our church community is the life we get to live together. He said we should "Greet one another with a kiss of love" (14). This is similar to the way Paul ended many of his letters (he called it a "holy kiss"). There's nothing romantic about this particular kiss, but it was likely something stronger than giving a handshake or a fistbump. And though our culture wouldn't readily embrace a kiss, some cultures operate this way. For our culture, something like a hug is likely appropriate. I say this, knowing I have released all the huggers. My bad.

But though we might want to rush past this exhortation and dismiss it as a first-century practice, it is good to consider the ramifications. You cannot hug or give a holy kiss without personal contact and physical presence. I like and use technology for gospel work, but nothing can replace being together in person. You cannot hug online.

But why is this helpful? Because it is so much harder to hold a grudge against, dismiss, or remain angry at someone you are in physical contact with or proximity to. There is something about human touch and interaction that brings us to life, makes us feel welcome, and softens us to one another!

Peace in Christ

The final grace I will give you is the one Peter gave: "Peace to all of you who are in Christ" (14). For the life Peter described, through the tumult he detailed, we can have peace. In a sense, believers should be the most "at rest" people on earth. We know where we are going, who we belong to, and why people do what they do. We are loved, adopted, accepted, and chosen, recipients of grace. We have Jesus. We are in Christ. So, as we enter into an age of exile, we must allow his peace to be our rule (Colossians 3:15).