Steadfast In Suffering

The theme of my study tonight—my topic, the title—is “Steadfast In Suffering,” and verse 10 is the key verse. Then we’re going to go back to verse 5. To get us started, I want you to look at verse 10. Peter says, “But the God of all grace,”—Peter has magnified the grace of God in this first epistle—“who hath called us”—I love that—“unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while,”—there’s that theme of suffering in 1 Peter—“make you perfect,”—which is complete and mature—“stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Peter is writing to strengthen, establish, and settle us on the grace of God.

A great preacher of a generation past by the name of Henry Ward Beecher said, “God washes the eyes by tears until they can behold the invisible land where tears shall come no more.” God is with us in our sorrow; God is with us in our suffering; God is with us in our difficulties. Peter is writing to these suffering saints, and he describes as a letter to them in verse 10 that I have written to strengthen you, to help you to stand.

In this concluding closing section, Peter gives us four important closing admonitions to help us stand steadfast in times of suffering. I want to give them to you one by one as we go through the text, four things that we need to do and remember to be able to stand in the face of suffering. First, we need to be clothed with humility. Go back to verses 5-6. Peter says, “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility”—there it is—“for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” So, we should, verse 6, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he”—that is, God—“may exalt you in due time.” The first thing that we need to be able to stand strong in suffering is to be humble before the Lord.

Look with me back at verse 5. It opens with the phrase “Likewise.” Some translations render this “in the same way.” Why does Peter use that phrase “Likewise,” or “in the same way” in verse 5? Well, back earlier in the chapter, verses 1-4, Peter is talking to pastors, and he wants them to be faithful to feed the flock of God and not lord over God’s people, but they are undershepherds and that they should be humble. In verse 2, “Feed the flock of God;” in verse 4, they are to be undershepherds that, “ . . . when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory.” He now switches from speaking pastor to pastor or elders, which is a position in the church, to actually those that are younger and tells them to be subject or submitted to those that are older. In the same way that pastors are submitted to Christ, and they serve the flock, so they are to be humble before those who are older than they and to be more respectful.

Now, notice he says to young people, verse 5, “ . . . ye younger.” I want to point out something very important. Earlier in verses 1-4, when he talks to, “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder,” that word “elder” there, the same word that’s used here for “elder” in verse 5, but it’s in a different context and has a different meaning. Sometimes in your study of the Bible, a very same word in a different context can mean something altogether different. We have that in the English language. We can say the same word, but it can mean something different, depending on the context. The word “elder” in verse 5 means older person. The word “elder” in verse 1 means a spiritual leader. He’s talking more in general now to those who are younger that they are to have humility and show respect to those that are older. That’s an important distinction to make.

Peter is talking to the younger person, verse 5, to “ . . . submit yourselves unto the elder”—that is, the older person—“Yea, all of you be subject one to another,”—again in verse 5. It’s not just young people to older people. The question is, how old is old? I’m not going to go there, right?

I remember when I was first starting to teach the Bible. I was about 19, 20, and I had a Bible study, and somebody in their thirties showed up to hear me teach. I freaked out. I thought, There’s an old guy here tonight. He’s like a 30-year-old dude was here. It was really crazy. Obviously, I was quite young, and age is relative.

Remember in the good ol’ days when young people had respect for the elders? When you were younger, anybody that was older, you were careful in how you addressed them, how you talked to them, very respectful. He’s speaking to us in the church that the younger person should be submitted to the elder person—older in age in the Lord. Verse 5, “Yea, all of you be subject one to another.” It moves specifically, “Okay, young whippersnappers,” young people out there, “respect your elders.” All of you are to be subject one to another. Again, this shows us that submission isn’t just for a wife to her husband, but it’s actually to all of us, “ . . . all of you be subject one to another.”

Again, in verse 5, notice Peter’s word picture, “ . . . be clothed with humility.” I love this. Peter is actually again drawing from his own experience as he’s done earlier in this letter. It’s interesting in verse 1, he actually says, “ . . . and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,” and this he did witness in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then says they are to “ . . . be clothed with humility.”

In verse 2, Peter said that the elders were to “Feed the flock of God.” Remember in John 21 where Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Feed My sheep”? Peter had seen the Lord’s suffering in Gethsemane, and he heard the words, “Feed My sheep,” so now he’s passing that on to us as well and to spiritual leaders.

Peter exhorts us to be humble, and humility is the opposite of arrogance and self-conceit. We are to be humble. One of the marks of a true believer is humility. We’re going to see, “ . . . for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” We are to be humble and yield our lives over to the Lord.

Now note, Peter gives us two reasons in the text, verse 5, for our humility, “ . . . for God resisteth the proud.” Look at it, verse 5. That is actually a quote from Proverbs 3:34. The word “resisteth” is a military concept, and it means to set an army against in battle. It means that God sets Himself against. God is fighting against those that are proud, “ . . . but the proud [God] knoweth afar off.” This is God’s battle cry that He opposes, or “ . . . resisteth,” those that are proud. God declares war on the proud.

Then, verse 5, “ . . . and giveth grace to the humble.” I love this verse. God gives grace to the humble. It’s God bestows favor, God helps those who are humble. We are to be humble when we’re going through times of suffering. The way to be humble is to fix your eyes on the Lord realizing His greatness and His grace and our utter unworthiness, that we are not worthy of any of the blessings that God gives us, and that makes us humble as we respond to God’s grace.

Notice in verse 5 as well, secondly, that God “ . . . giveth grace to the humble.” So, “ . . . God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” How marvelous that is! So, what do we do? Verse 6, here’s the application, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he”—that is, God—“may exalt you in due time.” We’re not to exalt ourselves, we’re not to be self-promoting, we’re not to look for position, we’re to look to the Lord. We’re to humble ourselves and allow God to lift us up. It’s so very important. We’re not to be self-promoting, we’re to die to ourselves, “ . . . and take up his cross, and follow [Him]” and let God elevate us and let God lift us up and place us where He wants us to be.

I’ve always loved that verse where it says that God lifts us up, exalts us, and when it says, “ . . . in due time,” that means in His own time. Let God exalt you and bless you in His own time as you humble yourself before the Lord.

Humility is foremost an attitude toward God, and God blesses the humble but fights against the proud. If you’re going to survive in a world of suffering and difficulty and adversity, you’re going to have to let it humble you.

One of the ways God humbles us, by the way, is through suffering. When Paul had his “thorn in the flesh,” allowed by God, “ . . . the messenger of Satan to buffet me,” he prayed three times, “God, take it away.” God said, “No, I won’t take it away, but I’ll give you My grace,” “ . . . My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul was broken and humbled, and God blessed him and graced him with strength and elevated him and lifted him up. So, “ . . . be clothed with humility.” Now, again, that means that we are to clothe ourselves with a humble heart and humble attitude. Again, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet in John 12, and remember He got up from supper, took off His coat—His tunic, His outer coat—and put a towel around His waist, which is the badge of a slave, so that’s a picture of what we’re to do—serve other people humbly. He was “ . . . clothed with humility.”

Here’s the second thing we need to do, admonition, that is, verse 7, we’re to be casting our anxiety on God. He says, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” I love that. These are verses that Christians should definitely memorize. Amen? “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

The word “care,” of course, is referring to anxiety or worries. There are so many things we are anxious about and we worry about. We worry about our health. We worry about our wealth. We worry about our homes. We worry about our marriages. We worry about our children. We worry about our grandchildren. Maybe you have great grandchildren. Maybe you’re the elder that’s talked about here, you’ve got great grandchildren. You worry about all those issues of life, so we’re to cast that care, that worry, that anxiety…maybe you came to church tonight with worry. Maybe on the way to church tonight you were filled with worry and anxiety. Maybe you’re worrying about your finances. Maybe you’re worried about retirement. Maybe you’re worried about other issues or being alone. Cast that worry, that anxiety, those fears on God. Notice, “ . . . all your care,” big and small. Our past memories that weigh us down and our sins, our present pressures and stresses and issues, our future fears, they’re all to be cast on the Lord.

I’ve always loved this phrase, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” The word “cast” there in the Greek literally is a word that speaks of a once and for all act, a decisive act done once and for all. It’s the same word used for casting a net on the sea. Now, I’ve been to Israel a few times, not a whole lot, three times, and I’ve actually seen them throwing their fishing nets on the Sea of Galilee. It’s a beautiful freshwater lake, by the way. It’s not a sea as far as we would call the sea, it’s a freshwater lake about 13 miles long, 8 miles wide and just glassy, gorgeous blue water. I remember one time seeing this fisherman throw his nets onto the sea and seeing him hit the water, the splash, the nets going down, drawing them in full of fish. So, that picture is that of throwing your problems, throwing your anxiety, throwing your cares—casting them, once and for all letting them go—on the Lord.

The problem is that we tell the Lord about our problems, we don’t really cast them on Him, and then we just continue to carry them on our own. You say, “Lord, do You see this burden I have? Do You see this problem I have? See this care I have?” The Lord, says, “Yeah, yeah,” and He’s reaching out, “Give it to Me. Let Me carry it for you.” You say, “No, no, no, no, no, no. It’s enough that You saved me and take me to heaven and give me eternal life, I’ll just carry my burdens myself. I just wanted to let You know about them, Lord. Thank You, very much, but I’ll just carry my own burdens.” He’s like, “No, no, no, no, leave them with Me.”

I heard the story about a guy out on the country road with a big pack on his back walking down the dirt country road. A guy came along in a buckwagon with a horse and horse-drawn wagon. The guy stopped and said, “Hey, come on up in my wagon. I’ll give you a lift.” So, he climbed up on the buckboard. He’s got the backpack on, big weight on. They started off and went a couple miles down the road. The guy driving the wagon said, “You know, you don’t have to carry your burden any longer, you can put it in the wagon you’re riding on.” He said, “No, that’s not necessary. It’s good enough that you just gave me a ride. You don’t have to carry my burden, too.” How silly is that?

We do that with the Lord, “Lord, it’s just enough that You take me to heaven when I die. I just want to get to heaven. I just want to see the angels. That’s all I want,” and we carry our own burdens. I love that psalm that says, “[Roll] thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee.” Roll it on the Lord and let Him carry your burden and carry them and sustain you. So, cast them upon the Lord. That’s what we should do. It’s like throwing a fishing net on the sea. It’s so very, very important.

How do we cast our care upon God? Through prayer. Philippians 4, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” If you do this, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” So, cast your cares upon the Lord. I hope and pray that tonight that you will leave church with all your cares cast on the Lord, and not carry them yourself, before God. Cast your anxieties upon the Lord through prayer.

Why should we cast our cares upon Him? Look at verse 7, because “ . . . he careth for you.” This is an amazing verse that actually says God cares for you. Now, we know that God loved the world and He gave His only begotten Son. We know that God loves us, but we sometimes just miss that point that God actually cares for you personally and individually and intimately. Every issue of your life is of concern to God, so if you worry, you’re saying to God, “God, You don’t really care for me.” That truth that God cares about me and for me can be quite comforting as we as children of God, or as objects of His love and of His care. How marvelous that is!

I love that song, His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me. To think that God cares for me is obviously a very comforting thought. Jesus said in Matthew 6, we’ve just covered this in Luke’s gospel, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. . . Consider the lilies of the field . . . even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you”—and take care of you—“O you of little faith?” So, cast your fears upon God.

Here’s the third, be cautious of your adversary. So, the first, be clothed with humility; second, be casting your anxiety on God; and be cautious of your adversary. We have a devil who is out to get us. Verses 8-9, “Be sober,”—so, be humble, be anxiety-free, and—“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary”—there he is—“the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Whom”—that is, the devil—“resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

I want you to note some facts. First, we do have an adversary, and when you become a Christian you discover there really is a devil. You know, when you’re living for the devil, many times you don’t even know he exists; then, you give your life to the Lord and you discover there really is a devil, right? Not only did you discover that the Lord is real, but you discovered that there’s somebody who is out to get you and destroy your walk with the Lord. You don’t really have much trouble with the devil in that sense until you oppose him and you go the different direction, then you realize you have an adversary. Who is that adversary? He’s called the devil.

The word “devil” means slanderer or accuser. He’s also known as Satan, which is where we get our word adversary from here in the text, the devil. He was created by God as an angel, rebelled against God, fell from heaven, and became God’s archenemy; so he hates God, he hates the Church, he hates believers, and, by the way, Satan hates your marriage. Satan hates your children. Satan hates your pastor. Satan hates your church, and he does all he can to oppose it. So, we are to resist the devil, we’re going to see. The devil is powerful. He is fierce. He’s described here in verse 8, “ . . . as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

Have you ever heard a lion roar? Years ago we were with a family up in Portland, Oregon, and we were all the way across the zoo from the lion exhibit. The first time ever, and never since in my life, I heard a lion full-blown roar, and it just shook the whole area. It was amazing. Everyone just came running from all over the zoo to see that lion roar so loud. They can roar, and you can hear almost two miles away the roar of the lion.

Satan is powerful and fierce. We’re not to underestimate the power of the devil, but thank God, “ . . . because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Amen? But we do have a powerful, fierce enemy and he wants to, Scripture says, verse 8, devour us.

The word “devour” means literally to go down. So, what should we do, verse 8? We should, “Be sober, be vigilant.” “Sober” means to be self-controlled, don’t drink and get intoxicated, be intoxicated mentally or spiritually. Be sober-minded. “ . . . be vigilant,” means to be awake and not go to sleep or to be watchful, be alert. Don’t be unaware of the devil’s tactics.

In Ephesians 6, it describes the whole armor of God that we have “ . . . to stand against the wiles of the devil,” so we need to stand against him.

Notice we’re also to be resistant, verse 9. It says, “Whom resist stedfast in the faith.” Now, it doesn’t say that we resist him in faith, which would be true, but the statement here is “ . . . the faith.” Whenever you have the statement in the Bible with a “the faith,” it’s speaking of the body of truth that we believe in, the doctrine of Christ.

In the book of Jude it says, “ . . . earnestly contend for the faith.” He’s not talking about our individual, personal subjective faith that helps us to overcome the wicked one, and that’s true, but here it’s talking about the doctrine, the body of truth, that we hold to and believe. One of the number one ways Satan seeks to devour you is to get you to believe false doctrine. You must think biblically; you must think scripturally. You must have the Word of God hidden in your heart and your mind, and you must build your life on the authority of Scripture. Satan wants to do all he can to get you out of the Bible or neglecting the Bible or adding to the Bible or subtracting from the Bible or misinterpreting the Bible, so he misapplies the Bible in your life. Be careful. Stand in the faith, which Jude says, “ . . . was once delivered unto the saints.”

Then, be encouraged. Notice verse 9, “ . . . knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” In other words, you are not alone in your suffering. This is why Christians need to flock together. This is why Christians need to bear one another’s burdens and share your lives with each other and pray for one another. If you’re going through a difficult time, a trying time, a time of testing, you need to not only cast your cares on the Lord, but you need to have a brother or a sister, a fellow believer, that you can talk to and pray with and you can build each other up and encourage each other in the Lord. So, “ . . . knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” You’re not alone. You’re part of the family of God. It emphasizes the oneness and solidarity of believers. Others have and are fighting the same spiritual battles, so we need to be watchful. Amen?

Here’s the fourth, be confident of your ultimate victory. So, be clothed with humility; be casting your anxiety; be cautious of your adversary; and, fourthly, be confident of your ultimate victory. Let’s read it, verses 10-11, “But the God of all grace,”—this statement here, by the way, in verses 10-11 is two-fold, it’s both Peter’s prayer and Peter’s promise. It’s actually a benediction prayer. It’s a prayer and a promise, a blessing on the believers. He says, “But the God of all grace,”—I love that—“who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen,”—or so be it.

The body of the epistle stops right there in verse 11, and we’ll get the conclusion, verses 12-14. But what Peter does is closes with this prayer of blessing, a prayer of benediction, and a prayer that is a promise that God who starts in your life a work of grace, we will end in glory, you will end in heaven. Now, in verse 10, the King James renders it to sound like only a prayer, but almost all of the newer translations put it in the future tense making it a promised blessing that God is going to do. Peter is saying the devil may attack you, and you may stumble even, but God will not let you fall. You can be confident that God will give you strength to stand; ultimate victory is yours in Christ. There may be that you’ll lose a battle, but you won’t lose the war. Amen? You might stumble and fall, but He will pick you up. I love that!

Peter gives us four reasons to be confident in God and our ultimate victory. Notice them in the text, verse 10. First of all he says that He’s “ . . . the God of all grace.” How do I know that I’m going to make it to heaven? Good question. I’m glad you asked. Do you know how you know? God’s grace. God saves you by His grace, God sustains you and keeps you by His grace—“There but for the grace of God, go I”—and God takes you to heaven by His grace. It’s all grace. You might say, “Well, I have to repent, and I have to believe, and I have to surrender.” Yeah, there’s some truth to that, but it’s all the work of God’s grace for us.

As we celebrate Communion tonight, I never drink the cup and eat the bread but what I remember the grace of God for me, that God reached down in His grace and saved me by His grace, that God watches over me and sustains me and keeps me and draws me back to Him when I stumble and fall by His grace. I love what Jonathan Edwards said. You’ve heard me quote it a thousand times, “What begins with grace will end in glory.” God will do that perfect work in your life, “ . . . he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” So, we rest in His grace. He’s called, there in verse 10, “ . . . the God of all grace.” God is the source of all this grace. He’s “ . . . the God of all grace.”

The Bible says God’s grace, back in 1 Peter 4:10, God’s grace is manifold. A lot about the grace of God in 1 Peter, that means that it’s many colored, it’s many shaded. God’s grace is sufficient. I quoted it earlier, 2 Corinthians 12, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Whatever trial, whatever sorrow, whatever suffering, whatever difficulty God calls you to go through, God will give you His all-sufficient grace, and it will be all that you need to carry you through.

Here’s the second reason why we can have assurance of ultimate victory and that God is the God who has called us to His eternal glory, verse 10 again, He’s “ . . . the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus.” Sometimes we need just the reality to strike our hearts and minds that, “I am on my way to heaven.” When the outlook is bad, you do the uplook - right? - and you remind yourself, “I’m His child. I’ve been forgiven. It may be bad right now, it may be difficult now, it may be that the nights are dark and long, but I’m on my way to heaven.” The journey never seems that long when the way leads home, and we need to keep that in our perspective. We’re going to eternal glory. Notice it, “ . . . who hath called us unto his eternal glory.” Paul said, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Notice also that God’s grace will transform us. Thirdly, His grace will transform us. Look at verse 10. It says, “ . . . after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Notice that phrase, “a while,” a short period. You suffer for how long? A while, a short period. Basically, Paul is trying to point out “ . . . that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed,” so what we need to do is keep our present sorrows and our present sufferings in perspective in light of eternity. When we die and go to heaven, this whole life is nothing but a vapor of smoke, it appears and vanishes away. That’s why Paul said, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” So, keep the perspective. This whole lifetime is but one hour compared to eternity. Amen? He’s encouraging these suffering saints, “You’re on your way to heaven.” How marvelous that is.

God will make you perfect, verse 10. That means He will restore you, make you mature, put your life back together, make you whole, bring you to completion. God will also, verse 10, “ . . . stablish you, strengthen, settle you.” He’ll make you strong, firm, and steadfast. It means God will give us the strength we need in all our sufferings and our trials. Sometimes we anticipate problems that we haven’t even encountered yet, and we begin to get overwhelmed like, “How am I going to endure that?” We forget that God will give us His grace. He will strengthen us.

Fourthly, and lastly, He is the God who deserves all glory and praise, verse 11. He says, “To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen,”—so be it. So, to God be the glory, great things He has done. This is that closing doxology of that benediction or that prayer that Peter prays over the suffering saints that he’s writing to, “To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.”

Now, the conclusion, we won’t tarry on it, he says, verse 12, “By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you.” Silvanus is also known as Silas. Remember when Paul was on his second missionary journey and he went to Philippi, and Paul and Silas were arrested and thrown in prison and beaten and put in stocks when they were in prison? This is the dude. This is the same guy. He’d been through a lot of trials and trouble and hardship, and he was a companion of Paul and Peter as well.

It’s believed that actually Peter’s implying that he dictated this epistle, 1 Peter, to the believers through Silvanus or through Silas. You say, “Well, how does that affect inspiration?” It doesn’t affect it adversely, God spoke to Peter, carried Peter’s words, and then Silvanus wrote them down, so still we have the written Word of God.

He’s called, “ . . . a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly,”—he’s talking about his first epistle, the one we’re just finishing. “I dictated it to Silvanus, he’s a faithful brother, and “I have written briefly,”—he considered this five chapters short—“exhorting,”—that’s what 1 Peter is, it’s an exhortation—“and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.” This epistle is God’s grace in which we stand.

Notice verse 13, “The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.” We don’t know for sure, and I’m not going to go into all the different theories as to what he was alluding to, or referring to, by Babylon. It could’ve been literally Babylon; it could’ve been a reference to Rome. We don’t even know for sure. We’re hearing all the news right now about the new Pope and electing the new Pope. There is no sure evidence that Peter ever went to Rome or that Peter was ever in Rome. This “Babylon” some think may be a reference to Rome, but again, that’s just a conjecture or theory, and we can’t really be sure about that.

Some translations have “She who is at Babylon,” perhaps referring to the church in Rome or the church in Babylon or church somewhere else. We don’t really know, but it is the church that is, “ . . . elected together with you,” and he’s just saying they greet you, “ . . . saluteth you.” Who is this “ . . . Marcus my son,”? He’s also known as John Mark, and he’s the writer of the gospel of Mark. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, so he’s a traveling companion of Paul, and he hung out with Peter, evidently, so he is “ . . . Marcus my son,” Peter said. Maybe he had an influence on his conversion and discipled him. I don’t know.

Then, Peter closes with, verse 14, “Greet ye one another with a kiss of [love].” Does that mean that we should be kissing each other today? I’ll let you decide. The kiss in those days, in that part of the world, was a handshake today. It could be a hug, but it should be a holy hug. I kind of laughed today when I was studying this. I thought of people over the years, even men in the congregation I pastored, that used to give me a kiss on the cheek. There’s nothing wrong with that, if it’s a holy kiss. It’s a way to greet one another and love each other. It’s just basically a warm welcoming of one another. So, he says, “Give each other a kiss of love.”

“Peace be with you all,”—I love this closing phrase—“that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.” All the blessings of all God’s grace come to us because of Christ. Amen?

As we celebrate Communion tonight, let us remember that all our blessings are found in Christ by God’s grace. We’re saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And, “ . . . he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Amen?