Inspired P.S. #5: The Benediction Given

Introduction to Peter's Final Words and Prayer for Illumination

0:03 Please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter and chapter 5. 1 Peter, chapter 5. I shall read the verses that I have been designated as a spirit-inspired P.S.

0:19 to the letter, Peter's final words to those saints scattered throughout the churches in Asia Minor in this portion of the Word of God that we call 1 Peter, a general epistle, that is, a letter not sent to any particular local church but to groups of God's people scattered throughout those Roman provinces named in the opening verses of the letter. And now as he brings the letter to a close, he writes, verse 12, By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I account him, I have written unto you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this...

1:02 This is the true grace of God. Stand fast therein. She that is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you. And so does Mark, my son.

1:15 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be unto you all that are in Christ. Well, let us again seek the face of God in prayer and ask that the Lord will open up His Word to our understanding and enablement and enable us to feed upon Christ Himself as His Word is preached. Let us pray.

1:42 Our Father, we have addressed You as the God of Bethel, the God who came to the ancient patriarch and pledged that You would meet and supply all of His need. We thank You that in the new covenant we have Your promise. My God shall supply all of Your need according to His riches, in glory, by Christ Jesus. And we now have need of the Spirit's present ministry.

2:12 O Lord, I pray that I may know that dimension of the Spirit's work without which it is impossible to open up Your Word to the blessing of Your people. And together we pray that that special aid of the Spirit will be given to each of Your people who sit here in this place. And for those...

2:35 for those who are not Your own, who are yet dead in sin, O Lord, we ask that You would be merciful to them and may Your Word be a word of life giving power to their hearts even in this hour. Hear us as we plead for these mercies through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. In Matthew chapter 4 and verse 4, Jesus said, It is written, Man shall not live, but by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

The Nourishment of God's Word and the Structure of Peter's P.S.

3:20 And by quoting that verse found in Deuteronomy 8, 3, our Lord underscored, among other things, the fact that there is true nourishment of the soul in all of the words of God. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Now, some of the words of God are like a well-spread banquet table or like that buffet table at some of the local restaurants that serve as their specialty a midday or evening buffet. You know, sooner walk in the restaurant and you can smell the smells going up from the steam tables and the minute you get within visual sight you begin to see all of the lovely things that are there. And some of God's Word, is like that well-spread banquet or buffet table. You can almost smell the blessing from afar. And when you look upon it, you know that there is much upon which the soul can feed with great delight.

4:27 Chapters such as Ephesians chapter 1, Romans chapter 8, John chapter 3, they are like a well-spread visual filled with sweet odors banquet table. There are other portions of God, that are also nutritional and they are for our benefit. But they are more like certain exotic fruits that are encased in rather ugly looking skins. And it's only when you peel away the skin that you lay bare the juicy fruit within.

5:02 Or like my Brazil nuts that I spoke about several months ago with all their rough ugly surface. When you work through the external shell, there's some lovely, nice, sweet tasting nut meat within. Well, I think for me as a preacher, coming to this P.S.

5:23 was not like coming to a well-spread buffet table. It was like coming to Brazil nuts and certain exotic fruits. And I had to say to the Lord, Lord, I know this is Your Word. I know that every word is from You and is profitable.

5:38 But Lord, what in this is of profit to my own soul and to the souls of Your people? And I trust each of us who has been here over the last several Lord's Day could testify that indeed You have found every word of God is nourishing to the souls of His people. And what we've seen in this P.S. in verse 12 is what I call the commendation of Silvanus. The Silas of the book of Acts is the Silvanus of the epistles. And since he was the bearer of the letter and obviously with Peter, when Peter wrote the letter, he would not only be able to validate that the letter came from Peter, but most likely be able to explain some of the difficult parts in the letter. And so Peter commends him as a faithful brother.

6:32 And then we have the summarization of the letter. As to its relative length, Peter says, I've written briefly. As to its form, it is exhortation and testifying. As to its central theme, it is the grace of God.

6:50 And then following the commendation and summarization, we find the exhortation to stand firm in that grace. Stand fast therein. That is, within the true grace of God that has been displayed in this epistle. Then last Lord's Day, we looked at the salutations conveyed, and commanded.

7:12 The salutations conveyed, she that is in Babylon, and we came, I trust, to some degree of at least moderate persuasion, that that's referring to the church at Rome, elect together with the believers in these provinces, sends greetings, and so does Mark. Those are the salutations conveyed from afar. And then the salutation commanded close at hand. Greet one another.

7:40 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Now we come this morning to the fifth and final element in this PS, the benediction given. Peace be unto you all that are in Christ. Some of you have a translation that says, in Christ Jesus, amen.

8:02 And some of us have translations that stop with in Christ. And I don't want to go into textual matters from the analogy of Scripture, there are many benedictions that do close with the fuller name Christ Jesus, and with an amen. But there are, in my judgment, compelling reasons to believe that Peter just ended the letter with the word Christ. Peace be unto you all that are in Christ.

8:30 And surely the only Christ to whom Peter refers is Christ who is Jesus of Nazareth. And surely Peter can add from his heart his own affirmation, as he did in chapter 4 and verse 11. So be it. So nothing's lost.

8:47 Something may be gained to say that you believe those words were there, but whatsoever is not of faith is sin. And I am persuaded with many sound, evangelical, Christ-loving, Bible-loving students of the word, that the text does end with the word Christ. All right? We have the benediction that is given.

Defining the Fundamental Elements of a Biblical Benediction

9:09 In these very brief words, peace be unto you all that are in Christ. And we begin this morning with trying to address what I'm calling the fundamental elements of a biblical benediction. If I were to ask you right now to write out on a piece of paper your understanding of what is a benediction, what would you put on your piece of paper? What is a benediction?

9:41 Well, I hope you would. I would put something that at least approximated words like this. It's an act of pronouncing a blessing upon someone. That's a benediction.

9:52 You might say to someone as they drive away, The Lord bless you, brother. You're giving a benediction. Or you might say, The Lord be with you. You're giving a benediction.

10:02 It's the opposite of a malediction or an imprecation in which you wish ill or judgment upon another. So, the whole concept in our usage of the word of a benediction is an act of pronouncing a blessing upon someone. But now we want to ascertain what are the core issues of a biblical benediction. Peter is writing by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and he concludes his letter with this very brief benediction, but it is a biblical benediction and it carries with it all of the weight and all of the elements of those core issues that constitute a biblical benediction. What are those fundamental elements of a biblical benediction? Well, I want to demonstrate from the scriptures that there are three elements involved in a biblical benediction. First of all, it is an authoritative pronouncement of blessing by one appointed by God, to deliver it.

11:13 I give you that again. It is an authoritative pronouncement of blessing made by one appointed by God, to deliver it. And now we need to go back to our Old Testament roots. Turn please to Deuteronomy.

11:31 Deuteronomy chapter 10. In the first 15 minutes, we're going to be tightening our seat belts and working through a number of passages, because we want our Bibles to frame our understanding of what a biblical benediction is. All right? Deuteronomy 10 and verse 8.

11:52 Here in Deuteronomy, as Moses is rehearsing the story of the giving of the Law and the establishment of the theocracy, he writes, Deuteronomy 10.8, at that time, the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark, of the covenant of the Lord, now notice, to stand before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name unto this day. The tribe of Levi alone was designated as the appointed tribe to bear the ark of the covenant, to stand before the Lord, to minister unto him, that is, in the priestly office, and to bless in his name.

12:44 Only those of the tribe of Levi were warranted to bless in God's name, that is, with God's authority standing behind the blessing that they give. Leviticus 9, 22 and 23. Leviticus 9, verses 22. And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them.

13:10 And he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offerings and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting and came out and blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people. Moses, the designated mediator of the old covenant, and Aaron, who stands...

13:33 Moses, who stands at the head of the priestly line, they are given this peculiar privilege of blessing the people in the name, in the authority of God. Now we find this carried over into the New Testament. I want you to turn to the gospel according to Luke. And in the record of the appointment of the seventy, whom the Lord is going to send out to go before his face, giving them peculiar...

14:04 authority, special promises of how God will provide for them, endowing them with special powers as they announce that the kingdom has come in the person of the king. Notice what our Lord says to the seventy. Chapter 10, verse 1. Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place whither he himself, was about to come.

14:35 Now notice verse 5. And into whatsoever house you shall enter, first say, peace to this house. And we're going to see that that's the language of a benediction. It's the language Peter uses at the end of his letter.

14:51 And they are to come into the house and say, peace to this house. No verb. Peace to this house. There is this pronouncement, this authoritative pronouncement, of blessing that is made in the name and in the authority of the Lord Jesus.

15:12 And he goes on to say, if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him. The blessing you pronounce will actually be conferred if there is one worthy to receive it, but if not, it shall turn to you again. Who is to go into the house and say, peace be upon the house? One duly appointed by the Lord Jesus.

15:40 And here the pronouncement of peace gathers to itself the wonderful realization that the kingdom of God is come. Verse 9. Heal the sick and say to them, the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. So gathering to itself this word peace pronounced as a blessing in a home that receives, those duly commissioned by Christ, is a peace that begins to flower with blessings attached to the coming of the kingdom in the person of the Lord Jesus.

The Declarative and Conditional Nature of Benedictions

16:20 So what is the first element of a biblical benediction? It is an authoritative pronouncement of blessing made by one appointed by God to deliver it. Secondly, it is a declarative pronouncement underscoring God's special covenantal blessing towards His people. A benediction is a declarative pronouncement underscoring God's special covenantal blessings towards His people.

16:56 Turn to Numbers chapter 6. This is a watershed passage if we're to understand the nature of a biblical benediction. Numbers chapter 6. Here we have what is commonly called the Aaronic blessing or the Aaronic benediction.

17:19 Verse 22. Numbers 6.22. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and his sons, those appointed.

17:30 On this wise you shall bless the children of Israel. You shall say unto them, The Lord bless you. And keep you. Not may the Lord bless you, but the Lord bless you.

17:43 And keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. And it is all spoken in the singular, not the plural, just like the commandments.

18:01 God wants every Israelite to take this blessing to Himself when pronounced by the priest. So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel and I will bless them. They shall put My name upon the children of Israel. You see what He's saying?

18:23 When Aaron and those of the tribe of Levi would make the pronouncement of blessing, God appointed them to be His mediators, His instruments to confer His name, His name upon His people, and God says in connection with My covenantal commitments to My people, I will bless them. So that a benediction was a declarative pronouncement underscoring God's special covenantal blessings towards His people. The blessings of communion with Him, of the turning of His face toward them in favor, in all of the ways that that was spelled out in the Old Covenant. But now when we come into the New Testament, we see the benediction of 2 Corinthians 13-14 takes on all of the fuller revelation that has come in the person and work of the Lord Jesus and in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Here is the apostolic benediction. In its richest form found anywhere in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 13-14.

19:45 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. What is this? It's a benediction. It is a declarative pronouncement underscoring God's special covenantal blessings towards His people.

20:10 And in the New Covenant, what is that peculiar blessing? It is the grace of the Lord Jesus and all that it has brought to His people. It is the love of God that stands behind the gift of the Son, the mediator of the New Covenant, and the communion of the Holy Spirit. All of that redemptive blessing that has been made ours and is part of our own internal experience by the ministry, of the Holy Spirit.

20:39 This is a benediction that now gathers to itself the wonderful provisions of God in the New Covenant. So what are the essential elements of a biblical benediction? Well, we've seen two of them. First, an authoritative pronouncement of blessing made by one appointed by God to deliver it.

21:00 Secondly, a declarative pronouncement underscoring God's special covenantal blessing to His people. But thirdly, and this is critical, it is a conditional pronouncement which awaits a fitting response to be validated in the one who receives it. You say, give me that again, Pastor. All right, I will.

21:25 It is a conditional pronouncement which awaits a fitting response to be validated in the experience of the one who receives it. When the priest would pronounce it, when the priest would pronounce it, when the priest would pronounce it, when the priest would pronounce the Aaronic blessing under the Old Covenant, the assumption is that the one who receives the blessing is committed to being a covenant keeper. If an Israelite were a willful, deliberate covenant breaker, no amount of benedictions pronounced over him and toward him would in any way cause him to be exempt from the curses of the covenant that are spelled out in the Old Testament legislation. There had to be the fitting response of faith and obedience and covenant fidelity for the benediction, as it were, to take hold and be worked out in the life of an Old Covenant believer. And this is clearly indicated in the Lord's teaching to the Seventy in Luke chapter 10. Let's go back to Luke chapter 10.

22:42 The Lord does not say, the Lord does not say, go into a house and then ascertain the spiritual state of the one in the house and then say, peace be to this house, no. Look at verse five, into whatsoever house you enter, first say, peace be to this house. Now language could not be clearer. The minute the door is opened, you say peace be upon this house.

23:10 It's a pronouncement by an authorized messenger, it is a declarative pronouncement, underscoring God's special covenant blessing to his people. But is it unconditional? No, look at the next verse, next part of the verse. And if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him.

23:34 But if not, it shall turn to you again. You see what he's saying? You come into the house and you say, peace be to this house. Peace be to this house.

23:46 All of God's covenant blessings and grace that are now breaking forth in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the kingdom is coming near to you in the person of the king. Peace be to this house. All of God's covenant mercy and blessing is held out to you in the sovereign gracious disposition of God. Peace be to this house.

24:12 But now if that person shows himself to be something other than a son of peace, he does not receive you and your message in a disposition of faith and of obedience, does the blessing pronounced automatically rest on him? So that when you're driven out, he can always say, well, I'm in covenant relationship to God. I had one of the 70 come and he said, peace be to this house, all is well. He said, no, no.

24:42 If a son of peace is not there, . . . that pronouncement of peace shall turn to you again.

24:48 It's withdrawn. It is not unconditional. I know this is new ground for many of you. It was new ground for me, but I had to stand up this morning and say, what is a benediction?

24:59 So it drove me to my Bible and letting my Bible define for me what a benediction is. I'm persuaded and I hope I've persuaded you from the scriptures that whatever a benediction is, it involves these three fundamental elements. An authoritative pronouncement. It's made by someone chosen by God and has a right to make it.

25:23 Apostles were distinct mouthpieces of God. They were the foundation stones of the new covenant temple of God, as Peter describes it in first Peter chapter two of God's new humanity, the new Israel, chapter two and verse nine. And they had the right to pronounce benedictions as did Aaron. As did Moses.

25:46 It's an authoritative pronouncement of blessing made by one appointed by God to give it. It is a declarative pronouncement underscoring God's special covenantal blessing towards his people. It is a conditional pronouncement, which awaits a fitting response to be validated in the one who receives it. The key words are authoritative pronouncement, declarative pronouncement, conditional pronouncement.

26:17 Put it all together and what do we have? A biblical benediction is an authoritative, declarative and conditional pronouncement of God's covenantal blessings upon his people, encouraging and demanding a response of faith and obedience on the part of its recipient. And I can't whittle it down any more than that, folks. If God wanted to be simpler, I think he'd make it simpler in his word.

26:45 That's the best I can do. I hope you find it helpful. I'm reluctant to give you such a mouthful, but what shall we cut out? Put it together.

The Rich Significance of 'Peace' (Shalom) in Peter's Benediction

26:58 It's a biblical. A biblical benediction is an authoritative, declarative, conditional pronouncement of God's covenantal blessings upon his people, encouraging and demanding a response of faith and obedience on the part of its recipient. Well, having considered the fundamental elements of a biblical benediction, now, secondly, consider with me the rich significance of this particular benediction. Hopefully now we come to the last words of the epistle, better equipped to enter into the richness and significance of this particular benediction.

27:40 Peace be unto you all that are in Christ. Now, surely it's clear to all of us from the few words, the words of the benediction that the central issue has to do with the word peace, peace. If you're familiar at all with the New Testament, you know that most of the biblical greetings in the letters of the New Testament begin with the words grace and peace to you, often from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the standard greeting in which Paul and Peter take the existing framework, and the existing patterns of letter writing, and they take common ideas, and they, as it were, pump them full of rich biblical significance. And the common greeting is grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 and 2 Timothy, Paul adds the word mercy. I can still hear Dr. Ferguson,

28:44 when he preached on that, grace, mercy. It's hard for me to say mercy when I've got mercy in my ear. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. But when we come to the standard benedictions at the end of the epistles, grace takes the field.

29:05 Almost all of the epistles close with such language as grace to you, or grace be with your spirit, or the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And only here, and in a benediction in Romans 15, 33, Galatians 6, 16, and Ephesians 6, 23, and 3 John 14, is peace either sharing the stage with grace or taking over the stage completely. Now, the question is, what does the word peace mean? It surely must mean a lot more than it came to mean back in the wild sixties and early seventies when long haired, strung out radicals greeted one another out the door of their garishly painted Volkswagen vans and said, peace bro, peace. Whatever it means, means a lot more than that. And something completely different from that. What does it mean when he says, peace be unto you?

30:18 What should it mean to us? When we read the epistles, we read this epistle and many of them close with those words just as much inspired as the richest doctrinal statements in any of those epistles, peace be unto you, unto you all, unto you all in Christ. Well, if we're going to answer the question accurately, what should we think of the word peace as meaning? What should this mean to us?

30:47 We've got to ask the question, what would the word, peace mean to us? We've got to ask the question, what would the word peace have meant to Peter? And for you young people just beginning to come to grips with certain modern trends of philosophical and linguistic theory, we're now talking about authorial intent. What was Peter's intent when under the guidance of the spirit, he chose the word peace.

31:09 He didn't take the word grace, charis. He used that at the beginning, grace and peace to you. Now he simply says, peace be unto you that are unto you all that are in Christ. What did Peter mean when he used the word?

31:24 And what would the Christians there in Asia Minor have understood him to mean when they received the letter? That must be our concern. Then we can derive from that what it should mean to us. Well, remember, we underscored this in our opening studies of first Peter, when we took five messages on Peter, the man, and demonstrated his rich roots in Old Testament understanding.

31:50 He was a Jew, a kosher Jew. He was not a Pharisee, but he was a strict Jew. He had his mind steeped in Old Testament, much of it of course, with a skewed thinking about Messianic expectations so that he wants to forbid the Lord Jesus to die and said this will never happen to you. But nonetheless, a mind filled with Old Testament language and concepts, Old Testament theology, so that when Peter, used this word peace, it has, by the time Peter uses it, gathered to itself tremendous connotations and significance with deep, extensive tap roots in the Old Testament. All serious and responsible students of the Bible who believe in its unique inspiration by the Spirit of God, they all agree that peace in this passage has its roots in the Old Testament word, shalom. That Old Testament word, shalom, is used over 250 times in the Old Testament. And other words with the same root are used many more times.

33:04 So if we can grasp the significance of the Hebrew shalom, we are on our way to grasping the significance of the Greek irene. Peter says irene, to all of you who are in Christ. Peace. To all of you.

33:22 While those who study carefully and extensively the Hebrew language are all agreed in saying that the fundamental ideas wrapped up in shalom are wholeness, harmony, peace, health, prosperity, that that word gathers to itself all of those various connotations, and in some contexts one dominates above others. When those scholars sat down, the 70, to translate the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, when they found the word shalom, or its cognates, its family of words, sometimes they translated it with the Greek words in the family of the verb to say, sozo, sozine. They found certain times when shalom seemed to point to that wholeness and the blessing that comes with God's deliverance and God's salvation. Sometimes they translated it with Greek words in the family of words that mean to complete, to make something whole, to bring it to its intended end, telos, teleos, that family of words. And then other times they translated, they translated it with its Greek parallel, irene, peace.

34:52 In the theological word book of the Old Testament by Harrison Archer and Wolke, we find this very helpful statement. The general meaning behind the root of this word shalom and its family of words is that of completion and fulfillment and entering into a state of wholeness and unity, a restore. The basic idea is that of completion, fulfillment, entering into a state of wholeness and unity, a restored relationship.

35:33 Therefore, at the lowest level, you will find it used some 25 times in the Hebrew scriptures as a common greeting. You met someone, you'd say shalom. And at the lowest rung, what it meant is you had goodwill in your heart toward them and you wished them God's blessing. You were expressing wholeness, prosperity.

35:53 You were declaring there was no enmity between the two of you. If you saw someone coming down the road with whom you had an unresolved controversy, you wouldn't greet him and say shalom and turn away. No. Your actions would belie the sincerity of your words.

36:09 If you said shalom, you were expressing that there was no present enmity. There was amity. There was love. There was harmony.

36:19 And you wished him wholeness. You wished him blessing. At the lowest rung, it began to be used and is used in the Old Testament as a common greeting. At its highest rung on the ladder of significance, it seems to incorporate into itself all of the distinctive blessings of God's covenantal blessings upon his people, blessings which will find their most glorious fulfillment.

36:49 In the promised Messiah who will be called Prince of Peace. So that when we see the word used in the Old Testament, there are times, for example, in the Aaronic blessing when peace seems to be the capstone of all the blessing that was pronounced in that Aaronic blessing. Look at the language again there in Numbers chapter 6. Verse 24.

37:22 Verse 24. And the Lord bless you, keep you, make his face shine upon you, be gracious unto you, lift up his countenance upon you, and give you shalom. That is the pinnacle, that is the acme. As though it is the capstone over all that there is bound up in that Aaronic blessing if the God of the covenant will give to his people shalom.

37:51 Give them wholeness. Give them fullness. Give them completeness. Give them to know all that God in grace has held out to His people in the sheer sovereign love of His covenant commitment.

38:09 So then it should not surprise us when in the fullness of the time the Lord Jesus makes His appearance, this note of Him coming on a mission of peace is a dominant note. Look at Luke chapter 1. Now I know folks we're having to think this morning and we're not going into great heights of intense emotion, but we've got to hang in there if we're going to receive a blessing from the blessing. Of the benedictions. Luke chapter 1. Here we find in verse 79, Zacharias filled with the Spirit is making a prophecy on the occasion of the birth of John. What will happen in the light of this new breakthrough in the history of redemption?

39:00 Verse 76.

39:10 Luke chapter 1. Jesus Christ of whom John is the forerunner is summed up in the language the way of peace. The way of peace. It's not some little secondary issue. It is a dominant issue. Messiah's mission is to be found in opening up and revealing and guiding our feet into the way of peace.

40:06 And then the very familiar words of the so-called Christmas. Story. Luke chapter 2. When God manifests Himself to those shepherds on the hillside, what do they hear? Verse 13 of Luke 2. Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men in whom He is well pleased.

40:38 Glory to God the great end of this redemptive breakthrough in the birth. Of Jesus of Nazareth. Glory to God. Peace among men. The mission of the one born is peace among men.

40:53 It's all summed up in the words peace among men. Turn to Acts chapter 10. Now Peter's preaching. Preaching in the house of a Gentile.

41:04 And notice how he summarizes the earthly preaching ministry of Jesus. Acts chapter 10 verse 34. Peter opened his mouth and said, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fears Him in works righteousness is acceptable to him. The word which He sent unto the children of Israel, preaching good tidings of peace by Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all.

41:33 That saying you yourselves know that was published throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached. Think of it. The word sent to the children of Israel is summed up in these words. Preaching good tidings of peace by Jesus.

41:56 You see, this is no little secondary issue. If the prophetic word of Zacharias can say that Messiah is coming, you, John, are going to go before Him and He will open up the way of peace. And if the multitudes say, Glory to God, peace among men. And if the summarization by the inspired apostle of the earthly preaching ministry of Jesus is a proclamation of peace, this is no secondary issue, folks.

42:32 Turn to Ephesians chapter 2 and see the same emphasis coming through in the letter to the Ephesians by the apostle Paul. Ephesians 2 verse 13. Verse 13. Verse 13.

42:47 Verse 13. Verse 13. Verse 13. Verse 13.

42:47 Verse 13. Verse 13. Verse 13. Verse 13.

42:47 Now in Christ Jesus, you that were once so far off, you Gentiles, are made near in the blood of Christ, for He is our peace, who hath made both one, broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that He might create in Himself of the two one new man, so making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enemy, the enmity thereby. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and peace to them who were nigh. For through one Spirit we have our access, through Him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father. Do you see how dominant this is? Paul in summarizing the gospel that he preached, and when he preached it, it was Christ preaching through him. He says it was a preaching of Christ.

43:47 A preaching of peace. Peace to those who were near, to Jews. Peace to those who were far off, Gentiles. He summarizes his gospel as a preaching of peace.

43:57 And then if that's not enough, turn to Romans 14, when Paul is dealing with the whole subject of meats and drinks and holy days, and trying to get the consciences of believers sorted out on these issues, he makes this profound statement in verse 17 of Romans 14, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking. It is not comprised of whether you do or do not eat this food or that meat or don't eat this meat or drink this drink. No, the kingdom of God is concerned of larger concerns. It's not to be found in eating and drinking, but righteousness, acceptance before God on the grounds of the doing and the dying of another, and peace. The kingdom of God. Peace to all. Peace in the kingdom of God.

44:53 Peace in the kingdom of God. Peace in the kingdom of God. Peace in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is constituted of God's gracious work in the realm of peace, bringing objective peace between the alienated sinner and an angry God, who, while we were yet enemies in the person of His Son, reconciled us to Himself.

45:13 And then that peace that is imparted to our own hearts as a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5.22, for the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.

45:26 Now, we spend a good bit of time just doing a very select survey of the centrality of this concept of peace. Now, when Peter would sit down and write his letter, and he's coming to his closing words, and as he is prayerfully reflecting, and independence upon the Spirit of God picks up his pen, and he writes, I reine, peace. Be unto you all. You see why I said he meant a lot more than the long-haired, strung-out hippie with his V sign saying peace?

46:01 Flowing into that whole word, or the flowing into the word peace, is all of that marvelous, rich, Old Testament, shalom-induced perspective, where peace points to wholeness, to all the prosperity, and all of the wellness, and all of the harmony that God has now procured and wonderfully manifested in the person and work of the Prince of Peace, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. And He wants these believers there in those provinces of Asia Minor, in the midst of all of the realism of their present persecution, amidst all of the realism of their present persecution, amidst all of the realism of their present persecution, amidst all of the problems of how do we relate to unreasonable masters and unconverted spouses to their unreasonable husbands or wives, and in the midst of all of that, Peter says, look, I want you to leave the assembly this morning with this concept ringing in your ears. You are within the orbit of God's sovereignly declared shalom, His peace, and He extends to you in all the realism of your struggles and your trials and your opposition,

47:28 He extends to you all of His goodwill for wholeness in Christ, for harmony between yourself and your God, for peace, for all of the health of soul, and all of the health of body that is in the best interest of your soul. For whatever is not in the best interest of the soul, neither you nor God want, and Peter says, I want you to leave knowing that this is the word that I give to you as an appointed, duly designated representative of the Lord Jesus. I give this authoritative, declarative pronouncement of peace, and all you have to do is receive it in faith and in the strength and power of God's grace. Seek to walk and live as a servant of God. Seek to walk and live as a servant of God. A son and a daughter of peace, and all that is bound up in God's goodwill and favor, in that benediction, will be yours in your experience.

48:37 So, when we find the word peace in the apostolic greetings, and in the closing words of their letters in a benediction, how are we to understand it? It is to be understood as pointing to all the rich, new covenant significance of that peace. That wholeness, that harmony, that has been procured by the life, the death, the ascension of our Lord Jesus, and in the subsequent gift of the Holy Spirit. Think of it in this way.

49:09 To pronounce peace upon the people of God is to remind them of God's commitment to give what one old writer called all manner of necessary good, and all manner of true prosperity. All manner of necessary good, and all manner of true prosperity. This peace of Peter's benediction is the peace comprised of all the richness of the old covenant shallow, stripped of all that was distinctly temporal and earthly, now immersed in the blood of Jesus as mediator of the new covenant, and clothed with all the dynamism of the outpoured spirit. That's what peace is for us. The shalom of God, stripped of all that was earthly and temporal and carnal in the old covenant, baptized into the blood of Jesus, mediator of the new covenant, throbbing with the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, and that's what God sovereignly, graciously extends to you and to me in the new covenant. That's what peace is for us.

Christ as the Embodiment of Peace and the Source of Blessing

50:24 That's what peace is for us. That's what peace is for us. That's what peace is for us. The benediction, peace, be unto you.

50:30 As Edmund Clowney has beautifully stated it, Peter had himself received this blessing from the risen Lord. You remember, when the disciples are scared, witless, gather behind closed doors, and Jesus stands in the midst. What is his first word?

50:51 And in that context, you see what they were doing? They were taking all the peace of the old covenant shallow, and seeing it now funneled, through their risen and their now-present Lord. Peace be unto you. And it's very interesting.

51:12 Well, let me finish reading Clowney's quote. And now Peter had been authorized to pronounce peace upon those who received the gospel. The roar of the lion or the flames of persecution cannot overthrow the shalom of Christ's salvation. What was the last posture in which, the disciples saw their Lord?

51:39 How would Peter remember the last sight he had of Jesus with earthly eyes? Remember what it was? Luke chapter 24. It says, While the Lord is speaking to them, suddenly he begins to levitate.

51:58 He led them out till they were over against Bethany. Luke 24, 50. And he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came.

52:08 It came to pass while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. What do you think were the words of the Lord's blessing? Well, probably your guess is as good as mine, but I hope it goes in the direction of mine, and it's only a guess. I wonder, did the Lord now, as the embodiment of everything towards which the old covenant pointed, did he now pronounce the Aaronic blessing?

52:42 As finding its true fulfillment in himself? I don't know. That's one of the things we'll find out when we get to heaven. But this I do know.

52:53 Peter knows that the Lord leaves his own in a posture of blessing, benediction. So now he's going to leave those to whom he represents Christ. He started his letter, Peter, Apostle of Jesus Christ, unique, designated, representative of Jesus. I'm going to leave you exactly as the Lord left us, with a blessing on our heads.

The Designated Recipients: Exclusively and Inclusively 'In Christ'

53:22 Peace be unto you all that are in Christ Jesus. Now very quickly, having looked at the fundamental elements of a biblical benediction, the rich significance of this particular benediction now, note the designated recipients of this benediction. Look at the text. Who are the designated recipients?

53:49 Peace be unto you all that are in Christ. Here the designated recipients are all those believers in the Roman provinces who are identified with specific local assemblies. Yet note how they're described. Peace be unto you all the ones in Christ.

54:14 So you have two aspects. One is exclusivity. One is exclusive. And the other is inclusive.

54:22 This benediction is pronounced exclusively upon a certain category of the sons and daughters of Adam. Notice how they're described. Peace be unto you all that are in Christ. Peter's assuming that those to whom he writes are not spurious believers, but real believers.

54:46 And being real believers, they are in Christ. And that little phrase, in Christ, is the most pregnant, significant, profound, prepositional phrase in all of the Bible. In Christ, in him, in whom, it's found at least 160 times in the writings of the Apostle Paul, several times in Peter's writing. And that little phrase, in Christ, means that as Peter, in Christ's name, pronounces the benediction, he sees it over the head of the true people of God, who are without exception, every one of them, in Christ.

55:25 In other words, the relationship to Christ is not notional. It is not merely emotional. It is not the remembrance of a raised hand, or a walk down an aisle, or a decision made. It is a relationship of person to person.

55:45 They are in Christ. In Christ, from the human standpoint, by the embrace of faith. In Christ, from the divine standpoint, by the gift of the Holy Spirit. For he that is joined to the Lord, 1 Corinthians 6, is one Spirit.

56:04 The same Spirit that rested down upon our Lord, given to him, not in measure, but in fullness, that Spirit indwelling us, is the living bond of our union with Christ. Read the Upper Room Discourse when the Lord is saying, the Spirit will come as the Spirit of my own ascended risen glory, and when he comes, I come, and the Father comes, I will send him, and when he comes, we come. Great mystery, but profound reality. If any man is what?

56:39 In Christ. A new creation. The old is past, the new has come. You see, this benediction does not go out to all men indiscriminately.

56:52 It goes out to those who by God's grace are united to Christ. They're in Christ. And how do we get into Christ? 1 Corinthians 1.30 But of him, by his doing, are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1.9 God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. My friend, sitting here this morning, there are two people, those in Christ, those in Adam, and there's no middle ground.

57:27 Are you in Christ? Are you in Christ? Are you in Christ? Are Christ and you united in a bond that even death will not sever?

57:41 For the believer sleeps where? In Christ. And he will be raised in Christ. Your relationship to Christ is not one of union and communion, suffused with faith in who he is and what he's done for sinners, manifested in the reality that his indwelling has effected moral, ethical transformation in your life.

58:10 My friend, there's no benediction that hangs over you this morning. There is a sincere, well-meant, no tongue-in-the-cheek gracious invitation and command for you to repent and to believe the gospel and to go to Christ and you'll find him a welcoming Savior. But there's no benediction over your head. You know what's over your head?

58:31 Covenant curse. For he that believes not is condemned already. He that believes not, the wrath of God abides upon him. My friend, no benediction rests upon you if you're out of Christ.

58:44 Nothing but condemnation and wrath. And I plead with you as we come to the close of our studies in 1 Peter, what a tragedy it would be to have a man who heard so much about Christ and yet to be a stranger to him. I plead with you. Run to Christ.

59:04 Beg God that he will effectually and powerfully open your eyes to see the glory of Christ. That you may become Christ irrevocably for time and eternity. But if you're in Christ, in Christ, this benediction is upon you. You say, but how many of us look at the text?

59:25 It's not only exclusive, it's inclusive. It says, peace be unto you all. And that is a separate word in the Greek. Peace be unto you, he could have said, and then by reason people could say, well, I'm part of the all, therefore it's for me.

59:42 But he is careful to write, peace be unto you all that are in Christ. There were some in Christ who were babes, 1 Peter chapter 2. There were some still struggling with the patterns of the old life. They had wives struggling with unconverted husbands and slaves with irascible and unreasonable masters and all kinds of struggles and problems.

60:09 But Peter says, look, wherever you are in the scale of Christian maturity, wherever you are in the scale of Christian knowledge and understanding, it makes no difference. The benediction of God's peace is upon you all. It's upon you all. Peace be unto you all that are in Christ.

Pastoral Authority to Pronounce Benedictions and Living Under Christ's Blessing

60:36 Now as I close this morning, I'd be very surprised if some of you haven't asked the question that I've asked in my preparation. Lord, should those of us who lead the services pronounce a benediction on your people? Have any of you thought that this morning? Any of you have thought that?

60:55 Raise your hand. All right, yes, so good. I'm not that weird. I've got some other weirdos with me, all right.

61:01 And I confess, as I told my wife last night, I'm struggling afresh with that. One of the benefits of consecutive exposition, it forces you to come to grips with things that you may have wrestled with in the past. I'm not sure. Am I authorized?

61:16 Aaron and the sons of Levi were authorized to bless in Jehovah's name. That's clear. The seventy were authorized to come with a benediction. Peace be upon this house.

61:29 Apostles were uniquely identified and set apart. I don't know if as an ordinary person or pastor, teacher, I have a divine warrant to raise my hands over this congregation at the close of a meeting and say, peace be unto you all that are in Christ. Something in me would love to do that, especially after studying this and having my own mind and heart warmed by the truth. But you know, the comforting thought to me is whether I and my fellow elders and then if it were a persuasion from Scripture, then I know you, the Lord's people, would welcome it.

62:07 Where we come down on that issue is really irrelevant because whether any ordinary pastor, teacher ever raises his hands and pronounces a benediction, you live under the raised hands of Jesus. That's where we live, folks. We live under His raised hands. He is our great Aaron.

62:31 He is our high priest in the true sanctuary. Because He is there, the embodiment of all the virtue of His saving work in life and death, He secures all the blessings of the covenant and He holds out His hands over us saying, peace, peace, peace be unto you all that are in Christ. So, at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter, does it? Are you under those hands pierced for sinners, stretched out in ongoing blessing until, through that very blessing, we are brought safely home to Christ?

63:03 Are you under those hands pierced for sinners, stretched out in ongoing blessing until, through that very blessing, we are brought safely home to be with Him? And then the hands stretched out over us will embrace us and we'll sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. And if there's any embarrassment in heaven, I'm sure one of the biggest embarrassments will be how poorly we preachers set forth the reality. We tried, but God knows we fall so far short.

63:40 But I trust, dear people of God, that as we come to these last words of 1 Peter, God will write upon your heart this simple, closing benediction and that there will be an ongoing response of faith and obedience that will give you the joy of living under the conferred reality of all that God means when He says, Peace be unto you all that are in Christ. Let's pray. Our Father, how we thank You for all that You have revealed of Your grace and kindness to us in Christ. We confess, our Father, that when we see but the edges of Your ways, we are filled with a sense of wonder and at times even confusion. For so much that You have revealed of Your heart and of Your good will to us seems too good to be true. But we thank You that You have revealed it and we pray that You would strengthen our faith that we may not dishonor You by a groveling, sniveling unbelief

65:08 that lingers back and does not boldly affirm confidence that what You've said You mean and what You've said You will validate for You cannot lie. We pray for those who are not in Christ. Lord, we yearn for them to think that they would live another Lord's Day with no joyful heart communion with You the living God dead in their sins held in the cocoon of their own little world of stuff and things and mere mortals and what they can give them. O God, have mercy we pray that this day the cocoon would split by Your mighty finger and they would come out into the free and blessed experience of knowing the reality of fellowship with You through the Lord Jesus of heavenly things becoming the stuff of their joy and their pursuit and their delight. Help Your dear people our Father that we may more and more know what it is to live in faith in the confidence that the things You have held out to us in Christ are not held out to tease us but that we might feed upon them with Your love and Your love and Your love that we might feed upon them these exceeding great and precious promises that by them we might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

66:37 Thank You for Your word Thank You for Your day Thank You for the fellowship of the saints Dismiss us now with Your blessing resting upon us we pray in Jesus' name Amen