Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to Luke, Luke chapter 22, the chapter that we read. I'm reading for our text verse 32. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And it is specifically the Last part, the charge to Peter that I want to consider tonight, strengthen thy brethren.

Peter, in connection with this time, he was commissioned by the Lord to do two things. The first was our text, that when he was converted or when he was restored, after this time of falling and denying the Lord three times, when he was restored, then he was to strengthen his brethren. The other commission was when he was restored. When our Lord met with him in John 21, we read of him on the Lake of Galilee. And three times the Lord asked Peter whether he loved him or not. And each time he added, he added, feed my sheep, feed my lambs, feed my sheep. So the commission there was to feed the lambs, the Lord's lambs, my lambs and my sheep, that was the second commission that Peter had.

Now this evening, I wish with the Lord's help to consider this first commission or command of the Lord to Peter, that when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Next Thursday, God willing, to consider the second feed my lambs and feed my sheep. And then in following Thursdays, if the Lord will, to look at the epistles, the two epistles of Peter that are part of the inspired infallible word of God, where we will find through those epistles, Peter fulfilling these charges. He will be strengthening his brethren, He will be feeding the Lord's lambs and the Lord's sheep. And so I hope to go consecutively through those epistles and glean from them those things which shall be to the strengthening of the brethren and those things that shall be food to lambs and food to the sheep.

Of course, Peter, We have recorded in the Acts that he through there as well fed the sheep and lambs and strengthened the brethren. But it is specifically through those epistles which I trust myself and others have already been strengthened through, already known what it is to feed upon that word.

Well the word this evening is strengthen thy brethren. Now notice it is strengthen brethren. It'd be a solemn thing if the ministry was to strengthen sinners in their sin, to confirm them in a way that was wrong and a way that led them away from the Saviour. All that publicly exalt the good works of men and seek to set that as a title to heaven, they are strengthening, not the brethren, but they're strengthening sinners in sin, so that they are hardened to thinking that by their good works, their charities, their own merits that they will get to heaven.

Will God forbid that the Lord's servants, that we, that Peter, that any, that the word of God should ever countenance a strengthening in that way, but rather to pull down those strongholds that already are strong and to set up that which is true strength, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. we would be reminded that by nature we do not have any strength. We have sinned, we are not spiritual, we are carnal, and the natural man received not the things of God, neither can he know them. And so we do not have any spiritual ability or strength whatsoever. We are also under condemnation, under the broken law, and in that way, We don't have strength. If you were to think of someone on death row in America, and there they are locked up, there they are waiting the sentence to be carried out, what strength have they got? What can they do? They cannot escape the judgment, they cannot escape what is going to happen before them, and nor can we by nature. We are under the sentence of death, we are under condemnation, we do not have any strength at all. And it needs the Lord to begin, to begin a work, to impart eternal life, to quicken into life, to give the new birth. And that must be done first, before ever brethren can be strengthened as Peter was commissioned to do. There must be a giving of strength first, to be able to strengthen it. There must be there something to work upon.

And of course, it is our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, in His sufferings upon Calvary, that precious blood shed there, that it is through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, that He is able to deliver souls from death and hell. I give unto them, the Lord says, eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of mine hand. And so it is important to realise with the charge that is to Peter, this is, you might say, a different work than the charge, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. The commission to evangelise, to send forth the gospel, to warn sinners and to bring them to a knowledge of themselves, a knowledge of the Saviour, that you might say is another work.

The same as though there is an overlap between strengthening the brethren and feeding them, in a natural way with ourselves. If we have a meal, then that meal that has fed us will also strengthen us. And so there will be those overlaps. But there can be no overlapping the giving of life and then the strengthening and the maintaining of it. You cannot build upon the natural man You cannot strengthen a natural faith, one that is built upon wisdom of man. That must be the work of God that gives life in the beginning and quickens into life.

And especially thinking of the means that God uses to strengthen the brethren, which predominantly is through the Word of God and through the preaching of the Word. If we do not have an open ear, if our ear hasn't been opened, if we haven't been made receptive to the Word and given a new nature, then again it will be impossible to strengthen anything because it's not entered into the soul, it's not perceived. So there is an implying here that this strengthening, this work, is indeed to brethren, thy brethren, and really not just Peter but All of the people of God should be mindful of this. We have an ability given by God to either strengthen or weaken the hands of the brethren. It's a good thing to have a reputation of being an encourager of the brethren, those that strengthen their hands.

Well, I want to look at three points this evening. which hopefully will cover everything that needs to be said concerning strengthening thy brethren. The first one is God's willingness to strengthen sinners or to strengthen the brethren. And then secondly, in what way God's people need strength, we need to think what is meant here? Is it mentally? Is it physically? Is it both? Is it spiritually? In what way do we need strength? And then thirdly, how Peter was prepared by God to strengthen his brethren. So we want to look at those three points. But firstly, God's willingness to strengthen sinners, to strengthen the brethren.

If we look firstly at Paul's epistle to the Romans, Romans chapter 5, and in verse 6 we read, for when we were yet without strength In due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Now this is emphasizing our state by nature. We were yet without strength. And it's pointing straight to Christ's death for his precious bloodshed. It is dying for the ungodly. But they don't remain ungodly. They are quickened, they are brought into life, they are brought to be godly.

He says, for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet pervention for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so he says before the Romans here, the love of God when we had no concern, when we were ungodly, when we were enemies to him. And so then he goes on in verse nine, much more than now being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

And so he is really saying that where the Lord quickens a sinner without being asked to, sovereignly, freely, by grace and through the mercy of God, once he's done that, how much more, if he's done that at that time, how much more then being saved or put in the way of our text, being now brethren we shall be saved through his life. That is, he will give all that we need, and especially strength. He will strengthen that which he has wrought in his people. He will strengthen that new birth, he which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.

You watch over it, you nurture it, you strengthen it, you look upon it. This is the Lord's work. and pointing to the Lord's willingness. May this be a real encouragement and help to any of you that feel weak. You feel your need of divine strength, and yet you cannot deny that the Lord has quickened your soul, that he has begun with you, or be encouraged that the Lord's willingness then has even shown in your being quickened, that he will strengthen you. that he is willing to do so, may we be helped to ask him to and to seek unto the Lord for that help and for that strength.

We'll want to go now to the Psalms, and I want you to just look at just a few Psalms. There's many, many places in the Word of God where God makes it known that he is willing to strengthen poor sinners.

In Psalm 20, we read from verse 1, the Lord hear thee in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob defend thee. Send thee help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice, Selah. In one way, it's a prophecy of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, that he would be strengthened and that His offerings would be remembered and accepted. But we can also apply it for the people of God. Send thee help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion. That is where we look and expect that help and strength would be given. And this is the willingness that it should be so.

If we go on a few more Psalms to Psalm 27, And verse 14, we read at the end of that psalm, wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. And here is an indicator, we'll look at it a bit later, of what is to be strengthened, the heart of God's people. The previous verse reads, I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." And then this direction, to wait upon the Lord and the assurance, he not might, but he shall strengthen thine heart.

And if we go on a couple more Psalms to Psalm 31, and the last verse again, very often at the end of a chapter or end of the Psalms, come these assurances of strength and help. So we have in the last verse of Psalm 31, be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Not a willingness demonstrated by the Lord, that in his time away you would strengthen their hearts.

Then we have in Isaiah, we begin with Isaiah 35. In Isaiah 35 and verse 3, we have the charge, strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. Even God with a recompense, he will come and save you. And again, the Lord's willingness that the people of God are to be strengthened. He doesn't despise those weak hands and feeble knees. He doesn't despise those who feel their prayers are so poor, their efforts at worship are so poor. No, he will strengthen them in that way that he has set them in.

Blessed thing to be set in the path of prayer, but you say what poor prayers might are and how backward I am. But the Lord says, no, where I have begun, where I brought you to pray, to look unto me, I will strengthen that. I won't despise that. I won't crush undefeat. I will strengthen you in that way.

And if we go on a couple of chapters to chapter 40, Isaiah 40, and we read from verse 29. There's beautiful chapters at the end of, verses rather, at the end of Isaiah 40. He giveth power to the faint. And to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the ewes shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary. and they shall walk and not faint. Again, what a promise that is, and the willingness of the Lord to renew the strength of his people.

Then we come to the next chapter, chapter 41 of Isaiah, verse 10. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. And so God, through his word, time and again assures his people that their little strength is not despised. He is the author of that, but he'll be sought for and his promises will be pleaded. that he will strengthen that which he has wrought in them. The prayers often are, strengthen thou what thou hast wrought in me.

May we look for these portions in the Word of God with this thought, God's willingness to strengthen sinners, to strengthen brethren, to strengthen brethren who feel weak and feel that they are sinners indeed. but they are brethren. They have been put amongst the people of God, put in the way. They have been born again. The Lord has begun with them and his willingness to strengthen them in the way.

To look then secondly, in what way God's people need strength. David in Psalm 138, he says that, strengthens me with strength in my soul. The brethren have a soul that is a living soul. They have something that the world does not have, and an unregenerate person doesn't have. They have a soul, but that soul is not living. It's not being quickened into divine life. The people of God, they have their soul that has eyes and ears and feelings and taste and sense and desires. And so David, he's specifically pointing, this is not physical strength. This is spiritual strength in his soul. It is in that way God's people need strength. And if a man after God's own heart like David was, needed strength. How much more do we need it as well?

Going on with David, we think of when he was fleeing from Saul and Saul's son Jonathan. He went out to David when David was in the wood and he strengthened his hand in God. There were some things that Jonathan said that weren't true, but his aim, his desire, was to strengthen his dear friend that he loved in the Lord. And he said that my father shall not find thee. I know that thou wilt be king over Israel and I shall be next unto thee. In that he was wrong because Jonathan died when his father died upon the mountains of Gilboa in fighting with the Philistines.

But though he was mistaken in that, his aim, his desire was good, to strengthen David in God, to remind him that God was in control, not his father Saul, that God had appointed him, David, to be king over his people and he would bring it about. And so In this way, God's people need to be strengthened in their God, in their trust, their belief in Him, brought to look to Him again.

You know, in dear Peter, the winds and the waves when he came to walk to the Lord over the sea. While he had his eyes upon the Lord, he was over the walk on the sea. But when he looked at the waves and the billows, then he began to sink. And really, Jonathan's desire was to take David's eyes off Saul, all the circumstances, and to put them again to the Lord, to look to the Lord. A great blessing to have a brother in the faith that does that.

But another way was when David was at Ziklag. He came to Ziklag and Ziklag was burned with fire. He had lost his own wives. All the men had lost their wives, their children. The city was burned with fire. And the men, they even talked of stoning him. What a lonely position David was in. But again, he encouraged himself in the Lord his God. No Jonathan at this time, no one there at all, but David himself encouraged himself in the Lord his God. We need that strength to be encouraged in the Lord.

really a very similar way that David had been through Jonathan, is a great strength when our eyes are upon the Lord. Look unto me, and be ye saved, or the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none else. Countless records we have through the kings of Judah. Where they looked to the Lord, they were saved, they prevailed. When they looked to man and strength of man, then they were not successful. And those that wait upon the Lord, those that look to him. And so David in this time, the Lord gave him that strength to look to the Lord.

Yet will I look again, said Jonah, unto thine holy temple, while in the whale's belly, cast out of the sight of the Lord, and yet he was strengthened to look again. We think of Jacob. Jacob, when Esau was coming with 400 men, and he goes over the brook and there wrestled the man with him to the breaking of the day. Strength was given to Jacob to wrestle. Wrestling prayer, says the hymn writer, can wonders do, bring relief in great restraints. Those times we feel so weak in prayer, so easy to give up, so soon we have no words. It makes us to really value and to look upon those times as being real strengthened by God, when we've been able to wrestle, to really to pray and to lay our case before the Lord. All the God's people, they need strength in that way, in the exercise of prayer, the exercise of waiting upon the Lord, hearing the Lord's voice. It's in this way that God's people need more strength.

And you may say tonight, yes, that's me. I feel to have such little strength in prayer, such little perseverance, that I soon tire. I soon have nothing to say. I need to be strengthened in that way. Well, when Peter was charged to strengthen the brethren, it's in these type of ways that he was to strengthen the brethren. We need strength in prayer. The Lord gives graceful grace, where he gives the grace of prayer, then he gives the answer to prayer. And we don't only get prayer, but we get what prayer We've asked for the things that we've asked for.

Another way that God's people need strengthening is to take away their fears. There's many fear nots in the word of God. And we are fearful people. And even if we're someone like Gideon, Gideon who was raised up to deliver out of the hand of the Midianites, yet God, though he'd given him tokens for good, fleece wet, fleece dry, he divided the people, he brought them down to the waters, he left him with an army of 300. No wonder Gideon was fearful. The Midianites filled the country and all he had was 300 men.

But the Lord said to him, that if thou art fearful to go down, then take with him his servant, and you go down to the camp, and you hear what they say. And he goes down, and he listens to one telling a dream to his fellow. And he's saying that this cake of barley bread, it tumbled into the camp, it hit a tent, and the tent lay alone. And his fellow interpreted, he said, this is none other than Gideon, the son of Joash, that by his hand the Lord will deliver the Midianites into Israel's hand. And you know, when Gideon heard that telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof, he said, ah, for the Lord will deliver them into our hands. How he was so strengthened. The Lord knows how to Strengthen when one has been so fearful and so afraid. There's nothing that takes away strength than fear. But take away that fear, and then there is strength. Then there is boldness. And the Lord did that for Gideon.

But then we have Samson. Samson was taken by the Philistines. They took out his eyes and he ground in the prison house. His hair began to grow as a Nazirite. And then when they made sport and they put him between the pillars from which the house stood, he asked the lad that was with him that he would guide his hand so that he held the pillars of the house. And then he prayed unto the Lord, that the Lord would once more give him strength, and that he might die with the Philistines. And the Lord answered his petition.

In this case, the strengthening that he needed was physical strength. And there are those times, of course, that God's people, they haven't got physical strength, they are weak. They don't have strength to do what they want to do. They need that strength. They may be weary. They may be tired. They might have not strength at all. And here is Samson, and he prays for this strength, and the Lord gives it to him. In a way, Samson is, though a very strange character, he is numbered amongst those in Hebrews 11 who died in faith. But he's a type of our Lord in that it was said that he slew more in his death than in his lifetime. What the Lord accomplished at Calvary was more than all the miracles that he did in his lifetime. the great conquest of laying down his life. Samson says, let me die with the Philistines. And through his death, he slew them. But the Lord, through his death, his own people are delivered from death. He slays them in essence and brings them to his footstool and brings them to have new life in him.

But the point with Samson that I want to make is when Peter is said to strengthen his brethren, then there's also those times we need strengthening in a physical way. And with Samson, the way to that was the path of prayer. He'd been strengthened in prayer to cry, and the Lord answered that.

Many years ago, over in Australia, A dear sister in faith, now in glory. She lived on her own, quite in the wilds, a long way from any help. And she had a fall, and she fell in her home. And the telephone was up high, she wasn't able to reach it at all. And she saw the organ. She got an organ, an old treadle organ, and the ends of each end of that organ, it had carved wooden pillars. And she thought of Samson. And she took hold of one of those pillars. And she prayed to the Lord that he would strengthen her, that she might pull herself up on that pillar and be able to get to the phone. And the Lord answered her request. And she was able to pull herself up and get to the phone and call for help. Even today, in simple ways like that, in a physical way, the Lord answering prayer and sending that help.

We think then of Queen Esther's time. In Esther's time, there'd been the decree made by the king because of the deceitfulness of Haman, that all the Jews on a certain day would be killed. And there's great distress in that land. In a sense, they had no strength, they had no power against the king, they had no power against those enemies that were to come against them, and there was much distress. But then, through God raising up Esther for such a time as this, and she making intercession to the king, exposing Haman, and then asking that the mischief, the death, that was a sentence over the Jews might be reversed. The king couldn't reverse that sentence, but he could give another decree. He could give them authority from the king to stand up against all those that rose up against them, to fight, to resist. And when that decree went forth, even before that day, before they'd had the victory, The people rejoiced, they were glad.

What was the difference? Why at one time they had no strength, they were in distress, and the other time they were strengthened in such a way that many who were not Jews, they made Jews for fear of the Jews and wanted to be numbered amongst them. What made the difference? The decree from the king. The king was on their side. That is what strengthened them.

We should remember this with the gospel. In the gospel, the Lord is on our side. Yes, we still have a tempting devil. Yes, we still have an evil heart. Yes, we still have many adversaries. We are not yet in glory, but we have the authority from the King to fight, to resist the devil, to strive, to mortify the deeds of the body, all that is required in that fight, we have the authority of God to do so, and that gives us strength. It's in that way, those sort of ways, that give us that strength, to have the word of God upon our side, to have the Lord on our side, to be reminded of these things, to understand the will of the Lord. It is in these ways, and yes, in some cases, physical strength, in some cases, mental strength, to be able to stand, be able to continue with great discouragements, with many things that make us despondent and able still to continue. So that's just some of the ways in what way God's people need strength.

I want to look then lastly at how Peter was prepared by God to strengthen the brethren. How was it? What did God do with dear Peter? How did he appear for him How did he strengthen him?

Well, the first one is this, that dear Peter was a witness, a witness to Christ's life, to his death, and to his resurrection. How could he strengthen the brethren unless he'd been a first-hand witness of all of those things? That was a qualification for an apostle, but especially to strengthen the brethren, that where they came, those that would undermine or counter what he was saying, he would know from personal experience, he had seen, he had witnessed, he'd been with the Lord, and the Lord had given him these commissions as well to strengthen thy brethren.

The second thing was that the Lord had humbled him through fall and restoration. We read in our reading, beginning at where the disciples were having a disagreement, a strife, verse 24 in Luke 22, of who should be accounted the greatest. Pride even amongst the twelve. How great is pride amongst brethren. But that had to be taken away from Peter. He had to be humbled. You see how he thought as well when the Lord said to him that he would be in Satan's sieve, that he would deny him three times. He said, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death. He said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. Peter was confident. He was sure that he wouldn't deny the Lord, that he wouldn't depart. He would even lay down his life for the Lord. But the Lord humbled him. And that's why this commission is not just Strengthen thy brethren. It's when they aren't converted or when they aren't restored again. That's when he was to do so. He wasn't able to do so before that.

Another way was that his life was preserved. In Acts 12, we have the record of how Herod slew James with the sword. and how he locked up Peter, and after Easter, he was going to do the same with Peter. But prayer was made by the church for him, unbelieving prayer, they couldn't believe it, when the Lord released him from prison, and he came and knocked on their door. But the Lord did deliver Peter from all the expectation of the Jews. You might say, well, how does that prepare and be a preparation for Peter to strengthen his brethren. Well, if Peter had died, he couldn't strengthen the brethren, could he? If he had a ministry, and the epistles were written towards the end of his life, we believe, how could he do so if he'd been taken away? But even in that, in his deliverance, a wonderful deliverance in answer to prayer, he was strengthened, and in the strength that he was strengthened, he could strengthen others.

Another aspect, later on in John chapter 21, the Lord tells Peter how he is to die. He will be crucified, not slain with the sword. And no doubt Peter believed what the Lord said. So he was strengthened then, and how better fitted to strengthen brethren to say the Lord has said this shall be how I shall die, it won't be in this way that Herod thinks. And he'd proved it, he'd walked through this path of being preserved when James, God saw fit that he should be taken.

But then also he was chosen to be a preacher at two very important occasions. The first one in Acts 2 was the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would be poured out. Peter witnessed that. Peter preached and he saw many that were converted, 3,000 under his preaching, but he saw the evidence of the Holy Spirit, the tongues of fire, the speaking in different languages, understandable languages by those that were in Jerusalem at that time.

Then ten years later, he was chosen to go to the Gentiles, to Cornelius's house, the first time the Holy Spirit was to be poured out upon the Gentiles. Afterwards, he was held to account by the other apostles, you went in unto the uncircumcised, you ate with them. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and he was able to say that the Holy Spirit fell on them as on us at the beginning.

He was not just going by hearsay, if that had been Paul that had been chosen, to go to Cornelius' household instead of Peter, then Paul would have to say, the Holy Spirit fell on them. As I heard Peter describe, it fell on the Jews at Pentecost. And there'd be that link, because he's rehearsing what someone else had experienced and said. But with Peter, he'd seen both. He knew that both were exactly the same.

Another way with that as well, the Jews couldn't say, well, we're better than the Gentiles because we had the apostle Peter to preach to us when the spirit was poured out upon us. And you Gentiles, you only had the apostle Paul to preach to you. They couldn't say that because God chose, even though Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, he was not the one that was chosen to bring and preach when the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles.

And so in this way, Peter, he was prepared, prepared to go and to strengthen the brethren. The Apostle Paul, he does indeed speak of the strength to the Ephesians in the first epistle to the Ephesians in verse 16, he does say and he does strengthen them. Now Peter's not the only one that is called to strengthen brethren, but the Lord gave him this commission to do so.

But Peter, he He speaks of the strengthening that believers have and believers to have strength in the Lord. And so he especially joins that to the knowledge of the Lord and to what was given unto them by the Lord. You know, believers, they need those fresh supplies of strength from the Lord to enable them to exercise faith, to perform duties, to resist Satan and temptations, to oppose the corruptions in their own hearts and to bear the cross and undergo afflictions carefully and prayerfully and in a cheerful way and also to endure unto the end.

We need that strength. And though the Lord uses various means and various ones in the inspired word of God and that recorded in the epistles of Peter, we have Peter carrying out this charge, strengthen thy brethren. And I hope, God willing, to be able in other times to go through those epistles and to see how God uses Peter to strengthen the brethren. And may we be strengthened through looking at what Peter, in the inspired word, has recorded. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen.