To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay(17)-5

To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay -- the Series of Explanation and Analysis of Scripture (17) - 5

The Explanation and Analysis of the Verses in Chapter 5 of 1 PETER

It is edited and compiled under the guidance of Holy Spirit. All thanks, praises and glories be to God!

5. Encourage the church in the sufferings (5:1-11)

(1) The exhortations to the elders (5:1-4)

A. The duties of the elders (5:1)

1 PETERS 5:1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed:

(NOTES)

“the elders” is also called the overseers sometimes in the Bible, such as (Act 20:28-35). For example, in (Act 20:17), it is called “the elders ”; in (Act 20:28), it is called “the overseers”. See also that the usages of “the overseers” and “the elders” are mixed in (Tit 1:5,7; 1Ti 3:1-7; 5:17). It is obvious that these two titles actually refer to the same position. Therefore, in the church at the initial stage, the elders are the spiritual or administrative leaders. The deacons do some management, whose authority is under the elders (Act 6:1-6; 1Ti 3:8-12).

Here, Peter called himself with three different titles:

a. “a fellow elder”:

He called himself in this way, which will make the elders among those who received the letter feel honored, for as to Peter who has laid his hand to establish so many elders, when he was aged and of noble character and high prestige, he was the same as them as the fellow elders.

Peter called himself in this way also to show that he gave the teachings from the position as other elders. It is not like that he stood on the superior position without experiencing the difficulties of the subordinates, or talked bombastically only by the power of his position.

b. “a witness of Christ's sufferings”:

This implies two things. On one hand, Peter testified about Christ’s sufferings with his own experiences. Since Peter used to follow LORD for around 3 years, these testimonies are experienced by Peter himself; it is obvious that his testimonies are reliable and assured.

On the other hand, he gave the testimonies about Christ by his sufferings for Christ. Not only Peter saw by himself that Christ suffered for mankind (3:18), but also he is willing to suffer for giving testimonies on Christ's sufferings (Act 4:1-3; 4:21-22; 5:17-32; 40-42; 12:1-19). To testify faithfully about LORD’s sufferings, is the attitude to fulfill his duty as the elder faithfully.

Note that, to be “a witness of Christ's sufferings” is after to be “as a fellow elder”; the latter one is the best footnote for the former one. To be an elder is not to be a high rank official, but to be a person who testifies about Christ's sufferings and is willing to suffer for Christ.

c. “one who also will share in the glory to be revealed”:

“the glory ” refers to the glory to be revealed by Christ in His Second Coming (1:7,13). This verse implies that the glories that will be revealed in the future in LORD’s coming are marvelous beyond we can understand now. Therefore, the apostle calls it as “the glory to be revealed” (2Ti 2:11-13; Mat 19:28; Luk 22:30; 1Jo 3:2). Note that, here, Peter was not to hope to share the glory with LORD, but spoke definitely that he himself is the one who will “share in the glory ” with LORD, just as he is an elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings. How he is an elder suffered for LORD, so he is the one who will share the glory with LORD.

When LORD was on the earth, He used to talk about His sufferings and His glories to be revealed in the future (Mar 8:31-38; 9:1-8). Therefore, here, Peter talked with assurance about the sufferings of the believers to LORD and the glories in the future.

B. The principle about the work of the elders (5:2-3)

Here, the apostle exhorts and instructs those who are also the elders how to tend the flock of God as the shepherd (Joh 21:15-19). Here, we see that Peter is tending the flocks according to the words of LORD, and also exhorts his coworkers how to take care of the sheep of LORD.

1 PETERS 5:2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve;

(NOTES)

“Be shepherds ”:

This includes the meanings of protection, caring, bringing up, and leading. The shepherd should be responsible to find the water and grass for the flock, protect them from the attacks of the wild animals, and lead them to walk on the road of peace. Here, we see that there are several important principles for the elders:

a. They should stand on the position of receiving the entrustment:

“God's flock that is under your care”; this shows that the flock is not “yours”, but is put under your care by God and is the entrustment from God. A shepherd should stand on the position of a steward to tend God’s flock.

b. They should serve as overseers, as God wants them to be:

“serving as overseers”:

That is to keep watch on and take care of . The shepherd should keep watch on God’s flock carefully, and see whether they are sluggish, sick, going astray or injured so that to give them help, advice, and rebuke.

“as God wants you to be”:

That is to guide them according to the principle of the truth of God, the instruction of Holy Spirit, but not to follow one’s own selfish will and one’s own wish. One should be responsible to God and tend them according to the will of God.

c. They should do it with willingness:

“not because you must, but because you are willing”:

That is, they are not to take the responsibility passively to tend the flock because of the urgency of others, or from the idea and request of others. But one is willing to tend LORD’s flock to obey the calling of LORD. This is not saying that one will not do anything assigned by people, but is saying that one does not need to wait for the assignment of men and does it only because one is afraid to offend others; one should do the work willingly for the sake of LORD.

The Bible encourages people to be cheerful givers (2Co 9:7). Here, the Bible tells us to do every holy work of God willingly.

“not because you must”; that is not from men’s reluctance. Paul used to say that he was “compelled to preach” (1Co 9:16). However, he was not compelled by men, but by God’s love, and the pressing and urging from the Holy Spirit made him accept the request of God.

d. They should have proper and pure motive:

“not greedy for money, but eager to serve”. To be “greedy for money” refers to try to obtain the money that one should not get. This verse shows that at that time, the elders were tending the church as their sole duty and received the supply from the church (1Ti 5:17). Therefore, to be an elder is “not greedy for money”. This verse can be extended to: accept the duty of holy work in the church not for the sake of the amount of the salary.

The Bible does not set the rule about in what kind of way the workers in the church receive the supply. What the Bible pays attention to is not the method, but the mind and the motive. What is most important to the servants of LORD is to serve LORD faithfully without haggling over the treatment or trying to obtain the glory and respect from people through any mean.

1 PETERS 5:3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

(NOTES)

e. They should be the examples to the flock:

“lording it over” indicates to force others to submit to one’s own rule by power. It is also translated as “Not domineering [as arrogant, dictatorial, and overbearing persons] over those in your charge, but being examples (patterns and models of Christian living) to the flock ” (A.M.P.). The elders should be as examples to the flock, but not rule them by power. Regarding how to fulfill their duties as the leaders of the church, all the teachings in the Bible ask them to be like those who serve, and to humbly serve “the flock” that God entrust them, but absolutely not to use the imperious and arrogant means. Regarding being the “examples” to lead the “flock”, Peter received the teachings from LORD directly (Joh 13:4-5). To be examples indicates that one will first do it by himself, then he will make others follow his model. However, to be the examples does not mean to do everything for others and take over the duties of others; it is not to be busy with doing the work by oneself, while let the believers sit still; but it is to serve God by oneself, and make the believers serve God in the same way. Jesus Christ is the example for all the believers.

C. The reward to the elders (5:4)

1 PETERS 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

(NOTES)

The Chief Shepherd refers to LORD Jesus (1Pe 2:25). All those who tend the church work under Him, and will receive “the crown of glory that will never fade away”.

“the crown of glory that will never fade away”:

This indicates that the crown of glory that the elders will receive is fresh forever, and its glory will never reduce.

For the ancient Greek, besides that the emperor wears the crown , the winners in the athletic field will also wear the crown which is weaved with the tree leaves (1Co 9:25; 2Ti 2:5). On the wedding of the Jews, the bridegroom and bride will wear the crown to show the joy (Isa 6:1; Son 3:11). In the Bible, the crown received by the faithful believers is also mentioned in other verses:

a. the crown that will last forever (1Co 9:25).

b. the crown of life (Jam 1:12; Rev 2:10).

c. the crown of righteousness (2Ti 4:8).

(2) The exhortations to the average believers (5:5-11)

A. Exhort the young men to be submissive to the older (5:5_upper)

1 PETERS 5:5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

(NOTES)

“Young men” refer to those who are younger in age or immature in spirituality in the church, or those whose positions are lower in the church. They should be submissive to “those who are older”. The “older” refer to those who are older in age or advanced in spirituality. The previous verses exhort the elders to fulfill the duty according to the will of God; this verse exhorts the believers to be submissive.

“be submissive to those who are older”:

This is the message that the young men need in the church nowadays. Not only this is the truth in the Bible, but also even for the ordinary social group in this world, it is necessary for each group member to submit to the general rules and their leaders; otherwise, it is impossible to promote the work.

B. Exhort all the people to clothe themselves with humility toward one another (5:5_latter -6)

Not only the young men should be submissive to the older, but also “All of you”, no matter young men to the older, or the older to the young men, or those whose age, knowledge, gifts, and positions are equal, should clothe themselves with humility toward one another. That is, everyone accepts the advice and instructions from the brothers with the attitude of the servants who are waiting for the command of the masters. A truly humble man not only can be submissive to the exhortations from those who are older or senior, but also can be submissive to the correct exhortations from those whose age, position, seniority, and spirituality are inferior to himself.

“clothe yourselves with humility toward one another”:

On one hand, this shows that the believers need to remind each other with the truth, and submit to each other for the sake of truth. On the other hand, this also implies that the older should not by their older age only to ask the young men to submit to them blindly regardless of the principles of the truth. On the contrary, when they make some mistakes, they should accept the advice from others in the same way. This is the attitude that whoever truly want to do the truth should have.

“God opposes the proud ”:

That is, the proud put themselves opposite to God; God will certainly resist them. Any pride comes from the ignorance, for apart from God, we have no good thing (Psa 16:2).

“but gives grace to the humble”:

On the contrary, if we want to receive the grace of God, we must be humble. To be humble is to have the most basic knowledge on the truth -- God. Only to be humble can let God give more grace to us and exalt us.

1 PETERS 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

(NOTES)

“Humble yourselves”:

That is to let the will of God be able to pass through us without hindrance.

“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. ” (Mat 23:12)

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (Jam 4:10)

We should be humble in front of God. It is because we are originally like the dust and the emptiness; we are created by God, through Him and for Him; all that we have are received from God. Any self-conceit comes from the ignorance. It is the duty of us -- the created to submit to the Almighty Creator who is most honorable and most holy .

“that he may lift you up in due time” :

It is because Jesus used to humble himself to death, and was exalted to the highest (Php 2:5-11). To be humble in this way can make us be obedient to the arrangements of God in the sufferings, so that we are willing to admit our lowliness and that we should originally receive the insults and sufferings. Thus, we put ourselves under His almighty hand, so that He may lift us up in due time.

In the Bible, the hand of God is mentioned in many verses:

a. the hand to create (Heb 1:10).

b. the gracious hand (Ezr 7:9).

c. the hand to protect (Joh 10:29).

d. the hand to punish sins (Act 13:11; Psa 32:4).

e. the hand to exalt (Act 2:33).

f. the hand to fight (Exo 3:2; 7:5).

g. the mighty hand (Exo 6:1; 2Ch 6:32).

Therefore, we humble ourselves to submit under the God’s hand; that is much wiser than to fight with others by our own strength.

“that he may lift you up in due time”:

This is a precious promise. This illuminates that God won’t let us be lowly forever, and He will exalt us; but this will not occur according to our own timing and wish, God will hide us under His hand till His time. Only He knows when to exalt us is most safe and proper, so that we will not be self-conceited. If we do not submit under God’s hand, but exalt ourselves on our own, that will result in falling quickly and we can not become the “durable” instrument for God, and can only be used for a little while. In the Old Testament, although King David was anointed as the king of the Israelites in the early time, he was not willing to overthrow Saul by himself, and waited patiently till the due time set by God to ascend the throne and become the king. This is a good teaching that we should learn.

C. Cast all your anxiety on God (5:7)

1 PETERS 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

(NOTES)

The anxiety is a big hindrance in the spirituality of the believers, and will lead the believers into the deceitfulness of wealth (Mat 13:22). LORD Jesus exhorts the disciples not to worry about their life, what they will eat or drink (Mat 6:25-34); we should seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to us as well (Mat 6:33).

Not only the anxiety shows the unbelief, but also implies the underestimation of the power of God and the doubtfulness on the faithfulness of God; the anxiety shows that we do not trust in the cares of God, and are afraid that there might be something He will neglect. Therefore, the “anxiety” is one kind of sins.

“Cast all your anxiety on him”; this has the same meaning and teaching as the verse in (Php 4:6): “Do not be anxious about anything,”. “all” in this verse and “anything” in (Php 4:6), both show that there is no anxiety that God will not take care of for us; we can turn to God for any difficulty that we have.

“Cast all your anxiety on him”:

This does not indicate that one should be irresponsible, but one should let God take the charge and take care of it, and rely on God who daily bears our burdens (Mat 11:28-30; Psa 68:19; Heb 13:5). To “cast” shows that we put our anxiety on God as unloading the cargo. In our daily experience in life, there are many things make us worry. No matter the economic burden, the family life, or the responsibility in work and so on, all of them are accumulated on our “boat of life”; we must cast them on God -- a dock that never sinks -- so that to rest in Him.

“because he cares for you”:

This gives the reason that we should cast all our anxiety on God is because He cares for us. Therefore, He won’t ignore or be careless on all the difficulties that we cast on Him. On the contrary, if we do not cast our anxiety on Him, that shows that we doubt His “cares”. LORD who daily bears our burdens is worthy of being praised and relying on completely (Psa 68:19).

D. Be self-controlled and alert to resist the devil (5:8-9)

1 PETERS 5:8-9 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

(NOTES)

The previous verse talks about to cast all the anxiety on God; while this verse persuades the believers to be self-controlled and alert. It is apparent that “anxiety” and to “be self-controlled and alert” are related; the “anxiety” will make the believers worry about things in this world, so that to slumber and not to be alert spiritually. The “anxiety” makes our eyes to look more upon the worldly things; to be self-controlled and alert makes our eyes to look more upon God. We must cast all our anxieties on God first, then we can be self-controlled and alert even in the sufferings. To “be self-controlled” shows to be on guard against the enemies carefully and thoroughly; to be “alert” shows to deal with the cunning schemes of the enemies swiftly and nimbly.

Why should we be self-controlled and alert? It is because “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ” “a roaring lion” is a hungry lion, and is ferocious and terrible. “prowls around”; that is to look for the chances in many ways. In verse 3, the believers are compared to the “flock”; here, the devil is compared to a roaring lion, which makes use of every chance to devour the believers. This parable shows that the believers still live in a dangerous circumstance -- a circumstance with a roaring lion -- while the believers themselves are as weak as the “sheep”. Thus, the believers should certainly be self-controlled and alert to resist the schemes of the devil.

“someone to devour”:

This implies that not everyone can be devoured by the devil; it can only devour those who are weak and drowsy. Therefore, the way to overcome the ferocious enemies is to be a strong person. Just as verse 9 says: “Resist him, standing firm in the faith”. This firm faith is the strong faith. We can not hope that the devil will take pity on our weakness, we can only by “standing firm in the faith” and relying on LORD make it not be able to “devour” us. The believers should be submissive to God as the lamb, but absolutely must not submit to the devil as a lamb. By “standing firm in the faith”, we will firmly resist the temptations of the devil. We must not have the indecisive attitude of waiting and seeing before the temptation; we must resist it with the firm attitude without compromising. By “standing firm in the faith”, we will be able to rely on God, come closer to God and keep us from the danger of being devoured. On the other hand, to devour the believers, the devil uses temptations instead of the sufferings in many cases. This is also what the believers should be self-controlled and alert about.

“because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings”:

This verse shows that the believers at that time were undergoing the sufferings. The suffering is one kind of the temptations from the devil, so that to make people fall in the sufferings. This reminds the believers that they are not alone in the sufferings; it is not that only they experience such sufferings, and it is not that God treat them with partiality or discard them, so that they experience such sufferings. In fact, all those brothers who have the same faith as them are undergoing the sufferings. This verse also points out that they do not walk on the wrong way, and they are on the same track with other faithful saints. The fight between the Christians and the devil is inevitable. The Christians should follow LORD Jesus Christ and be the one who overcomes by relying on Christ in us.

E. Rely on the God of all grace (5:10-11)

1 PETERS 5:10-11 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

(NOTES)

Here, the apostle mentions that God whom we rely on is “the God of all grace”. In verse (1Pe 4:10), the apostle says that God's grace in its various forms is given to us to serve Him. Here, all grace are given to us to deal with all kinds of needs or sufferings in our life. All grace are enough to deal with all kinds of sufferings so that we can overcome in different temptations (1Co 10:13).

“who called you to his eternal glory in Christ”:

It is obvious that the purpose that God called us is absolutely not to ask us to sacrifice anything for Him, but to let us enjoy His eternal glory (1Th 2:12; 2Th 2:14). Since this is the case, He will give all grace so that we will not fail because of the sufferings we experience; instead, we will enjoy His glory because of the sufferings. And the grace He called us is enough to guarantee us to enjoy His glories.

“after you have suffered a little while”:

“after” is an very important word here; it shows that the believers must pass through the trials first before enjoying the glories, and this is the necessary and successive order. Before we enjoy His glory, we must fulfill His plan to build us up, so that we experience the power He gives in the sufferings and all kinds of trials, to restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast. Then we can enjoy the glory with Him. Therefore, to “suffer a little while” is the necessary training and learning for us before entering the glory; it will make our spiritual life strong and grow up to meet the requirement of God. God will not exempt us from the sufferings, but He gives us strength in the sufferings so that we can overcome the sufferings. Therefore, we must not think that God will not really give us the blessings because of the coming of the sufferings; on the contrary, the sufferings are the chances for us to truly experience all the grace of God. The mature Christians will regard the disciplines from God and the lessons of the cross as the grace that God helps us to grow up.

“To him be the power for ever and ever.”:

Here, the apostle specially praises the power of God. Since God is mighty and manages everything that comes upon us, we should not lose heart because of the temporary sufferings. It is because the one who controls our life and death, woe and blessing, and judge the right and wrong of us, is not a man, but is God who has the power forever and ever.

1 PETERS 5:12 With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.

(NOTES)

“testifying that this is the true grace of God”:

In the sufferings, it is easiest for one to doubt the truthfulness and reliability of the grace of God. Here, the apostle testifies about the truthfulness of the grace of God to the believers.

“Stand fast in it”:

The secret to overcome in the sufferings is to continue in standing fast in God’s grace, relying on the salvation of God, and experiencing His salvation in all kinds of difficulties.

1 PETERS 5:13-14 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

(NOTES)

These are the final greetings and blessings.

“my son Mark”: Mark is Peter’s son of Gospel.

“Greet one another with a kiss of love.”:

Greeting with a kiss is the way of the believers at that time to give greetings.

“Peace to all of you who are in Christ”:

Here, in the final greetings and blessings, the apostle especially gives the indications that the peace is to all “who are in Christ”. Dose this show that Peter does not want to bless those who are not in Christ? No, it is because the peace and blessings given by God can only be obtained in Christ. If they are not in Christ, even if Peter gives them the blessings, it will be in vain.

Reference:

1. Zhongdao Chen: “The Lectures on the Bible Studying of the Letters in New Testament”.