16. Suffering and Glory in the Church

How those who are leading go about their responsibilities is important. Are they acting as shepherds, or do they domineer in their leading? Do they care for and seek the weak and wandering, at hazard to themselves? Or are they in it for their own gain?

And how are those in the congregation to follow their lead? It requires both pulpit and the pew, the leaders and the led, to all work together to make it safely through the fires of testing!

1. Instructions to the Elders, 1-4

1 Peter 5:1–4 ESV

1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Peter personally appeals to those who are elders in the churches. He understands their responsibilities, their fears, and the pressures that assail them because he also bears the responsibilities of an elder. The apostle embraces his calling as a leader in the church, a calling that will lead to his martyrdom in Rome. He is not asking them to do anything that he himself is not also doing. (Jobes) There are the pains of suffering in the work, but also the promise of the glory to come.

In 1 Pet. 5:2–3, Peter describes how the elders are to shepherd the flock of God. Theirs is a work that involves the intent supervision of what are the needs and threats to the congregation, both internally and from without.

1. exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;

A question of motivation: is it to please God? or is it grudgingly? The task is demanding enough in times of calm and peace; it is enormously tasking in time of persecution and trial. Only the right motivation and focus, the fear of God, the willingness to please God, can see them through. It must be done in a Biblical way, “as God would have you.” Not by pragmatic methods, not by worldly ideas of power and management, but in a Christ-honouring way.

Jeremiah 23:1–4 ESV

1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:5–6 ESV

5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

In the time of stress and persecution in which Peter writes, the leaders of the Lord’s people must oversee the flock in a way that gathers, pastures, and defends it, if the Christian community is to survive and thrive in the face of social pressures. (Jobes)

2.not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

“Shameful gain” implies a dishonest attempt to gain financially, which suggests that the leaders who oversaw the Christian community sometimes misappropriated its resources for their own gain. The proper attitude of an elder is an eagerness to give, not a desire to get. (Jobes)

3. not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

This calls to mind Jesus’ teaching when he said to Peter and the other Apostles:

Matthew 20:25–27 ESV

25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,

Their attitude must be an example for others in the community to follow. In a culture where status is cherished and authority is asserted to preserve honor, this call to humbly serve others is no doubt a special challenge . (Jobes)

Those who bear the burden of faithfully shepherding God’s flock willingly, eagerly, and as role models will receive the unfading crown of glory when Christ, the Chief Shepherd, is revealed (5:4).

1 Peter 5:4 ESV

4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Imagery used here refers to the quality of the amaranth flower, a red blossom whose color was unfading. The crown is an image well known to the first-century Greco-Roman world, for a wreath of leaves worn on the head was commonly awarded to those who won athletic competitions. A similar wreath, but made of gold, was frequently given as the reward for civic benefactors (Llewelyn 1994: 240). In using this imagery, Peter encourages the elders to faithful service in trying times. But their victory is sure, for it depends on the appearing of Christ, not on their own efforts. The victory they attain through perseverance is an unfading (everlasting) glory. This image of a crown of unfading flowers contrasts with the withering and falling flowers of all human glory acquired apart from Christ (1:24).

Do you make it a matter of constant prayer that the Lord would raise up for us as a congregation and for our sister churches here and around the world men such as these? Wise, godly, devout men, who love Christ and His church. Men who consider it high privilege to serve, however demanding the service, because they are men looking to their reward. If we love Christ, we love our own souls and those of our families. If we love the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will make it our concern and care to have such men over us so that we can follow them as they follow Christ. We will want such men and no other. Only in that way shall we be led by the Lord Christ himself, the chief shepherd and overseer of our souls. (Rayburn)

2. Instructions to “The Younger,” 5

1 Peter 5:5 ESV

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Here “younger” refers to everyone else in the church. If it just referred to people younger in age, a different word would have been used.

There must be a willing submission to God’s rule through faithful elders. It is a mutual submission to the Lord as together, the leaders and the flock, that will enable them to face together the opposition to the Gospel and those who belong to Christ from their surrounding people.

The challenge of mutual humility is especially great in a time of persecution, for the consequences at stake may incite elders to abuse their power or believers to rebel against church leadership. But God gives grace to those who are willing to humble themselves for the sake of Christ and his flock, allowing the church to survive and thrive even in times of persecution.

To clothe oneself with humility means that there must be a conscious and conscientious submission to the Lord in all relationships, filling up that place and station one occupies in a Christ-honouring way.

B. Accept Difficult Times, Stand Fast, and Trust God, 6-11

Peter rounds off the body of his letter with admonitions followed by encouragement. Three commands form Peter’s concluding exhortation:

Accept difficult times as from God’s hand, 6-8a

Stand fast against the devil, 8b-9

Trust God to put things right, 10-11

1. Accept Difficult Times as from God’s Hand, 6-8a

1 Peter 5:6–8 ESV

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

To “be humbled” implies a decision to remain faithful to Christ even knowing that humiliation will result. “The point is not that Christians have a choice of whether they humble themselves; that happens to them simply because they are Christians.”

The point is how Christians respond when, because of their faith, their social status has suffered and their situation has become difficult. The command to be humbled under God’s mighty hand is a command to accept difficult circumstances as a part of God’s ultimate plan of deliverance, neither railing against God (“Why did this happen to me?” “What did I do to deserve this?”) nor raging against those causing the difficulty, but rather blessing those who insult and injure (3:9). (Jobes)

It is a commitment of ourselves to God’s care and keeping with the knowledge that though we may face suffering and humiliation now, we will in the age to come, be raised up and gloried with Christ.

But the help we get from the Lord isn’t just “sit tight and he’ll make it right at some point in time in the future.” He tells us “Be humbled and cast upon him all your anxiety, because he cares about you.”

If you profess your faith in Christ in the times that Peter is ministering in, society is hostile to the exclusive claims of the gospel.

The loss of status and respect, loss of family standing, loss of friends, perhaps even loss of one’s livelihood and, in extreme cases, of one’s life—these are real possibilities for the Christians of Asia Minor.

Peter instructs his readers to cast these anxieties on God (5:7), another way of saying they must entrust themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good (4:19).

Casting one’s worries on God would not bring comfort if he were unable to afford assistance in times of distress. (Schreiner)

Your anxious thoughts and mine are out of place. Why? Because if you are in Christ, he cares for you. The term for anxiety comes from a root that means “to divide.” Anxiety divides the attention and distracts.

Anxiety follows when we forget that God is the One who cares for us. We are not left adrift on the sea of chance facing shipwreck on the shoals of an impersonal destiny.

We are under the care of a sovereign God who controls the course of history and is intricately involved in the everyday life of each of his children. Anxiety mirrors the fragile nature of our ability to trust. It decreases in exact proportion to our willingness to trust God. (after Mounce)

God is neither unaware nor unconcerned about what you are going through!

2. Stand Fast Against the Devil, 8b-9

1 Peter 5:8–9 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

He tells us, as we might say it, to be heads-up and get our head in the game because of the threats we face because we seek to live for Christ. Peter may be implying with the lion imagery that satanic powers are at work. The roar of a lion would scatter a flock of sheep in panic. The goal of the devil is to devour, a graphic depiction of his desire to annihilate the Christian and, collectively, the church by assimilating them back to the evil ways of the world.

If the gospel is to survive in Asia Minor, these beleaguered Christians must not allow themselves to be scattered by the threat but must take their stand against the devil by holding fast to the gospel and their place in the Christian community.

Moreover, because the threat they perceive and the persecution they experience are caused by their very presence as Christians in the world, the same type of adversity is suffered by Christians throughout the “world.”

Resistance to some degree is to be expected wherever a Christian community takes seriously its commitment to God, because the Christian church is the emergence of God’s victory over the powers of darkness. Until Christ returns, the battle between good and evil will persist, and suffering for faith in Christ will be the norm for the Christian calling. The believer shares in what is the common experience of all Christians and is not alone in this.

3. Trust God to Put Things Right, 10-11

1 Peter 5:10–11 ESV

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

God is described as the God of “all grace,” reminding readers that there is no other source of mercy in life. This all-gracious God has called Christians into eternal glory in Christ.

Although Peter acknowledges the inevitability of Christian suffering according to God’s will, he also affirms the relative brevity of it: “after you have suffered a little” (5:10).

God “will himself put things right, strengthen, empower, and secure you.”

Are you willing to lose out every day because you are a Christian? Are you willing for your family to lose out, too? What would be the hardest for you to endure? When would that happen for you? How ill you use 1 Peter to keep you joyful?

II. Final Words, 12-14

A. Greetings from those with Peter

1. Silvanus, 12a

1 Peter 5:12 ESV

12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

Silvanus — Peter’s secretary / courier of the letter (or both).

2. She who is in Babylon chosen with you, 13

Referring to the church at Rome, using language of being exiles, strangers and pilgrims. Just as God’s people had been driven out of Jerusalem and sent into exile in Babylon, the capital city of their oppressors centuries before, Peter himself has been driven from Jerusalem by the Roman powers and is sojourning in exile in the capital city of his oppressors.

3. Mark, my son, 13

John Mark -

B. Stand Firm in the True Grace of God, 12b

1 Peter 5:12 ESV

12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

This final word of Peter’s apostolic message in 5:12 both exhorts his readers and confirms to them the truth that, despite their suffering and despite circumstances that may appear to the contrary, they have been born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through his own suffering, Jesus has conquered all evil and has called them to follow his footsteps through life, through death, and into glory. Those who do will be vindicated and glorified by God, just as Jesus was. The only just Judge of humanity is its Creator, who is also the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and of all chosen to enter into the new covenant in Christ’s blood (1:1–2). Therefore, stand fast in that knowledge, for everything else will soon end.

C. Greetings, 14

1 Peter 5:14 ESV

14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

As we have worked out way through 1 Peter, what changes to your thinking, you speaking, and your conduct has the Spirit been prompting you to make? Ho will you glorify God through your suffering?

Peter’s goal throughout this book is that his hearers, and that extends to us now, is

that you think and feel and act in a way that makes sense only if you are absolutely sure that we will have a great reward in heaven—a way of life that can be explained only by an unshakable, all-satisfying hope beyond this life. It is a way of life, as 1 Peter 3:15 says, that will cause people to ask about the hope that is in you: a joyful, humble willingness to suffer wrong and serve rather than return evil for evil. You know—through the death and resurrection of Christ, God has made you know—that a crown of glory awaits you. You will be exalted at the right time. “God … has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,” and, after you have suffered, he “will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pet. 5:10).

You know he will because 1 Peter 5:7 says, “[Cast] all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” And in verse 11, he says, “To him be the dominion forever and ever.”

Total care and absolute dominion—he will not fail you. He cannot fail you. The glory of your future is absolutely certain. This is the grace of God! Stand firm in it (1 Pet. 5:12).

(Piper)

Lord’s Day 9

26. Q. What do you believe when you say: I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?

A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them, and who still upholds and governs them by his eternal counsel and providence, is, for the sake of Christ his Son, my God and my Father.

In him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that he will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul, and will also turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this life of sorrow. He is able to do so as almighty God, and willing also as a faithful Father.

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Rayburn, Robert S. “A Christian Government” 1 Peter 5:1-5. http://www.faithtacoma.org/peter-2/a-christian-government-1-peter-51-5. Accessed 3 December 2019.

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