Series: 1 Peter
Title: Clothed with Humility
Text: 1 Peter 5: 1-7
Date: September 1, 2011
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
The key message—the principle being taught—in this entire passage is found in verses 6-7. This is the key to a happy, healthy church family.
1 Peter 5: 5:…be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
He first addresses the pastor concerning the flock. And gives much instruction. We will come back to it in a moment.
1 Peter 5: 1: The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Christ our God is THE Elder—the Authority. Christ is the Chief Shepherd—the chief-Pastor who feeds his sheep. Christ is THE Bishop of our souls—who oversees his church, his heritage, all his elect, with his mighty hand.
Who is sufficient for these things? What man is able to do these things God has given, except it be by the power of our Redeemer? God resiseth the proud. But he gives grace to those who submit themselves under his mighty hand. It is the mighty hand of God that is making all the provision. God is the sufficiency for the work. So the instruction to the pastor is summed up in verse 6-7: Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon God, for he careth for you.
Next, he addresses the flock concerning the elder.
1 Peter 5: 5: Likewise,…
Peter does not give elaborate instruction. But he says “likewise”. We will see in a moment, the principle in all the instruction to the pastor is, likewise, for the flock toward the elder who serves them.
1 Peter 5: 5: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
“Younger” does not only refer to age, but it also means “new”. Figuratively, spiritually, it means “regenerate”—born again. Those born of the Spirit of God are “children of the youth”—regenerate, born again.
Psalm 127: 4: As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Christ is the Mighty Man. Christ is the Elder. Christ is the Chief Shepherd. Christ is the Bishop of our souls God is caring for his flock with his mighty hand through the preaching of the gospel. For this reason, Christ himself, gives his pastors to feed his flock with knowledge and understanding.
Ephesians 4: 8: Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men…11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Those truly made new—are clothed with humility, humbled under the mighty hand of God, when we realize that God our Savior, Christ the Bishop and Shepherd of our souls is caring for us with his mighty hand, through those he has given to teach us his word. God careth for you through the ordained means of the preaching of the gospel.
Illustration: Wisest word every given to me. “If you trust that God has given you this pastor after his own heart to feed you with knowledge and understanding—to feed you and your family the gospel of Christ—then you can trust that the Chief Shepherd who sent him will correct his mistakes, so you don’t have to be so proud as to make that your concern—submit to God.” A mighty weight was taken off of me. It is called “humbling yourselves under the mighty hand of God,”…”Casting all your care on God for he careth for you.”
Next, a word is given for the believer toward his brethren. He speaks to all of us as brethren toward one another.
1 Peter 5: 5:…Yea all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility.
True humility, submitting under the mighty hand of God, is knowing that God is caring for you through your brethren, even as he is through his pastor.
Ephesians 4: 16: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
So the same word to the pastor in caring for the flock, the same word to the flock toward the pastor, and the same word for the believer toward all our brethren is summed up in verses 6-7:
1 Peter 5: 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Now let’s go back and see this laid out plainly in the exhortation to the pastor.
1 Peter 5: 1: The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder,
The word “elder” has two meanings in scripture. In some cases it refers to age. Here the word “elder” refers to one who holds the office of pastor. Peter is not speaking to the elders in age but to the men whose business it is to preach the word of God, to oversee the flock entrusted to him by God. But as we just saw, the principle is “likewise” to all the brethren.
I. WHAT WE ARE.
Here is what every God-sent preacher is and what every born-again believer is:
1 Peter 5: 1:…a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
Peter was literally an eye-witness of the sufferings of Christ but that did not qualify him to be a Christian, much less a pastor. Multitudes saw our Savior’s physical sufferings, and died under the wrath of God. Peter was more than one who saw the Lord’s physical sufferings. He was “a witness of the sufferings of Christ.”—
Every true gospel preacher is ? “a witness of the sufferings of Christ.” So is every believer: a witness because Christ has been revealed in us by the Holy Spirit through faith given us of God. We have been sent to bear witness of the suffering of Christ which we have seen.
Who suffered? God in human flesh. What did he suffer? The wrath of God. Why did he suffer? To declare God just and justifier of all who believe, to bear sins of his people in his own body. What did he accomplish through suffering? He finished the work, obtained eternal redemption, put away the sin of his people, brought in everlasting righteousness. We have been assembled together by God Almighty to bear witness of his suffering.
Secondly, we are partakers of the glory that shall be revealed: the glory of Christ as our Mediator, the glory he obtained as our Representative and Substitute, the glory of eternal redemption, the glory of eternal life, the glory of heaven!
John 17: 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 ¶ Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
II. THE EXHORATION
1 Peter 5: 2: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof,
There are three terms in the New Testament which are used for the same office: “elder”, “pastor,” and “bishop.” Peter uses all three.
In verse 1 he uses the term “Elder.”
In verse 2 the term “pastor or shepherd” is used when he writes, Feed [poi maino] the flock of God which is among you. The Greek word translated “feed” (poi maino) is a slight variation of same word translated “shepherd”.
1 Peter 2: 25: For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd [poi men] and Bishop of your souls.
Christ is the Chief Shepherd. Christ feeds his flock. That is work of the Shepherd. But Christ does so by sending his pastors, his under-shepherds. Christ commands his under-shepherd to feed his flock through his word.
John 21: 16: [The Lord Jesus told Peter]—feed my lambs; feed my sheep.
Peter says here to the under-shepherd, “Feed the flock of God which is among you.”
Feed the flock of God’s sheep. You are God’s flock, brethren: by election, by redemption, by regeneration, by preservation. I am just a sheep among sheep told to feed the sheep. What a responsibility! And what is the pastor to feed you with?
Jeremiah 3: 15: I will give you pastors after mine own heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Luke 1: 77: To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins…
Ephesians 4: 13: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Philippians 3: 8: Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
2 Peter 3: 18: But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
But how often I find it impossible to feed myself, much less find a word from God to speak to your heart. So what do you do?
1 Peter 5: 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
And that is the word of submission and humility to all of us, brethren.
1 Peter 5: 5: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
The third term used for a pastor is “bishop.”
1 Peter 5: 2:…taking the oversight thereof
The word translated “oversight” is the same Greek word from which “bishop” is translated. It means “overseer”—take the “oversight”
1 Peter 2: 25: For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. [greek word meaning “overseer”]
Christ is the Bishop of your souls. Christ oversees his flock. And Christ has given his under-bishops—to oversee his flock. He says to the pastor—take the oversight. The pastor has no sufficiency in himself for this work. Our sufficiency is of God. So what do you do?
1 Peter 5: 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
This is the submission, the humility, which we are all being exhorted to, brethren.
1 Peter 5: 5: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
III. THE MOTIVE
1 Peter 5: 2: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint,[forced] but willingly;
The first motive is not by constraint, but willingly. Why does the younger submit to the elder? Why do brethren submit themselves to one another? Not by constraint but willingly. Where does this willingness come from?
When I first began to think perhaps God would use me to preach, I expressed it to a faithful pastor. He told me not to tell anyone. He recommended I faithfully attend the preaching of the gospel, listen to my pastor, study and wait. Six years later I was asked to fill-in one night by my pastor. Then I was asked again, then by others, and over the course of 7 years I travelled a great deal preaching at various churches for pastors.
After several hard trials, seeing my pastor suffer and suffering with him, having my heart broken several times, I realized the weight a pastor is under and I was not so willing. This kind of weight:
Ezekiel 3: 18: When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Then there is the weight of watching for souls, as one that must stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give account. There is the weight of knowing that God’s word never returns unto him void.
2 Corinthians 2: 16: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
There is the weight of rejection. When the gospel offended men, the apostle Paul was discredited because of various weaknesses in his bodily presence and in his speech so that many tried to cause the church at Corinth to question whether he was even an apostle.
If anyone is thinking about this calling, I would tell them what wise men once told me, “If you can do anything else then do that. But if God hedges up the way and calls you to this work, do it with all your heart, knowing, our sufficiency is of God.””
This is weightiness only God can make a man willing for: willing to devote your life to the care of God’s flock, willing to labor in the Word to bring them meat in due season, willing to pray for the flock, willing to seek their eternal welfare in all things.
What do you do then? Where does this grace come from?
1 Peter 5: 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Do you see the principle is the same for us all brethren?
1 Peter 5: 5: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
The second motive is this:
1 Peter 5: 2:…not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Some merely want to preach and teach. Some want applause of men. Some want prestige. Some want money. For these same filthy reasons, some put on a pretense of humility to the elder and to their fellow brethren.
This is what makes a ready mind: “If you love me, feed my sheep.” I am a debtor to all men to preach this gospel of the unsearchable riches of Christ because of what Christ has done for me.
So where do we get this ready mind?
1 Peter 5: 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Do you see how this applies to everyone here who believes on Christ?
1 Peter 5: 5: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
The third motive is this:
1 Peter 5: 3:…Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
If I turn from God’s word, from God’s method, to arbitrarily make up my own rules and teach commandments of men then I begin to lord over God’s heritage.
Example: The Spirit of God proclaims that Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth. Yet, in the eyes of Korah and those who opposed him he was a tyrant because Moses would not be turned from God. What an example he is to us. (Read Numbers 16)
The carnal heart is not in subjection to the word of God and cannot be. The carnal heart says, “We will not have this man reign over us.” They could not subject themselves to God’s ordained order. God set apart Moses to be their prophet. God set apart Aaron to be their high priest. But they said of them, “You take too much on yourselves, seeing we are all holy.” But they manifest they were not holy, they were not set apart by God, because had they been they would have been in subjection to God and to the order God ordained.
What do you do in such matters? Moses hit his face before God. What an example to the flock!
1 Peter 5: 5: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
IV. HERE IS THE PROMISE TO US ALL WHO SUBMIT TO HIM.
1 Peter 5: 4: And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Amen!