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 examples to the flock.
4 And when the chief
Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
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.
8 Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist
stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in
your brethren that are in the world.
10 But the God of all
grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye
have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
11 To him be glory
and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
12 By Silvanus, a
faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and
testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.
13 The church that is
at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.
14 Greet ye one
another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
Peter at the close of his first epistle gives instruction to
the elders of the body. An elder is not judged as the world judges by age but
instead by spiritual maturity. Peter gives two basic qualities for elders that
they are witnesses to the sufferings of Messiah and that they are partakers of
the glory to come.
We think of the fivefold ministry when we think of elders
but every believer is a minister of the work of YHWH. Peter gives no such limitation;
the apostle John divides believers into three categories regardless of their
ministry gifts little children, young men, and fathers, Paul has said we may
have a thousand instructors but few fathers, and James has said that elders
will pray a prayer of faith. The qualifications of elders remain the same
regardless of the ministry YHWH works through one. They must be a witness by
lifestyle of the death of the old man accomplished in our Messiah at the cross
and in like manner the glory of the life of YHWH living in them must be
evident.
Being a leader and elder in the church is not like being a
school teacher where a degree and learning facts and figures make you qualified
to teach others. We may feel the call of YHWH to the work He has determined for
us but still the way is a living way and must be lived in us before we can help
others know how to live. We do not build our arc as Noah did for one hundred
years nor do we learn our duties for seventeen to thirty seven years as the Levitical
priest did before performing his service.
Consider that scripture tells us Moses knew he was to
deliver Israel at age forty but not until age eighty did YHWH send him. In the
same way our Master knew at age twelve that YHWH was His Father but was thirty
before His ministry began. Also the apostle Paul is directly called by Yeshua
but it is several years later before YHWH speaks to the elders of Antioch to separate
out Paul and Barnabas.
I once many years ago met a man who was not a minister of
any sort but as I spoke to him with he thumbed through his old bible from verse
to verse from beginning to end; both encouraging me and ever so gently
correcting me. I could sense the life of YHWH in this man.
Peter instructs the elders as he himself was told when they
have converted from carnal trust of the self to the life of trusting the Spirit
to live in us to feed the sheep. Not by a sense of duty but as fathers from
love; not for carnal gain but a desire to see the life of YHWH established in
others, not as masters but as those who see to those who belong to their master
by being a living example of our masters life.
Peter moves on to those who are younger in the faith to
submit to the elders as the elders know we submit to each other with
humbleness. Humbleness is having no consideration of one’s own rights or needs
or desires for provision or notice; for the self is pride. We know that YHWH
has given us all things through His Son to the purpose that we might have that
which is needful for our brother to have and trusting YHWH to work that which
is needful for us.
If we are to be honored let it be by YHWH if we are to
minister let it be by His life working in us. As Yeshua has taught us all glory
and honor and faith must be given to YHWH and He will show His authority and
glory and life through us.
So we cast all that we are and all that He has promised for
and to us for we know that it is His good pleasure to care for us.
Your adversary seeks to destroy you by self-seeking and
those things which are of men, including you, stand strong in your trust in the
Messiah and the life of the Father you have been redeemed into.
Know that your Lord will allow you to see the end of believing
in man as it is unbelief in YHWH, but He shall also deliver you from every
snare of the flesh and establish and strengthen you in Himself.
