as we study your word, that the
Holy Spirit would teach us and guide us. And again, take away
the cares of this world. We all have many cares and troubles
and things that are on our mind with our family members and friends.
Maybe even things that we're personally going through that
no one else knows, oh Lord. And we just lift these things
up to Thee, and we pray that You would minister to us, we
who are Your people, through Your Word. Oh Lord, if there's
any of Your lost sheep that will be here, or will hear these messages,
Lord, oh, if it's Your will to grant them faith, and that they
might turn to Thee, Lord, and see their desperate need for
Thee. We love You and praise You, in Jesus' name, amen. Okay,
open your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Peter. 1 Peter. Today we'll be in chapter 5.
The name of the message today is an exhortation to elders.
An exhortation to elders. And today we'll begin the closing
chapter of this wonderful epistle. It's been a great joy to go through
it. And remember that this letter is written to God-suffering saints
who are scattered through abroad in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, Bithynia, and who are the elect according to the four knowledge
of God, the Father through sanctification of the Spirit and obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this epistle
applies to the church all through the ages, because all of God's
people have suffered unjustly for their faith. All of God's
people, we suffer unjustly for our faith, bearing the reproach
of Christ. And we've all went through suffering. We all go through trials. We
all go through tribulations, whether it be our health or whether
it be, again, being reproached for for what we believe. And
so we've seen Peter contrasting the suffering of the saints to
the sufferings of Christ. And last week we looked at how
our suffering, our trials, our fiery trials, just as it was for the saints
of old, Peter implies that these trials and tribulations in our
life are like us being put through a furnace. That's why he called
them fiery trials. Fiery trials. And they're used
to refine us. Like the smith when he refines
gold, puts it into a furnace and it becomes refined. And let us remember, though,
that amidst all our trials and all our tribulations, that our
great God is watching over us. He's watching over us. He's keeping
us. And He does this so these trials don't consume us. Because
they would. they would, but he keeps us and
he takes his home to glory when it's his due time. So with that
in mind, let us consider the first four verses of this wonderful
chapter. First Peter, chapter five. And
this chapter will close this wonderful book, there will be
a few lessons in it. And Peter having finished his
general exhortation to the saints, which chiefly concerned patient
suffering for Christ amidst trials, and we see that as a constant
thread through this book, we've looked at how every chapter Peter
deals with suffering. Every chapter. So it's a good
epistle for us to read when we're in the midst of trials or tribulations.
So he's finished his general exhortation to the saints, which
again, chiefly concerned patient suffering for Christ amidst trials,
and he exhorted the suffering saints to submit to civil authorities
and servants to their masters and husbands and wives mutually
to each other. He now proceeds to exhort the
elders to the discharge of their office and duty and calling.
Elders here are not the elder in age or the more older brethren
in the churches, but men in office whose calling it is to feed the
flock, to preach the word of God. The apostle is an elder
himself. He calls upon the elders, that
is again preachers again, not the elder in faith or age, to
feed Christ's flock, to feed Christ's flock and to love the
brethren and to not lord over them and to wait upon the Lord's
return being faithful to the calling that the Lord has called
them to. So let's consider the first four
verses this morning. We'll read them. First, Peter
five verses one to four, 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.
feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lacquer,
but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage,
but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Now take note of something very
telling here. of the humility of the apostle
Peter. Now let's remember who Peter
was. He was with the Lord. He was with the Lord. He was
one of the ones who was allowed to be on the Mount of Transfiguration. He was one of the closer inner
circles, you could say, of the apostles. And note the humility here of
Peter. He exhorts the fellow elders,
preachers, and notice he does not vault himself above them.
What does he do? He puts himself among them. He puts himself among them, in
the same position as they are, calling himself an elder as well.
Isn't that wonderful? Now, he had authority, didn't
he? But he doesn't exercise it. He's leading right with them,
right in their midst. And that's wonderful. That's
wonderful. The elders, which are among you
I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ. He doesn't even mention his apostleship. He says, I'm
an elder too. I love that. What humility Peter
brings forth here. What humility. 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." Now, this is Peter again, he's one
of the apostles, and he's writing this, and yet he does not exercise
authority as being an apostle, but he puts himself again in
the same place as the other preachers. I'm an elder with you. The apostles were elders, but
they're also They were apostles, but they were also elders. And
those who are mentioned in the Bible, those who call themselves
apostles today are nothing but liars and charlatans. There's
only the apostles that are mentioned. And they are elders also, but
there's no more apostles. And those who say they're apostles
today, and there's people out there who do that, they're charlatans,
beloved, they're liars. Because the only apostles mentioned
are the apostles in the scriptures. But this is wonderful how Peter
does not exalt himself over the other elders. This is how it
should be in the body of Christ. This is how it should be. We
are one in Christ. We're all saved sinners. Washed
clean and forgiven by God. All because of his precious blood.
We have one shepherd. In one bishop of our souls in
one preacher is not the vault himself over other preachers.
It's not to be. It's not to be. It's wrong. It's wrong. Nor should one preacher
allow another preacher to control them. That's wrong, too. Jean-Claude
said to me something a long time ago, and Donny Bell told me the
same thing years and years ago. You have to be your own man.
You can't be controlled by people or other preachers. And it's
so true. It's so true. So no, Peter, he
has authority as an apostle, but he doesn't, he's not vaulting
over these other preachers. It's wonderful. This just makes
my heart warm. It's wonderful. So, truly, Paul's
words for the saints of God apply to all the saints. Turn, if you
would, to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. And notice, too, in what Peter's
writing here. He's exhorting them in love,
beloved. He's exhorting them in love. He's not being coming
down on them and hammering them. No, he's exhorting them in love. We are truly to esteem others
better than ourselves, beloved. We are truly to do that. We see
Peter doing that here, don't we? He doesn't say, well, I'm
the apostle Peter, so you must therefore bow to what I say.
He doesn't say that at all, does he? He doesn't exalt himself
as pope over all the other preachers, does he? No. Not at all. He does not esteem himself better
than others. he sees himself as a fellow laborer.
Look at this in 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 12 and 13. And we beseech
you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very
highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. Notice that. And we beseech you,
brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you. God puts men into positions
as preachers to be over the flock of God. To be over the flock
of God and to esteem them very highly in love, in love for their
work's sake and be at peace among yourselves. Let's go back to
our our text. In 1 Peter 5, verse 1, again
it says, 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. Peter again
here calls himself an elder and a witness of the sufferings of
Christ and of the glory of Christ. He was with the Lord all the
days of his ministry. And he was at his transfiguration.
He was a witness of what Christ did upon this earth. Turn, if
you would, to Matthew 26. Peter was with the Lord in the
garden and he saw the great sorrow in his soul. And of his agony
and the bloody sweat in the garden. Look at this in Matthew 26. Verses
36-37. And then we'll turn to John 18 after that. Matthew 26, 36 and 37. Then come with Jesus with them
to a place called Gethsemane and saith unto the disciples,
sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and
very heavy. Verse 37. Look at that. And he took with him Peter and
the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. So he was witness to the sufferings
of Christ. Turn, if you would, to John 18.
He saw the Lord's apprehension and the binding by the officers
and soldiers. And he saw Judas betray Christ. He was there in
the high priest hall when our Lord was mocked and blindfolded,
buffeted and smote upon the face. Look at this in John 18. verses
15 and 16. And Simon Peter followed Jesus,
and so did another disciple. That disciple was known unto
the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of
the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went
out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest,
and spake unto her that kept the door, and bought in Peter. John 18, verses 15 and 16. So
Peter saw some of the sufferings that
Christ went through. But Peter also had suffered reproach
for being a disciple of Christ, for being a follower of the way,
which oftentimes happens to God's people. Let's go back to our
text in 1 Peter 5. I'll read it again. Verse 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." So remember, all through this epistle, what
is Peter being bringing forth? He's being bringing forth the
suffering of Christ and how the saints will suffer for the cause
of Christ. Let's do a little review here.
Let's turn back to chapter 1 in 1 Peter. He's brought forth before
these beloved saints the fact of Christ's suffering for them.
This is a continuous thing that he brings forth, knowing that
the only way for the saints to be comforted in their sufferings
is to know that Christ suffered for them. What do preachers always tell
you? What do preachers always tell me when I listen to preachers?
Look to Christ. Look to Christ. No matter what
you're going to, look to Christ. Keep your eyes upon Christ. Don't
get your eyes on the circumstances. Get your eyes on Christ. Get
them on him. Look at this in 1 Peter 1, verse
11. He brings forth Christ's suffering
for them on the cross. Searching what or what manner
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow." Now we know that Christ is a
sinless sacrifice and He suffered upon Calvary's cross for my sins,
the believers' sins, and for the sins of all the elect. Look
at 1 Peter 2, verses 19 to 21. For this is thankworthy, if a
man for conscience toward God endure great suffering, endure
grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if, when
ye are buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? What
if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently?
This is acceptable with God. For hereunto were ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps." Notice he contrasts again the
suffering that the saints are going through with the suffering
of Christ. And then look at verses 23 and 24 in the same chapter. Who, when he was reviled, reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously.
Who his own self bear our sins. Remember, this is the sinless
one. This is the spotless Lamb of God. Who his own self bear
our sins and his own body on the tree. That we, being dead
to sin, should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. Now look at chapter 3, verses
17 and 18. For it is better, if the will
of God be so, that ye suffer for well-doing, than for evil-doing. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.
Again, we see him bringing forth to the suffering saints the fact
that Christ has suffered for our sins. And then look at 1
Peter 4.1. Forasmuch, then, as Christ has
suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with
the same mind For he that has suffered in the flesh hath ceased
from sin. And then let's go back to our
text again in verse one. For the connection, the elders
which are among you, I exhort who am also an elder and a witness
of the sufferings of Christ. Peter knew what he was talking
about when he was talking about the sufferings of Christ. He
saw it. He saw it. He saw him bearing
reproach. He saw him wrongly accused. He
heard it. He saw him suffer for the sins
of his people. And also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed. So we see here Peter bringing
forth before the brethren the fact that the servant is not
above the master. And we know that our Lord suffered
reproach unjustly, therefore we will suffer reproach for our
faith. And we're suffering unjustly. This is a major theme in this
epistle, the suffering saint, contrasted with the suffering
of Christ. And when we compare what we suffer
through to what he suffered for us, it doesn't even come close. It doesn't even come close. Someone might say, well, I'm
not suffering through anything right now. Well, you will. You will. You will. All God's people suffer
through things. We don't like it, do we? But
we ask the Lord to give us grace and strength, and whether it
be health-wise or mental or just dealing with people reproaching
us for our faith, it's hard. It's hard. Sometimes I think
mental agony is so hard, We can get so twisted and turned
around, can't we? Oh my Lord, keep my eyes on Christ. Keep my eyes on Christ. So again,
Peter sets the reader's mind upon Christ. Now remember, they
received this letter, it would be read among them, so he's setting
the reader's minds or the listener's minds upon Christ. And what a
comfort this would be. He reminds them that the suffering
that they are going through, will soon fade away. It'll soon
fade away. Because they are to be a partaker
of the glory that shall be revealed. Note this, 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. That shall be revealed. Calvin
brings forth some good points about this verse in his commentary. In exhorting pastors to the duty,
he points out especially three vices which are found to prevail
much, even sloth, desire of gain, and lust for power. In opposition
to the first vice, he sets eagerness or willing attention to the second,
libriety to the third, moderation and meekness by which they are
to keep themselves in their own rank or station. So this is an
exhortation to elders. Note in the next three verses
in this exhortation, in the warning in these three verses here, Feed
the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof,
not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy liqueur, but of
a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but
being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. So the gospel preacher is to
be always ready to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Always ready with the thought
of feeding the sheep of God. And this will prevent laziness
among the preacher because this is our desire. And so we search
the scriptures and study the word of God to feed the sheep
of God. And we as preachers are to be
content where God places us, where God places us. We are to
be content with what we have in life. The preacher is not
to lust for power or fame or notoriety or influence with other
preachers. They are to faithfully labor
where God has called them to be. That's where they're to labor. and to labor there faithfully.
Faithfully. Faithfully proclaiming the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this in verse 2 with
those thoughts in mind. Feed the flock of God. Feed the
flock of God which is among you. So where are you placed? Feed
the flock of God. Feed them. And how does a preacher
feed the flock of God? By preaching the gospel. By proclaiming
Christ. Taking the oversight thereof.
Not by constraint, but willingly. Not for filthy liqueur, but of
a ready mind. I remember when I was in Oregon,
Brother Donny Bell told me to faithfully preach the gospel
when I was there. He said, you faithfully preach
the gospel. When the Lord called me here,
he gave me the same charge. He gave me the same charge. You
are just to be faithful to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. where you are placed, where you're
placed. Again, how does one feed the
sheep of God? We preach Christ and Christ alone.
We feed the flock where we are called, and God, by his sovereign
power, places the preacher where he wants the preacher to be. God does this. The preacher doesn't
do this. The preacher's just a vessel
at the disposal of the Lord, and God takes and places the
preacher wherever he is pleased to place that preacher. Two and
a half years ago, he was pleased to place me here, to move me
from Oregon and to place me here, to take Brother Jim and to place
him at 13th Street, to take Bill and place him in Georgia. And he was pleased to do that.
It pleased God to do that. And if someone has a problem
with a pastor being placed in a certain place, do you know
what they really have a problem with? God's sovereignty. That's really
what they have a problem with. Because it's not the preacher's
fault. We just get put wherever we get put. And the Lord's pleased
to do that. But if a person who professes
to be a believer has a problem with a pastor being placed in
a certain place, they really have a problem with the sovereignty
of God. Because it is he, and every preacher
will tell you this, it's he who moves the preacher to wherever
he wants that preacher to be. It's his work. This is his church. He's in charge. And he can do
whatever he pleases. And every preacher will tell
you this. Every preacher will tell you this. We were all talking,
the three of us preachers were talking, and how we're perfectly
content where God has us. We're perfectly content. And
this is where God's placed me. I don't plan on going nowhere.
But this is where God's got me. And it's absolutely wonderful.
No preacher plans on going anywhere, but when God moves them, they
go. They go. So when a preacher is placed
where God wants him to be, this is his charge right here, to
feed the sheep of God. And what do God's sheep feast
on? They feast on the green pastures of His Word, don't they? They
feast on the green pastures of His Word. The Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And take note, the preacher is
to feed the flock of God, which is among you. In God's sheep,
they feast on the Gospel, beloved. They feast on the Gospel. You
don't want to hear anything else but me preaching Christ. Because
that's what you feast on. That's what you feast on. Now
the hypocrite will murmur and complain, Well, God's sheep are
content to sit and rejoice. But the fault finder and the
hypocrite will murmur and complain, murmur and complain. And meanwhile,
the sheep's over there just feasting on the gospel message, just loving
it, just absolutely loving it. Well, the hypocrite will cause
trouble and bring false accusations against the brethren. And then
there's the sheep just feasting. Just feasting on the Word of
God. Think of this, just as we take in food to nourish our bodies,
so we who are born-again, blood-washed believers, feast upon the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And how many times? We do it
four times a week here, don't we? We have a buffet four times a
week. We feast on the Word of God. We feast on the Word of
God. And it's wonderful for the believer,
absolutely wonderful. And note the preacher is to take
oversight. We see in this verse, not by constraint, but willingly.
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly. Now feeding is a comprehensive
term for the whole service of the ministry. To watch over the
flock is to know the sheep and be acquainted with them in their
spiritual state, to minister to them and watch over them,
to warn them of any pitfalls that they may be prone to stumble
into. It is to pray for them and with
them, to make time to be with them, to bear their burdens with
them. And what an example our Lord
is. Our ever great high priest keeps the whole of his sheepfold
in his everlasting arms, watching over them and interceding for
them. And elders are to take leadership of the church, not
by pressure or constraint. They're not to be a heavy-handed
authoritarian. That's not how it is. That's really not how it is.
We see that. Peter could have exercised apostolic authority,
couldn't he? He could have just laid the hammer down, but he
didn't. Now, there's a time and place to do that when error creeps
up amongst the church. There's a time and place to do
that. But the elders are to take leadership
of the church, again, not by pressure or constraint, but willingly. Not motivated by advantage or
pay or personal power, but for the glory of God. And the elder
is to preach and to feed the sheep of God with a joyful spirit.
With a joyful spirit. They are to esteem others better
than themselves. I'm no better than you all. God
has called me to this position. He's called me to lead. But I
am a saved sinner, just like every one of you who profess
Christ. I'm saved by the same blood. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. And the gospel preacher does
this with a cheerful spirit, and he does this willingly because
they are sent of God and they are equipped of God to do these
things. Again, they do not do it for
money or gain or fame. They do it out of a service for
our great God and King. And the elder is to be ready
to serve him who has redeemed our souls with his own precious
blood. And the elder desires the sheep
of God to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my hope. is that you would
grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Brother
Norm says, what are we preparing God's people for their promotion,
their promotion for the day that you will see Christ to keep your
eyes upon to keep your eyes upon Christ, upon Christ and him alone. And our hope is that you grow
in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Note in
verse three, the elder is not to lord over the flock. They
are, because the flock is God's heritage. It's God's heritage.
We're to be examples to the flock. Neither is being lords over God's
heritage, but being examples to the flock. Again, pastors
are not to rule with an iron fist. They're just not to do
that over God's people. They're not to rule as though
they were kings and lords over God's people. Unfortunately,
there are some who do that. But that's not to be. There'll
be examples and patterns of love, kindness, honesty, doctrinal
soundness, and they are to lead the church. They are to lead
the church. Scripture says this, for the
Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. The Lord's heritage or portion
is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
This is the people. The Lord saith, I have formed
for myself. For myself. They shall show forth
my praise. Now let's close with a verse
4. Look at this. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Again here we see Peter bringing forth before the suffering saints
and the elders whom he is exhorting here the fact that we all have
one shepherd. We all have one shepherd. Every
one of God's blood-bought people have one shepherd. Just one.
One. Preacher's just an under-shepherd,
beloved. We have one shepherd. He's called the chief shepherd.
The chief shepherd. That should do away with anyone
wanting to run things and run other churches, eh? Right there.
There's one chief shepherd. And Peter brings forth that he's
coming again. He's coming again, beloved. Pastors and shepherds
in the scriptures. Pastors are called shepherds
in the scriptures, but really, again, we're the under shepherd,
because Christ is the great shepherd, the chief shepherd. And when
he shall appear, the faithful pastors and elders shall hear
the master say, well done. Well, just like every other sheep
of God will hear the same thing. Well done. Isn't that wonderful?
Wonderful, beloved. Oh, and note the latter part
of this verse. Ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth
not away. Now much is made in religions about crowns and rewards. My gosh, they just, oh, I'm just
not even gonna get into that nonsense, because that's all
it is. It's a bunch of nonsense, beloved. Just absolute nonsense. But think upon this. And even
the highest and best servants in the Lord's house, whether
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, we have no
claim to a reward. By our own doing. None at all,
do we? And I'm talking the best servants
of the Lord. They have no claim to a reward.
No claim to a reward from the Lord. Because even our best service
is tainted with sin. And it needs to be pardoned by
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord taught this to his disciples. Look at this in Luke chapter
17. I like taking people here that like to pop off about rewards
and all that. I love taking them to this little
portion right here. Luke 17. Because this is the
master's words. And I want you to ponder a question
after as we read these words. Who can say I'm going to get
a reward from the Lord for what I do? Okay? Think of that. Think of that. Because there's
a lot of people out there who say that, isn't there? And like I say,
it's just a bunch of nonsense. Look at this. Because Christ
is our reward, beloved. Christ is our reward. Look at
this in Luke 17, verses 7 to 10. But which of you, having
a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him, By
and by, when he is come from the field, go and sit down to
meet. And will not rather say unto him, Make ready, wherewith
I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten
and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat and drink. Doth he
think that servant, because he did the things that were commanded
him? I throw not. So likewise, when
ye have done all these things which are commanded you, say,
We are unprofitable servants. Why? Doesn't that not just, that
just, boom, there it just lays everything out. Hey, all these
folks thinking they're going to get all these rewards for
these things they're supposedly doing. Beloved, we're all unprofitable
servants. We have done that which was our duty to do. So, so after
reading those words, How can one say, I'm going to get a reward
from the Lord for all these things I do? We're all unprofitable
servants of love. And notice, we're all on the
same field. We're all on the same level playing field there,
right? Oh, my. This crown of glory is
God's eternal glory and happiness, like the crown of righteousness.
Scripture says this. Henceforth, there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day, not only to me only, but
unto all them, that love is appearing. Christ is our reward, beloved.
Christ is our reward. And it shall be to all those
who love is appearing. Do you love is appearing? And
the reward of the believer is Christ again in Christ alone.
And because of that, we give all the glory to our great God.
Heavenly Father, we thank Thee again for this wonderful time
and this little epistle as we see the suffering saints constantly
by our dear brother Peter being pointed to Christ and Christ
alone. We pray that through the preaching of Your words that
Your people will be built up and established in the faith,
that they grow in the grace and knowledge and truth of Thee,
Lord. We love Thee and we praise Thee for Your goodness and mercy
and grace to us in Jesus' name. Amen.