Now may I invite you to turn
with me in the Word of God to 1 Peter, 1 Peter, and chapter
5, and I shall read in your hearing verses 1 through 4. 1 Peter,
chapter 5, and the first four verses. The elders therefore among you,
I exhort, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed,
tend or shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising
the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the
will of God, nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither
as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves
examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall
be manifested, you shall receive the crown of glory that fades
not away. Let us pray and ask God by His
Spirit to give us understanding in this portion of His Holy Word. Our Father, we are again bowed
in Your presence, because in some little measure You have
taught us the truth of the words of our Lord Jesus, who said,
without me, severed from me, cut off from me, you can do nothing. We own that truth as preacher
and listener, and together we pray, Lord Jesus, by the present
ministry of the Spirit, give utterance to the one who speaks. Give understanding and illumination
and discernment to those who hear, that when this hour is
concluded, we may together lift up our hearts in praise that
you have come near in the ministry of your word. Amen. I begin this morning by asking
a question of each one of you, young and old alike, and it's
a relatively simple question. The question is this, what is
your idea of an ideal pastor? What is your idea of an ideal
pastor? Or perhaps I could state the
question in a different way. If you had the power to make
an ideal pastor, what would he look like? If you had the power
to construct an ideal pastor, what would he look like? From
his physical demeanor, to his voice, to his spirit, to his
attitude, to his actions in functioning as a pastor. If you had the power
to create an ideal pastor, what would he look like? Well, the
famous dreamer in a Bedford jail by the name of John Bunyan, he
gives us an insight to how he would answer that question. You'll
remember that early in Pilgrim's Progress, when Christian is brought
into the house of interpreter, that the interpreter takes him
into a private room and bid his man open a door. The witch he
had done, Christian saw the picture of a very serious person hang
up against the wall. And this was the fashion of it.
It had eyes lifted up to heaven, the best of books in his hand.
The law of truth was written upon his lips. The world was
behind his back. It stood as if it pleaded with
men, and a crown of gold did hang over its head. Then said
Christian to interpreter, what means this? And interpreter answers,
the man whose picture this is, is one of a thousand. He can
beget children, travail in birth with children, and nurse them
Himself when they are born. And whereas you see Him with
His eyes lifted up to heaven, the best of books in His hand,
and the law of truth written on His lips, it is to show you
that His work is to know and unfold dark things to sinners. Even as you see Him stand as
if He pleaded with men, and whereas you see the world as cast behind
Him and that a crown hangs over His head, that is to show you
that, slighting and despising the things that are present for
love that He has to His Master's service, He is sure in the world
that comes next to have glory for His reward. Now, said the
interpreter, I've showed you this picture first, because the
man whose picture this is, is the only man whom the Lord of
the place where you are going has authorized to be your guide
in all difficult places you may meet with in the way. Wherefore,
take good heed to what I have showed you, lest in your journey
you meet with some that pretend to lead you right, but their
way goes down to death. Bunyan answers our question by
giving us this portrait of this man of God in the house of interpreter. But I'm glad to say this morning
that a greater than Bunyan has spoken to this question. What
is the ideal pastor? What does he look like? If you
were to have the power to create him, would he in any way approximate
what the greater than Bunyan has done in giving us a description? For it is the Lord Jesus through
his inspired apostle Peter that here in this very passage read
in your hearing gives us a most condensed and yet a very rich
picture of what a servant of God should be who takes upon
himself the responsibility of a pastor to God's flock or God's
people. Now, by way of introduction,
as we come to our first study in this passage, I want you to
notice two things, and this is just introductory, then we shall
have two major heads by which we open up verse one. First of
all, note with me the connection of these verses with the preceding
and the following context. If you have the New King James
Version, you don't find the word therefore. That's because the
translation comes from a different Greek original text. But the
overwhelming evidence of textual indications are that when Peter
wrote, he did connect these words with what went before with a
little Greek particle, un, translated therefore. and most frequently,
unless the context indicates it, it is not just a word of
transition. Often I write in my notes now
and next, and they are used as words to transition without any
tight logical connection with what goes before. But Peter wrote,
therefore, as he is about to speak to elders, In the company
of all of the people of God, directing them to their Christ-appointed
task, he begins with the word, therefore. And you know the little
statement that I've reminded you about many times, whenever
you find a therefore, always ask, what is it there for? When you find a therefore, what
is it there for? Well, some suggest that the connection
is this. Peter has just completed this
second major section of opening up a biblical view concerning
persecution and trial among the people of God. He concluded the
section in verse 19 of chapter 4 with these words. Wherefore,
let them also that suffer according to the will of God, commit their
souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator." And when we expounded
the passage, we noted that as Peter calls them to this commitment
of themselves to the will of God, They are in the midst of
opposition, even when it becomes a burning, a fiery trial among
them, they are to pursue the course of doing well, that is,
tenaciously holding to a path that is marked out by the revealed
will of God. From that general statement,
he then says, the elders therefore, giving a specific aspect of well-doing
to a specific group of people within the congregation. And
that would be a very natural and it does indicate a logical
connection. There are many parallels in scripture
where biblical writers do the same. They state a duty generically
and then they move to a therefore which shows the specific application
of that duty to one or another segment of the congregation. Some suggest, and my judgment
tends to this second conclusion, that what Peter is doing is using
the therefore, looking back upon this entire section, beginning
in chapter 3 and verse 13, in which he focuses in upon the
subject of believers and their suffering for righteousness sake. And we noted that about two-thirds
of the way through that section, in verses 7 to 11 of chapter
4, he notes for these believers that in spite of the unusual
pressures brought upon them by suffering and persecution, they
are nonetheless to be diligent churchmen and churchwomen. He
describes their responsibilities one to another within the fellowship
of the church. Rather than being neutralized
by the unusual pressures of persecution, those duties are heightened.
If ever the people of God needed one another, they need one another
when the world is most hostile to them. And having then laid
out general principles for all of the people of God, in the
midst of their sufferings, Peter comes back to that theme, now
focusing more particularly upon the leaders within those various
congregations. So there is this connection,
and whether it is the more limited connection, primarily with verse
19, or the broader connection with that entire previous section,
this much is clear. Peter envisions these elders
as part and parcel of churches undergoing suffering for righteousness'
sake. knowing what it is to be opposed
for Christ's sake. And he assumes that these elders
are undergoing the same pressures and that as leaders within God's
flock, rather than draw back and dissociate themselves from
the people of God for fear that as leaders the persecution may
be more focused upon them, Peter assumes they stand by their post. and he's going to give them instructions
as to what they are to do among the congregations even in the
midst of the reality of opposition and persecution for the sake
of the Lord Jesus. And then when he moves on to
more generic descriptions of the duties of the people of God
in verse 5, likewise you younger be subject to the elder, all
of you clothe yourself with humility. He is obviously speaking of those
graces that are vital to harmonious church life. So he is once again
tying in the life and ministry of the church against the backdrop
of the reality of suffering and of persecution. Now, the second
introductory concern has to do with the manner in which Peter
gives this directive. We've looked at the connection
of this to the preceding and following context. Second introductory
concern is the manner in which Peter gives the directives. He
writes, the elders therefore among you, I exhort parakaló. I exhort, I appeal, I entreat. Now, as an apostle, Peter could
have pulled rank and commanded, and the people would have fully
understood, and I doubt anyone would have questioned his right
as an apostle to charge or to command, and there are words
found in the New Testament for charge, and the word would be
one used when a military man spoke to the troops under his
command, and Paul is not at all reluctant to use it several times
with Timothy and Titus, He could use the standard word for command,
but he doesn't. He says, I appeal. I entreat. And in so doing, he reflects
the same disposition of the man he calls his beloved brother
Paul. That's how he refers to him in
2 Peter. You remember in the book of Philemon,
Paul wrote as follows to Philemon, verse 8. Wherefore, though I
have all boldness in Christ to enjoin you that which is befitting,
though I have every right as an apostle to take a posture
of rightful authority and express my mind in an authoritative way,
yet, for love's sake, I rather beseech, and there's our word,
I rather entreat, I rather plead, as such a one as Paul the aged
and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ I beseech you. Now what
does the Apostle Paul do in Philemon and to Philemon and what is Peter
doing here? They both recognize this very
basic principle that wherever God puts us in leadership whether
in society, in the home, in the school and in the church Those
in authority should seek to express the legitimate dimensions of
that authority as graciously and kindly as they can without
eroding anything of the stuff of that God-conferred authority. When an entreaty will work, use
it. even though to command would
not be sin. A great lesson for parents, a
great lesson for teachers, a great lesson for governors and rulers
and pastors and chairman of this board or that board or any other,
where entreaty and appeal will work. Hold your commands for
those situations where commands are the only proper way to express
one's stewardship of authority. So it comes in the form of an
entreaty, it comes in connection with the overall thrust of the
preceding context of the letter. Now then, we come to consider
two things from verse one this morning. Having looked at the
connections and the manner of this enjoining of duties upon
the elders, note with me first the recipients of this exhortation,
and then we will consider, secondly, the person giving the exhortation. First of all, then, the recipients
of this exhortation. The elders therefore among you
I exhort. Now put yourself back in the
situation there in Asia Minor, somewhere in the early 60s AD,
somewhere around 63-64 AD. You're sitting in the congregation. Whoever's reading the letter
has brought you all the way through those glorious opening verses
of our great salvation in Christ, what we are in the second chapter
as living stones in a living temple, a holy priesthood, a
royal nation. We have heard those instructions
given to some of our brothers sitting to the right of us who
are house slaves, some of our sisters sitting to the left and
in front of us who have unconverted husbands, We've heard the injunctions
concerning the suffering and what we are to do and to be.
And now when the reader pauses when he has finished what in
our Bibles is verse 19 of chapter 4. Wherefore let them that suffer
according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing
unto a faithful creator. There's a pause in the congregation.
The reader may have a problem with dry mouth and takes a sip
of water, and then he says, the elders therefore among you I
exhort. What would have happened in the
chemistry of that congregation in whatever place this letter
came, when it circulated, when it was copied, and went to congregations
in those four distinct Roman provinces One of them is split
up into terms, sometimes I say five, there are five places named,
but in reality it was four distinct provinces. What would have been
the chemistry, the reaction when these words came forth from the
reader, the elders therefore among you I exhort. Well, immediately,
there would have been certain men in every congregation whose
ears would have perked up with the knowledge that I am being
addressed. I am an elder in this particular
assembly. There would have been many others
who would have immediately thought, oh, Peter's going to say something
to John, and to Harry, and to Pete, and to Mike, because they
knew who the elders among them were, as we saw last week. The
underlying assumption of this whole passage is, all true Christians
in Asia Minor were church members. And as they gathered in churches,
and the letter would be read in the churches, the recipients
of this letter would have known that they were being addressed,
and all around them would know the ones who would have the consciousness
of being addressed. Now, the question that raises
is this. Who were these elders and how
did a situation develop in which they would know who they were
and all around them would know who they were? Well, the word
here for elders in the plural, presbyteros, That means sometimes
simply older ones. It's used that way in 1 Timothy
5.1. Timothy is to respect older men. And even when he must exhort
and admonish them, he's to show deference to their age. Acts
2.17, the word is used for just older men. So dream dreams. But in this context, and in the
primary usage in the New Testament, it is clear that the word is
used in a more restrictive and technical sense as designating
those recognized and appointed to official spiritual leadership
in the congregations of God's people. The word elder is used
in the more restrictive and technical sense as designating those who
were recognized and appointed to official spiritual leadership
in the congregations. This is why he can say that you
elders are to shepherd the flock of God which is among you. And
he says to the elders in the hearing of all the congregation,
the elders among you I exhort. And each would have known precisely
who was being addressed. Now the question is, how did
such a situation come to pass that just some 30, 35 years after
our Lord Jesus died and rose from the dead, sent his spirit
upon the 120, and the church has, in ever-widening circles,
been established throughout the Roman Empire until what was,
as we've said again and again, virtually the northeast corner
of the Roman Empire, there were these congregations established. How would they have known at
this time that elders referred to the officially installed and
recognized spiritual leaders among them? How would they have
come to that conviction? Well, let me give you just a
brief survey of how that came to pass. Whereas with regard
to the office of deacon, we can look to Acts chapter 6 as most
likely being the seedbed out of which the office of deacon
grew, though some would debate it. There is no indication at
what point along the line of the spread of the church from
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the outermost part of the earth,
elders began to be recognized as the official leaders of God's
people within congregations. The first mention of elders in
the Book of Acts is a very off-handed reference in Acts 11 and verse
30. I want you to look at it with
me. We'll see two other passages in the Book of Acts. In Acts
11 and verse 30, notice this very off-handed matter of fact. assuming way, elders are introduced
to us in the New Testament Church. Verse 28 of Acts 11, Now in those
days there came down prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch,
and there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by
the Spirit that there should be a great famine over all the
world which came to pass in the days of Claudius. And the disciples,
every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto
the brethren that dwelt in Judea, which also they did, sending
it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul." There's
our first mention of elders. And the Judean church or churches
had elders. Now in the beginning, the only
officers we find are the apostles. The twelve serve as the pastors
of the First Pentecostal Church of Jerusalem. There is no evidence
that elders were established or recognized in the opening
days of the ministry of the Spirit of God in the church there in
Jerusalem, but by the time this offering is taken, there are
recognized spiritual leaders designated as elders to whom
this offering is brought in order to see it distributed in an honorable
and in an equitable manner. Now, how was it that elders just
sort of appeared? Well, the best answer I know
to give, and one shared by, as far as I know, all evangelical
scholars is, that the structure of the New Testament church took
its basic lines from certain principles embedded in God's
old covenant people, which came to expression in the life and
structure of the synagogues that were scattered throughout not
only Palestine, but the Roman world of the first century. And in that organization, the
leaders were elders, even as back in Israel you had the 70
elders who assisted Moses in the administration of God's rule
in Israel. So that when we come into the
New Testament, they just appear here. there in the Judean church
or churches, and when we trace out the missionary endeavors
of the Apostle Paul going primarily to the Gentiles, we see that
this had a very high place of priority in overseeing the organization
and life of the early churches. So we come to Acts 14 and verse
23 and we read this. back up to verse 21, and when
they, Paul and his companions, had preached the gospel to that
city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium,
and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them
to continue in the faith, and that through many tribulations
we must enter the kingdom of God, and When they had appointed
for them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting,
they commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed. So
here in the midst of this infant church situation, the apostles
and his companions go back and visit the places where the church
had been established, and they oversee the installation of an
eldership in each of these churches. Not because they did not believe
Christ was the chief shepherd, Christ was the sufficient shepherd,
for it says they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed.
They were to look to Christ as the ultimate source of all of
their life and power and stability and direction. but they saw that
it was the will of Christ that in each of the churches of Christ
there be these appointed leaders equipped by Christ designated
as elders. So by the time we come to Acts
20 and Paul is passing through the area where the church at
Ephesus had been established where he had spent some three
and a half years in labor Very naturally, Luke can write in
Acts 20 and verse 17, And from Miletus he Paul sent to Ephesus,
called to him the elders of the church. And when he calls them
to himself, reviews his own ministry among them, and then charges
them with their task, the echoes of 1 Peter 5 are heard rumbling
in Acts 20, and echoes of Acts 20 are heard rumbling in 1 Peter
chapter 5. The eldership, the establishment
of recognized spiritual leaders within the various churches was
part and parcel of the church as it is birthed. and brought
into its configuration under the guidance of Christ through
the Apostles. So that by the time we come near
the end of the Apostolic Age, the Apostle Paul, knowing that
his days are numbered, he gives specific directions to Timothy
about the recognition of elders, 1 Timothy 3, and he says to Titus
in Titus chapter 1 and verse 5, very significant words. For
this cause I left you in Crete. For what end? That you should
set in order the things that were wanting or lacking and appoint
elders in every city as I gave you charge. So that when we pick
up the New Testament and we come to a passage such as the one
we come to in 1 Peter, it is clear that wherever the apostles
worked out their understanding of the will of Christ, in the
foundation and initial formation of the structure of the Church
of Christ. It was the mind of Christ that
in every congregation there should be elders, that is, those whom
Christ equipped and the congregations recognized as those appointed
to give spiritual leadership to God's people conceived of
as a flock of God. Now, this is the group who are
the explicit recipients of this exhortation. The elders, therefore,
among you, are exhorted. Now, question. If this exhortation
is directed specifically and exclusively to the elders, Why
didn't Peter put an asterisk and say, see footnote, and then
you look down the footnote, special directions for elders attached,
urge them to read in their next elders meeting, and then get
right on and say, I, Peter, exhort you God's people, be subject
you younger to the elder. Why did he articulate His exhortation
to the elders before the full display and open hearing of all
of the people of God. He didn't have to do that, but
he did. So that embedded in this letter
that addresses all of the people of God in general, certain segments
of the people of God in particular, 2.18, servants, house slaves,
3.1, wives, particularly wives with unconverted husbands, Husbands,
chapter 3, verse 7, now a distinct group within the church is explicitly
addressed, but addressed in the hearing of the entire assembly. Now why? Do you ever think of
that? I didn't think about it seriously
until sitting at my desk in preparation for this morning. And that question
kept pounding away at me, and I said, well, maybe it was a
pragmatic thing. Peter didn't want to take the time to write
a little addendum and say, elders manual for the next elders meeting. But if Paul just gathered elders
to speak to them on his way by Ephesus, would it not have been
legitimate? Why are the directions specifically
addressed to elders given in such a way that Peter knows that
all of the people of God will hear them just as clearly as
the elders will hear? Yes, when the reader gives out
the first line, the elders among you I exhort, the people would
immediately turn and say, oh, he's getting exhorted, he and
he and he. And the he's would know I'm being exhorted specifically,
explicitly by this letter. Lord, help me to hear. But it
is a communal experience. The elders hear exactly the same
exhortation that the people hear. And the people hear exactly the
same exhortation the elders hear. Right? You kids see that? Is
that not clear? Now then, why? Why? Well, let me suggest there is
profound and very practical wisdom in this arrangement by God. Let
me give you four reasons. Number one, so that the people
of God will be able to recognize those elders who are indeed a
gift of the risen Christ to them. These instructions become common
property of the people of God so that the people of God will
be able to recognize those elders who are indeed a gift of the
risen Christ to them. One of the promises of the New
Covenant, a precious word, is found in Jeremiah 3 in verse
15. God says this, I will give them
shepherds, pastors, according to my heart, who shall feed them
with knowledge and with understanding. God says, I will see to it that
my sheep, my flock, have true shepherds who will feed them. Not fleece them, but feed them.
Not be interested in them simply for the fleece on their back,
but love them and care for them. I will give them shepherds according
to my heart who shall feed them with knowledge and understanding.
Ephesians 4 is the New Testament counterpart of that. When he
ascended on high, he gave gifts unto men, and he gave some pastors,
shepherds, and teachers for the perfecting of the saints unto
work of service. But you see, the people of God
need to recognize who true shepherds are because all the way through
the Old Testament and into the New, there is a doctrine of the
ever-present wicked influence of false shepherds. True in ancient
Israel, you had false prophets, you had leaders who are called
false shepherds, and one of the greatest indictments upon God's
people in the Old and in the New Covenant is the kind of leaders
they produce, receive, and tolerate. Now you think about that. How
do you know Israel was as apostate as God says they were in the
days of the prophets? Well, just read about the kind
of prophets they received as mouthpieces from God. Jeremiah
said, the prophets prophesy falsely and my people love to have it
so. Anyone who would put on a hairy mantle, they were ready to welcome
as a prophet, especially if he stroked them, made them feel
good. If he had gone out to the Crystal Cathedral and learned
how to have a purely positive gospel, and learn how to smile
and make the whole world smile regardless of their state before
God. In the days of our Lord, what's
the greatest indictment upon Israel at the time of our Lord?
It's the kind of leader she produced, received, and tolerated. Read
Matthew 23. Read Matthew 23. Jesus' indictment upon the scribes
and the Pharisees is an indictment upon the whole nation. The nation
produced, received, and tolerated such leaders. You know what Jesus
says to the Apostle Paul? It'll be the same under the New
Covenant. Remember what he says in 2 Timothy 4? Timothy, Timothy,
preach the word, the time will come when they will not endure
the sound doctrine, but will heap to themselves teachers having
itching ears and will turn away their ears from the truth and
turn unto fables. God's professing people will
both produce, receive, and tolerate such leaders. That's why the
Holy Ghost has deposited in passages such as these an unmistakably
clear, open job description and character description of true
shepherds that you, God's people, might know how to recognize a
true shepherd and how to reject a false one. One of the most telling things
about this church, if the Lord Jesus tarries in the next 25
years, is the kind of leaders it produces, receives, and tolerates. That's why I want to preach through
this thing in detail and do all I can with whatever power and
ability God has given me to communicate His Word in utter dependence
on the Spirit to have etched in your mind God's description
of a true shepherd. You take the picture of 1 Peter
and you scrutinize anyone who under any circumstances is ever
put before you. as a potential elder and say,
does he fit the picture, delineated by Christ, not by the stuff of
my own desires or the stuff of the common consensus of the Christian
community or the stuff of my heritage and my background, but
is it the picture etched in Holy Scripture by the finger of the
Son of God who loved his church and gave himself for it, and
who in that ongoing love and nurture continues to give her
true shepherds after his own heart. That's reason number one.
Reason number two, so that the elders and those whom they lead
have the identical divinely imparted job description determining their
mutual expectations. Now that's a mouthful, I'll run
it by again. Why does Peter say, the elders among you I exhort,
and then exhort the elders in the company of all the people?
I say the second reason is this. so that the elders and those
whom they lead have the identical divinely imparted job description
determining their mutual expectations. You see, if the people have an
expectation of what an elder ought to be, that is different
from what the elder expects he ought to be, got a problem, a
real problem. Either the people assume he's
not doing what he ought to do, or they assume he's doing what
he ought not to do, or he may be assuming he ought to do something
that in reality he ought not to do, and the only way to resolve
it is that both are reading the same job description coming from
the same source. King Jesus, speaking through
his inspired apostle, said, here's the job description of an elder.
You elders, get your job description not from your past tradition,
not from current consensus, and not from the people. Get the message, not from the
people. You elders, Get your job description from the one
who places you in that office. Congregation, you get your job
description from the same source. I asked you in the introduction,
if you had the power to create what you think is the ideal pastor,
what would you make? I followed up with another question. From what stuff would you get
the impulse to make him what you'd like to make him? Would
the stuff of your expectations come from the Bible? Or from
your temperament? Or from your background? Or from
your associations? Or from the way grandpa did it?
And grandma spoke of their dear old pastor and their elders,
whatever. You see, there is blessed harmony in a church where the
elders constantly have their nose in God's job description
of what they are to be and to do. And the people of God have
their nose in the same job description. And together, under the Lordship
of Christ, their mutual expectations and relationships are framed
by the Bible. Something's bigger than the elder's
temperament and his inclinations and his personal desires and
the things for which he has a native affinity. There's something bigger.
His God-given job description. into something more important
than what you think you would like or someone else would like
an elder to be or do. Hence, Peter's careful to make
it plain that though he's addressing the elders, he's addressing them
in the company of all of God's people. Reason number one, so
the people of God will be able to recognize those whom Christ
gives as true shepherds. Number two, So that the elders
and those whom they lead have the identical divinely imparted
job description determining their mutual expectations. And thirdly,
so that those who aspire to the office have a biblically framed
understanding of the task. So that those who aspire to the
office have a biblically framed understanding of the task. Now
Peter does not here say what Paul does in 1st Timothy 3.1.
If a man desires, and then it's a noun, it's hard to render it,
overseership would probably be the best way to render it. If
any man desires overseership, he desires a good work. But Paul
does not say much about that work in the 1 Timothy 3 passage. Peter focuses upon the work.
The elders among you I exhort, shepherd the flock of God, fulfill
all of the functions of a shepherd to his flock, of guiding, leading,
protecting, providing, healing, all that a shepherd does to his
literal earthly flock of sheep, you do to God's flock of sheep. Understanding they are not dumb
animals. They are image bearers of God.
They are fellow heirs of the grace of God in union with Christ. But with all of those qualifications
notwithstanding, they are still to be regarded as a flock of
sheep in all their vulnerability and dependantness. And he says,
shepherd them, exercising oversight. Not this way, but that. Not this,
but that. Not this, but that. And do it ever with an eye to
the reward that will come, not from the sheep, but from the
archipoemain, the chief shepherd. You see, it's one thing for people
to aspire to an office with a romantic notion of the task. But he who
aspires to overseership desires a good work. And what is that
work? It's the work that Peter defines
and describes in this passage. Is it right for a man to have
sanctified, purified ambitions to serve as an elder? Yes. If
it were not, Paul would not say, as he does in 1 Timothy 3, if
a man desires overseership, he's full of carnal ambition and needs
to repent. Now for some men who desire overseership,
that's what they need to do. because they do not desire a
good work, they like a good title, in some cases a good stipend
as my English friends would say, a good salary. They like a good
something, but not a good work. And for you men who have the
beginnings of some holy, purified desire to serve God's people
in that office, you need to hear this. Though you're not an elder,
you need to know what the work is. And count the cost whether
you're ready to aspire to this work as defined by the apostle. And then there's a fourth reason.
So that the people of God will know how to pray for and support
and cooperate with their elders, as they seek to fulfill their
duty. That's why Peter doesn't give an asterisk and a footnote
and give an appendage to his letter for a private elder's
reading. He wants the people of God to
know what are the duties of these elders that they might support
them and pray for them in the fulfillment of those duties.
And that's taught everywhere in the New Testament. 1 Thessalonians
5, 12, Know them that are over you in the Lord, and esteem them
very highly in love for their work's sake. And at the end of
that chapter, Paul says in verse 25, Brethren, pray for us, we
who bear the burden of spiritual responsibility and leadership.
1 Timothy 5.17, the elders are worthy of double honor, especially
those who labor in the word and in doctrine. If there's to be
that mutual support and cooperation in the fulfillment of their duty,
it's vital that both elders and the people of God have their
minds disciplined by a biblical understanding of what that task
is. Well then I move on in the second
place. We've looked at the recipients
of the exhortation, elders. The fact that the people would
know who they were, they would know who they were, and why it
is that Peter lays out these directives to the entire congregation. Now then, the person giving the
exhortation. Look again at the text. The elders
therefore among you I exhort, and notice we could drop right
down to verse 2 and not miss a stitch. The elders therefore
among you I exhort, shepherd the flock of God which is among
you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly,
nor yet for filthy hooker of a ready mind." We'd miss nothing.
But Peter does something utterly unique in this letter. He doesn't
do it in the second letter. It is the most thorough expression
of Peter's consciousness of his own identity. And he communicates
it particularly for the sake of these elders. Notice what
he says. The elders therefore among you
I exhort. And they wouldn't say, well who's
exhorting? He already told them. Verse 1 of chapter 1. Peter,
an apostle of Jesus Christ. Why doesn't he just carry on
with his apostolic authority? Why does he pause to give this
threefold self-designation before he actually exhorts them? You
see it? The elders among you I exhort,
and they're all ready to be exhorted, and he says, but pause for a
minute and look at me. Look at the one who's exhorting
you, then you'll be ready to receive my exhortation. This
is who I am in my own consciousness of my own identity. The elders
among you I exhort, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed,
shepherd the flock. Three things in his own self-identification. You see what they are? First
of all, he addresses these elders with the consciousness that he
is a soon presbyteros. Only time the word is found in
the New Testament. He takes the word for elder and
he puts the little preposition soon on front of it. And he makes
up a word under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and he says,
the one who exhorts you is a with you together with elder. He is a fellow elder. Fellow elder. Now why does he
identify himself that way? I thought he was an apostle.
Why doesn't he say, I exhort who I'm an apostle. That would
have been true. But he says fellow elder. Fellow elder. Well, he
does this, first of all, because that's what apostles were. As
each elder has unique, God-given responsibilities for the flock
in which the Holy Spirit has placed him, and we'll see that
as we further expound the passage, apostles were elders, pastors,
of all the churches by the appointment of the Lord Jesus. They had a
pastoral task and stewardship for the church universally. whereas
elders have a responsibility for the church specific and local. and because Peter was an elder. He had been one of the twelve
elders in the church in Jerusalem before other elders were brought
into the leadership and shared that leadership with the apostles,
not with apostolic gift or position, but in the place of leadership
as we see in Acts 15 when Paul and Barnabas go up to Jerusalem
in order to discuss a problem they meet with the apostles and
elders and the church. So, Peter is rightfully identifying
himself as an elder. John does it in 2 John 1 and
in 3 John 1. He identifies himself as elder. Well, why does Peter do this?
When he was more than an elder, why does he say, I, who am a
fellow elder, am exhorting you? Well, I trust by now you begin
to see the answer to that question. He wants these elders to know
in those various churches in Asia Minor that he is no theoretician,
no abstract theorist, that he is a practitioner of the trade
concerning which he's going to speak. Peter wants them to remember
that he with them feels the haunting burden of Hebrews 13, 17. Obey them that have the rule
over you and submit to them, for they watch for your souls
as they that shall give an account." I don't know what else to call
that, but one of the haunting, at times almost oppressive, burdens
of the eldership. It's a sobering thing enough
to know that each one of us shall give account of himself to God. That's enough to keep us occupied. But they watch for your souls
as they that shall give an account." Peter says, I exhort you as a
fellow elder. I'm no stranger to that haunting
burden. I'm no stranger to the sobering
prospect of James 3.1. Be not many of you teachers knowing
that we should receive the heavier judgment. It's a frightening
thing to be pouring out a cataract of words week after week, decade
after decade, and know that they'll all meet me in the day of judgment.
That's a sobering thing. Some of you wonder why I don't
tell more jokes when you know I have a sense of humor. That's
one of the reasons why. Jokes may have their place in
the living room in relaxed fellowship, but not in the place where one
is seeking to bear down upon the consciences of people the
great issues of heaven and hell and eternity. Peter wants them to know I'm
not a stranger to that haunting burden of accountability, the
sobering prospect of a heavier judgment. He wants them to know
he's not a stranger to the exhilarating joy that John describes in 3
John 4. I have no greater joy than to
hear that my children walk in the truth. He wants them to know,
he knows that joy. He knows the crushing disappointment
of 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 5, where Paul speaks of
his concern, lest his labor be in vain. Peter wants them to know this.
Peter wants them to know that though he's an apostle, he is
a sumpresbutoron. He is a fellow elder with them. And let me say by way of application,
have some of you wondered, maybe you've wondered, and I don't
think it's sinful to wonder, why it is that we don't invite some
very well-known evangelical and reformed leaders to preach in
our pastors' conference? Have you ever wondered that? Now, some reasons are, some of
them wouldn't come to our little rinky-dink conference. One of the major reasons, and
it's been difficult, men that I personally know and love, who
are greatly gifted, men with keen minds and warm hearts and
godly lives. But unless they are in the trenches
as pastors, we don't want them here to address men who are in
the trenches as pastors. We want anyone who addresses
men in our pastor's conference to say, I so-and-so fellow elder. I'm no stranger to that haunting
burden, no stranger to that sobering prospect, the exhilarating joy,
the crushing disappointment. We want men who can draw alongside,
who didn't come smack out of Annapolis or West Point with
bars on their shoulders, but as enlisted men paid their dues
in the trenches. When the bullets are whizzing,
and the shells are blowing, and the shrapnel's flying, to be
able to say, here my brother, here are my scars. I've been
in the trenches with you. That's what Peter's doing. Fellow
elder. It's a beautiful touch by which
to reach out and snare the affections and the expectation of these
elders. Secondly, he says in identifying
himself, he said, I am a witness of the sufferings of Christ.
See it in the text. The elders among you I exhort,
who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ."
What's he talking about? Well, the word witness in the
New Testament, martur, it can mean one who testifies to something
he's seen or heard. It's used that way in Acts 1.22,
Matthew 18.16. Can mean testimony to something
one has experienced, Acts 26.16. Or, several times it's used of
a martyr, one whose testimony of attachment to Christ causes
him to shed his own blood. It's used that way in Acts 22.20
and Revelation 17.6, which speaks of the blood of martyrs. But
in this passage, Peter is asserting that he writes these directives
as one who actually saw the sufferings of Messiah. Look at the language.
He doesn't say a witness of the sufferings of Jesus, but the
sufferings of Messiah, the sufferings of Christ. Now think for a minute
what that meant for Peter to pin that on himself as a badge
of unashamed self-identity. I am a witness of a suffering
Messiah. You remember what this Peter
did the first time? It became very clear to him that
Messiah would suffer. Remember it? Acts 16? Lord, this
will never be to you! No suffering, no rejection, no
cross. The Lord has to say, get behind
me, Satan. You think not the thoughts of God, but the thoughts
of men. God has so transformed him that
this very Peter who in this letter is constantly using a suffering
Messiah as the touchstone of how every believer is to view
his own sufferings. He's referred to the sufferings
of Christ no fewer than four or five times in this letter. And now as he speaks to pastors,
to elders, to shepherds with flocks that are suffering, he
takes them back to this whole element of the believer's suffering,
being a fellowship in the sufferings of Christ and says, I am an eyewitness,
I who write to you, witnessed suffering of Messiah. And what he once thought abhorrent
is now precious to Peter's heart. For he has come to see in his
suffering Messiah the only hope of his own salvation. And one
commentator suggests, and I believe it has merit, could it be that
Peter knew when he wrote to these people and said, I who exhort
you am not only fellow elder, but witness of the sufferings
of Christ, their minds would go back to what they knew about
Peter. when he was there when Jesus
began to suffer. He was there in Gethsemane. He
was there in the court of the high priest warming himself by
the fire. He could not say witness of the
sufferings without thinking of his wretched denial. his frightening
denial, taking oaths and maledictions that he had no relationship to
this Jesus of Nazareth. And yet it was that Jesus who
wonderfully restored him by the shore of Galilee. And you will
find the echoes of John 21 in this passage. Jesus said, do
you love me? Feed, shepherd my sheep. Give food to my lambs. Shepherd
my lambs. Shepherd my sheep. The exact
same terminology. I wonder when Peter wrote this
if he didn't pause and maybe drop a tear or two on the parchment.
A witness of the sufferings of Christ. And while I was witnessing
them, I committed my greatest sin. But that very Christ restored
me by His grace, and I've been cleansed in the virtue of His
sufferings. You elders, you too may have
tender scarred spots in your soul where you think of your
failures and your past sins. But remember, the one who writes
to you is a witness of the sufferings of Christ, not a detached eyewitness,
but a believing participant in the virtue of the sufferings
of Messiah. What would that do to your heart
if you're sitting there as an elder and you say, but oh, I've failed.
I've, I've wretchedly failed my Lord and his people. The one
who writes me is an apostle recognized throughout the whole Christian
world. Ah, yes, but he is witness of
the sufferings of Christ and scripture records and no doubt
Peter himself in the oral tradition was careful to include. his own
denial. Look at the details in the gospel
of Mark and understand that Mark wrote his gospel under the tutelage
of Peter and Peter was unashamed to speak of those failures which
magnified the grace of God as God restored him. He writes as
witness of the sufferings of Christ and then thirdly he says
I identify myself, strange language, notice now, who am also a partaker
of the glory that shall be revealed. Literally, who am also of the
about to be revealed glory a partaker. Think of it as one long hyphenated
word. Who am also of the about to be
revealed glory a partaker. Now that's the rough way the
Greek is structured, but it's done so for emphasis. He said,
I'm a partaker. I have fellowship. I have koinonia
in the glory that is about to be revealed. He didn't say in
the glory that was revealed. That would be a reference to
the Mount of Transfiguration. He refers to that in his second
letter. But he says, I am a partaker right now of the about to be
revealed glory. That refers to the glory that
will be his at the second coming. But he says I'm already a partaker
of it. It's about to be revealed, but I'm a partaker of it. In
what sense was he a partaker of it? Well, I believe he's just
saying, I experience what I've already described of you believers.
In chapter 1, he says, right now you're in heaviness, trials
have come upon you, but, verse 8, whom having not seen you love,
in whom though you see him not yet believing, you rejoice greatly
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Same family of words. It is the joy that brings the
very wonder and glory of the age to come into the present.
And Peter says, I'm a partaker of the glory to be revealed.
He had said in chapter 4 and verse 14, if you are reproached
for the name of Christ, blessed are you because the Spirit of
glory and the Spirit of God rest upon you. The Spirit who comes
from glory gives a foretaste of glory who will effect your
glorification. That Spirit is resting upon you. Now Peter is saying, it rests
upon me as well. And in the midst of my suffering,
remember, he's writing from Rome. In a short time, he's going to
be martyred. Jesus had told him that in John
21. He said, when you were a kid,
you went wherever you wanted, played games, went out, came
in. When you're old, you'll be carried
where you don't want to go. This spake he signifying by what
death he should glorify God. He knows he's going to be martyred.
But he says, with all the dark clouds of martyrdom hanging over
me, I'm partaking of the glory to come. The Holy Spirit is earnest,
gives him a taste of that glory. And as he writes these elders,
he's going to fasten his exhortation to the coming glory. And it's
as though he says, look, when I tell you about the coming of
the chief shepherd and the crown that you will receive that fades
not away, I'm not talking about something detached from myself.
The glory of the age to come has broken in upon my own soul.
And I write to you as one who is a partaker of the glory. Hebert writes, that inner sense
of glory he shared with his readers, that transforming power, that
new life connected with this glory has already begun in Peter's
own soul. But it's open manifestation awaits
the time of Christ's return. Well, in summary and final application,
I trust you have followed the track as I've sought to lay before
you by way of introduction the connection of this to what precedes
and follows. The nature of this section, it
is entreaty, it is gracious exhortation. We've looked at the recipients
of the exhortation, the elders, why he addressed them in the
company of the whole congregation. and then the person giving the
exhortation, Peter, in this self-conscious identification as fellow elder,
as witness of the sufferings of Christ, partaker of the glory
to come. Have you noted the total absence
of anything to suggest that Peter thought of himself in any role
or office, even remotely resembling the place which the Roman Catholic
Church gives to him? Do you see anything in this language
that even remotely suggested to you Christ's unique physical
representative on earth, the Vicar of Christ? The man who,
when a man that he was going to preach to bowed down to give
homage to him, he says, get up off your knees and stand on your
feet. Let's look eyeball to eyeball.
I'm only a man. Who is this one who allows people
to bow and kiss his foot and kiss his ring? And in all the
semblance of being a humble man, dares to arrogate to himself
a position of infallibility? If Peter's the first pope, he
sure didn't have a clue that that's what he was when he tells
these elders, listen to me because. He doesn't say because I'm an
apostle, let alone say chief of the apostles. He says, fellow
elder, I bear witness to the sufferings of another in which
all my hope is to be found. And I am a partaker of glory
that I shall know in the age to come because of the grace
of God. Note that Peter exemplifies in
this beginning verse the very graces he's about to enjoin upon
others. He's going to tell these elders,
don't lord it over God's people. He's going to tell God's people,
be clothed with humility and serve one another. Humble yourself. Peter is exemplifying the very
graces he's going to enjoin upon elders and upon the rank and
file of God's people. And note finally that Peter,
like all the apostles, cannot take up any facet of Christian
duty and not plant the Lord Jesus right smack in the midst of that
duty. As I read my Bible, try to preach it, I'm impressed more
and more with this great truth that Christ is the life and the
soul of all that pertains to the Christian faith. Whether
we think of its objective doctrine or its subjective experience,
whether we think of its duties or its privileges, here he's
about to give a job description to spiritual leaders and he plants
Christ in the very center. Elders among you I exhort, fellow
elder, witness of the sufferings of Christ, partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed when at the coming of Christ. Tend the
flock of God which is among you, the flock purchased by the blood
of Christ. Show forth the very demeanor
of your Lord who said, I came not to be served, but to serve
and to give my life. Speaks of Christ as the chief
shepherd. Christ breathes through the most
practical exhortation. And dear people of God, if we
are to know something, of the life that manifested itself in
those early assemblies, then Christ must continue and increasingly
be to us the life and substance of all of our experience. May
God help us as we continue in our study of this passage that
together we will sit before Christ speaking in his words and have
etched upon our hearts his job description for those who are
elders in his church. Let's pray. Our Father, we are so thankful
that you have given us your word. We sang before the Ministry of
the Word this morning that your word abides, that it is a lamp,
that it guides us, that it is given that we might know not
only our way to heaven, but how to walk while we are in that
way. And we pray that you would write
your word upon all of our hearts and bring forth that fruit which
will glorify you in our lives, in this assembly, that in everything
we may all be submissive to the common standard of your truth.
that we will be ruthless in our rejection of anything in our
own hearts that would be contrary to Scripture, and that as a congregation
you will make your people ruthless in their rejection of anything
in the way of so-called leadership that does not square with your
holy word. Seal then your word to our hearts,
we plead in Jesus' name.