Let's turn together to 1 Peter
chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5. Just hold your Bibles open on
your lap as we look at these first seven verses of 1 Peter
chapter 5. The elders, elders being pastors,
the elders which are among you I exhort who am also an elder. Now if you go back to chapter
1 and verse 1, you will see that Peter is writing what is called
a general epistle. It is not an epistle to a specific
local church, but to God's people scattered in various places.
There in Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Pontius,
these were believers scattered in different places. And he speaks
of the elders which are among you. Now, that does not mean
that there were numerous elders in any one congregation. There
may have been, but that's not what this means. I stress this
because there are Some folks who would tell you you can't
have a local church unless you have at least two elders, at
least two pastors, and you can't have a single pastor in a congregation. And that's just not so. That's
just not so. The fact is you can't have but
one pastor in a congregation, one pastor teacher. One man who's
responsible to guide the ship. One man responsible for the teaching
in a local church. There may be other men who are
gifted. We are blessed of God to have numerous gifted men to
teach and preach in this place. We are greatly blessed in that
regard. But there's just one man whose
responsibility it is to teach this congregation. And all others
must serve with the leadership Of that man, God has established
as a pastor in a local church. Brother Darwin is fixing to go
down to Taylor. And he will be pastor down there. Our good friend
James Watson is with the Lord in glory. He was pastor there
for 40 years. And that's done. That's done. You'll be pastor there. All the
responsibility on your shoulders, nobody else's. All of it. established
this order for the ministry of local churches in this gospel
day. I think it needs to be stressed,
I know it needs to be stressed, for these reasons. Many would
make the pastor's work to be nothing, and many would make
it to be the work of a priest, and it's neither. The pastor,
the elder in the congregation, is that one who is gifted and
and taught of God to be his representative, his spokesman, his guide, his
ruler in his house. And there can only be one in
every local church. You can't have two husbands in
one household. If you do, you've got trouble.
And you can't have two pastors in one congregation. I promise
you, if you do, you've got trouble. I say that both from the teaching
of Scripture and from the observations that I've made in my own experience
traveling around the world preaching the gospel of God's grace. Everywhere
I've ever seen starry-eyed idealistic fellows get a notion in their
head where we're going to be co-pastors in this congregation.
It don't happen. It just does not happen. And
that's just the way things are. Peter says, I'm writing now to
the elders And I exhort you, who am also an elder, I'm one
of you. Now watch this. And a witness
of the sufferings of Christ. But Peter wasn't. He wasn't around when Christ
suffered. He wasn't there. He had already denied the Lord.
He had already forsaken Him. He had already gone back to his
nets. He had already gone back fishing. He didn't see the Savior
die. Some of the women did. John saw
some of his sufferings. James saw some. Peter didn't.
He didn't see anything. And yet he says he's a witness
of the sufferings of Christ. What's he talking about? Being
an eyewitness of our Lord's suffering has absolutely no spiritual benefit
to anyone. There were hundreds who saw the
Lord Jesus die who perished and are in hell now. Being an eyewitness
to those things is insignificant. Being an eyewitness would not
qualify one to be a Christian, let alone an apostle or an elder
or a pastor. Well, what's he talking about
here? He says, I'm also an elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ. That's what every gospel preacher
is. He is a witness. That's all. Just a witness. He tells what
he knows by experience. He tells what he has seen and
been taught by divine revelation by the Spirit of God. He is a
witness specifically of the sufferings of Jesus Christ the Lord. Gospel
preachers bear witness to this one thing relentlessly, all the
time, everywhere. The sufferings of Christ. Gospel
preachers are sent to tell men and women who it is that suffered,
why he suffered, in order to satisfy the justice of God, in
order to save his people from their sins, how he suffered,
by the hand of God, by the will of God, all the wrath of God,
as a substitute for the people of God, and to proclaim the result
of his sufferings. That is that he by the sacrifice
of himself has put away the sins of God's elect. He has by his
own death obtained eternal redemption for his people. Watch this, and
also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. All who are witnesses of the
sufferings of Christ are partakers of that glory that Jesus Christ
has himself obtained that glory that eye has not seen nor ear
heard and has never entered into the heart of man. That glory
that we know a little bit about, that glory that we have some
inkling of, but that glory that is yet to be revealed, the glory
that Jesus Christ has obtained as the God-man mediator, as the
result of his finished work, all who are witnesses of Christ
are partakers of that glory. Indeed, all God's elect are partakers
of that glory, for we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ. That glory He has given us is
eternal redemption, eternal life, heavenly glory. And when we see
Him, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Now
look at verse 2. Feed the flock of God. Why do you suppose Peter was
inspired by God the Holy Spirit to write to God's people And
as he writes to God's people, the epistle is to God's elect.
It's written to James Jordan and Ben Peterson. It's written
to God's people. Why does he spend so much time
giving instruction to elders, to pastors, telling them what
they are to be and do? Because you need to know what
the pastor is and what the pastor's responsibilities are. I'm going
to drop dead and it'll be sooner than later, and you're going
to be looking for a pastor, and you need to know what to look
for. He says to the elders, feed the
flock of God. God's church is God's flock. I've had the privilege of being
your pastor for nearly 29 years, working on number 29. No one
has ever heard me, anywhere in the world, from this pulpit,
any other pulpit, in public or in private, refer to Grace Baptist
Church in Danville as my church. It ain't. I didn't purchase you. I didn't choose you. I didn't
redeem you. It's God's church. I just happen
to be part of it. Feed the flock of God. It is
the flock of Christ's sheep, His lambs, and we're responsible
under God to feed them with knowledge and with understanding. How can
I communicate this as I want to? Preaching is more than communicating
facts. Preaching is more than giving
the sense of a text. can do that if they just read
the book. Anybody can do that. Anybody
can. Anyone who is honest can study
the book and give out the sense of a text and communicate the
facts recorded in that text. That's not preaching. Preaching
is feeding living men and women with knowledge. Knowledge of
God and His Word. Knowledge that only God the Holy
Spirit can give. Knowledge that He gives by experience
and knowledge He gives as we study the Word. But it is the
knowledge of the whole revelation of God. Any man who is called
and gifted of God to preach the gospel knows the whole revelation
of God. You mean you have a perfect,
complete understanding of the Bible? No. No, no, no. No, no. Every time I open this book,
it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. I see there's a whole
lot more in this book that I don't understand than there is that
I do understand. But I understand the whole book.
I understand the message of this book. I know what this book teaches,
and I know why it teaches what it does. This book teaches substitution. This book teaches redemption
by the blood of Jesus Christ. And it teaches redemption and
salvation in Christ as it does for the glory of God to abase
the pride of man. Its purpose is to make little
of you and much of him. Its purpose is to make little
of you and much of him. We're to feed God's people with
knowledge. Knowledge and understanding. Understanding of them. Understanding the needs of their
souls. Understanding the trials they
endure. Understanding the pains they
feel. Understanding the heartaches they experience. With knowledge
and understanding. I tell people all the time, don't
misunderstand me, I think education's fine, the more the better, that's
fine, but you don't learn to preach in Bible college or seminary
or from somebody giving you instructions about preaching. You learn something about preaching, building houses and loading freight
changing oil and slopping hogs and being a member of a local
church. You learn something about preaching
as you live as a human being in this world for the glory of
God, and you won't learn it elsewhere. You won't learn it elsewhere.
You can't minister to people if you don't understand what
they experience. If you don't understand the way
they live, Preaching is feeding God's people with knowledge and
understanding. God promised to give His church
pastors according to His own heart, who shall feed you with
knowledge and understanding. I think about Brother Darwin,
Brother Clay, Brother Dave Edmondson, these men going to these new
places in ministry, beginning My soul. Beginning at this age,
preaching the gospel of God's grace to folks. Brother Fred
Evans down in Louisville. I started doing this when I was
20 years old. These men are my age. Fred and Clay a little bit younger,
but not much. You learn to minister to men from life's experience. carry it with you every day.
Every day. And I pray God will be pleased
to grant His blessing upon their labors. Pray for them as they
seek to feed God's people. He commands His prophets, speak
ye comfortably to my people. Isaiah chapter 40 verse 1. The
word comfortably is a command from God I cannot
obey. It is my responsibility now,
tonight, as it was this morning, as it will be again Tuesday night
if God gives me grace to stand here again. It is my responsibility
every time I open the book of God to speak in God's name to
eternity bound men and women to speak to your No wonder Paul cried, who's sufficient
for these things? But our sufficiency is of God.
I can't speak to your heart except God speak through me to your
heart. Speak through me by his word,
by his spirit. He commands his prophets, speak
ye to the heart of my people. And the only way that can be
done is if God's pleased each time to give a message and grace
to deliver the message. John Rusk died in the middle
1800s, late 1800s. He wrote on one occasion, I want
an experimental preacher. One who when he has had one meal
is tried how he should get the next. One who is tormented with
devils fit to tear him limb from limb, one who feels hell inside
himself and every corruption in his nature stirred up to oppose
God's work, one who feels so weak that every day he gets through,
he looks upon as next to a miracle. That's about how you learn to
preach. It's struggling with your flesh by God's Spirit, seeking
a message from Him. He says, I'm writing to these
elders which are among you, taking the oversight thereof. Elders,
just one of you. They're men just like you, but
they have a responsibility to take the oversight of God's church. As your pastor, that's my responsibility. to take oversight of a flock
of sheep. I'm not responsible for the oversight
of any other congregation. I have been for a while, but
I'm quickly being relieved of those other privileges and responsibilities. But I'm certainly not responsible
to take the oversight when I go places and preach and try to
help other men in the works where God's put them. That's not my
responsibility. I'm not responsible for the oversight of Todd's Road
Church in Lexington, or of Ashland Grace Church in Ashland, or of
Grace Baptist Church in Dingus, West Virginia. I am responsible
for the oversight of this congregation, and it is my responsibility to
take the reins and hold them in my hands all the time. My responsibility to teach and
to guide and to see to it that things are done here in a way
that honors God and benefits His people. Not by constraint. Look at that. Not something you're
coerced to do. Not something you're forced to
do. But willingly. I don't mean merely that a pastor
must be willing to preach. I've been doing this for a while,
and I'll tell you what I've observed. Almost every man's willing to
preach. Every mother's son's willing
to stand up here and preach, willing to be seen as a leader,
and knowledgeable, and bright, and gifted, as an instructor
and teacher. That's not it. That's not it.
A pastor must be willing to devote his life to the care of God's
flock. Now, Darwin, I'm gonna talk just
plainly to you right now for a few minutes. If you can't do
that, don't you go to Taylor, Arkansas. Devote your life, your life to
the care of God's people. That means you devote your wife's
life too. And your children's life, too.
And your grandchildren's life, too. You can't expect anybody
to do that. No, I don't expect anybody to,
except the pastor. But I expect the pastor to. I
expect the pastor to. Not by constraint, but willing. So that he wills to labor in
the word. wills to pray, he wills to carry
them on his heart, he wills to seek the welfare of men, he wills
to devote himself to the souls of men and the glory of God.
Not for filthy lucre, not motivated by money or personal interest,
or controlled in any way by money or personal interest. a debtor
to all men, ready to preach the gospel to all. Now, such men
are to be provided for by the generosity of God's people. Yes,
sir. Yes, sir. But they are not to enrich themselves
by the most generous care bestowed by God's people. Shelby and I
moved to Danville 29 years ago with two cars and a boat. and
some furniture in the house. We got different furniture, and
about all of us different now, and different cars, and different
boats, and the boat's sitting out there rotting. You want to
use it, go ahead and use it. But we got exactly what we had
29 years ago. And if God gives me grace to
be your pastor another 29 years, I'll tell you what I'm going
to have, exactly the same thing. I'm not going into business with
anybody for any reason. I'm not going to go purchasing
property for any reason. I'm not going to do it. Why?
Because I cannot entangle myself with anything else and be your
pastor. Can't do it. Just can't do it.
Well, you speak for yourself now. No, I'm not speaking for
me or for Darwin or anybody else. God spoke and there it is. There
it is. Verse three. neither as being
lords over God's heritage, but in samples, examples to the flock. What do you mean, lords over
God's heritage? That man who is entrusted with
the care of immortal souls must never presume to rule and govern
the lives of God's people. I could spend a good while here. books written on pastoral theology
will tell you, the preacher, you've got to go and investigate
the way people live. You need to go and visit with
Sam and Ruth Walsh, see how much time they spend every day reading
the Bible and praying, and see what they allow their children
to watch on TV and what they don't. And you've got to keep
a hand on those things. That's the last thing a preacher's
supposed to do. That's none of my business. That's
none of my business or yours. No, sir. Not Lords over God's
heritage, but examples. Live. Oh, God, teach me. God, teach me. Force me to live
in such a way as to exemplify to God's people faith and faithfulness. To exemplify to God's people
devotion to Christ. Devotion to the gospel. Devotion
to the cause of Christ. Verse four. And when the chief
shepherd shall appear, he's going to give you everything he gives
to everybody else who follows him. Now that's what that means. When the chief shepherd appears,
Merle Hart, he's going to give you a crown of glory that fadeth
not away, and me too." Well, you read that like the
preacher and the missionary and the pastor and the evangelist
doesn't deserve any higher honor or any higher glory in heaven
than ordinary folks in the church. That's the way I read it. That's
the way it is. This crown of glory that fadeth
not away is Christ the Lord. and is given to us not by our
deserving, thank God for that, but by His grace and mercy. Verse 5. All right, let's get
off the preachers. Likewise ye younger. Who's he
talking to? Folks who are younger in years,
of course. Folks who are younger in faith. Folks who are younger
in experience. And it often is so that those
who are older in years are younger in experience. It often is so
that those who ought to be older are younger still. But God's
people are to follow the examples of those who've been in the path
before them. Yes, young people, follow The
example and the guidance and direction of your parents. I don't say this to all young
people. Sadly, sadly many parents will
lead you wrong. But you sitting here, they're
not one of your mom or dad who will not give you proper counsel. Follow them. Submit yourselves
unto the elder. What does that mean? Submit your
judgment, your thoughts, and your desires to those who've
already walked in the path before you. Don't argue and fuss and
debate. Don't do it. That's not how to
get along. That's not how to accomplish
anything, not how to learn anything. I have two men who have been
faithful pastors to me for well over 30 years, Brother Henry
Mahan, Brother Scott Richardson, and I have learned much from
them, and we discuss a lot of things. Do you know what I have
never, ever, ever, ever, ever even thought about saying to
Henry or Scott either one? You know what I've never thought
about saying to him? Even when I thought it, I didn't
think about saying it. I didn't think about it. Well, I don't
agree with that. I wouldn't dare. I wouldn't dare. Are you scared of them? No. Are you afraid of their disapproval?
No, not even that. And I wouldn't want that. Well,
why? Because they've earned the respect that I submit to their
judgment. You younger, submit to the elder. Submit to them. Yea, all of you
be subject one to another. These days, folks talk about
being filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit. Read the
fifth chapter of Ephesians. To walk in the Spirit, Romans
chapter 8, is to believe on the Son of God. Do you believe Christ,
Larry? Do you trust Him? You're not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit. That's what it is, to walk in
the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit. Filled with the Holy
Spirit. Oh, he's so Spirit-filled. He
just seems like he's got a halo around his head. He's so Spirit-filled
you just, you just feel goosebumps when you get around him. What stupidity. What does it
mean to be filled with the Spirit? Submit one to another. That's
true. Read it for yourself. Submit
one to another. Shelby and I have been married
for 39 years. 39 years. Man alive. Do you know how we got along
all those years? I submit a lot. Yeah, I do. And she does a lot. Submit to
one another. Just give in. You don't have
to have your way. And if you do, you're a fool.
You don't have to have things your way. It's time I had some
consideration. Problem is you had too much consideration
already. Submit to one another. That's how you get along in your
family. And that's how you get along in the family of God. Submit
to one another. Be clothed with humility. Each
esteeming other better than themselves. Better. As David Burge In Christ. You see that man right
there? In Christ. He's perfect. And holy. And righteous. And I don't know what's going
on inside you right now. But I do know a little bit about
what's going on inside me. And if I have any honesty in
me, I must esteem Him better than myself. Because the only
way I know Him is in Christ. Only way I ought to know Him,
only way I want to know Him is in Christ. He's perfect in Christ. Esteem the other better than
yourself. Now, if you think more highly of the person you're married
to than you do yourself, you'll submit to them. Submit to their
desires, their wants, their pleasures. You just submit to them. If you
think more highly of yourself, you won't. Just that simple.
If you think more highly of the brother or sister sitting beside
you, well, they want that, that's all right. That's all right.
If you don't, you won't. Just that simple. Each esteem
the other better than themselves. Verse five, for God resisteth
the proud. Oh, how we fight God and resist
him. But God resists the proud, and
that's a battle you're going to lose. Woe unto him that striveth
with his maker. He resisteth the proud. Now look
at the next word. You would think that it would
read like this. God resisteth the proud, but
giveth grace to the humble. That's not what it says. God
resisteth the proud, and this very same God who resists the
proud gives grace to the humble. The Lord is nigh unto them that
are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Thus saith the Lord, the heaven
is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. To this man will
I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and
trembleth at my word." All who are humbled by grace
humble themselves before God and God receives them. Verse
6, humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you that he may lift
you up, that he may take you from the dung heap of fallen
humanity and set you among princes with the sons of God, that he
may take you from the pit of the damned and set you on a rock
higher than yourself. Humble yourself under the mighty
hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. Now I know no one will humble
himself until he'd been humbled by God. And yet, it is our responsibility
to humble ourselves before him. You have a picture of it in King
Hezekiah. God sent his prophet in and said, Hezekiah set his
house in order of fixing to kill him. And Hezekiah turned his
face to the wall and sought the Lord and humbled himself. And
because he did, God sent his prophet back to him and said,
all right, I'll give him 15 more years. That's exactly what he
tells us to do, to humble ourselves. How is it that you humble yourself
before God? You do so just like that publican
who went in the temple and would not so much as lift his eyes
to heaven, but he smote on his breast. He beat himself as though
his own heart is the source of all evil. of all the curse, of
all the terror of God's wrath that's upon him. He smote his
breast and cried, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God, be propitious. That's the word. Look on your
son, that sacrifice represented in the mercy seat, that sacrifice
by which you promised to meet with sinners. Look on your son,
his sacrifice and be perpetuous to me, the sinner. To be humbled
before God is to acknowledge who he is as God and what you
are in all the corruption of your nature and to confess The
only access such sinners have to God Almighty is the blood
and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due
time. But this is principally an admonition
to believers, to you who are God's children. He tells us ever
to take our place in the dust before him, ever couched down under his head, acquiescing in his providence,
bowing to his will, submitting to his way, Quit kicking against
the pricks. Quit fighting God. Quit arguing with God. Quit trying to have your own
way. But rather, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me. And you shall find rest unto
your souls. How was that? Your care upon Him. You have a heavy, heavy, heavy
load. A load that's just pressing you
down. Your heart's crushing beneath
the weight, and you can't carry it anymore. You just, God, I
can't go on. I just can't go on. I can't go
on. Roll off the load. Just roll
it off your shoulders, casting all your care on Him. John Newton put it so well. Now
I see what e'er be tide, all is well if Christ is mine. he
has promised to provide, may he teach me to resign. When a sense of sin and thrall
forced me to the sinner's friend, he engaged to manage all by the
way and to the end. Cast, he said, on me thy care.
Tis enough that I am nigh. I will all thy burdens bear.
I will all thy needs supply. Lord, I would indeed submit,
gladly yield my all to thee. what thy wisdom sees most fit
must be surely best for me. Only when the way is rough and
the coward flesh would start, let thy promise and thy love
cheer and animate my heart. We sing, take your burden to
the Lord and leave it there. But we have a hard time doing
that, don't we? I take it to him and I grab hold
of it right now. I'll take it to him, roll it over on his shoulders
and I'll do my best to crawl under it and pick it up before
I get done praying. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Not likely, not likely. The word is in the present tense because we constantly must be
casting our care on him. I read a sermon by Spurgeon years
ago on this. I don't remember much about it.
It was a very good sermon. I made a note, though. In the
introduction to his sermon, Mr. Spurgeon made an erroneous statement.
He said, there are some cares which we must not cast upon God. And then he went on to list various
things that our cares we bring upon ourselves
by our unbelief, our rebellion, and our sin. But Mr. Spurgeon was mistaken. God the Holy Spirit says here,
casting all your care without limit, without boundary, without
measure, without extremity, without line, casting all your care upon
Him, all your spiritual care, all your sins, all your weaknesses,
all your temptations, all your dangers, all your earthly care,
all your care. Say, well, I don't find it too difficult
to trust Him with my soul, I have difficulty trusting Him with
my children. Huh. I believe I can trust Him with
my soul, I can trust Him with my children. I don't find it too difficult
to trust Him with eternal matters, but I have difficulty trusting
Him with daily matters. Now stop and think about that
for a minute. I believe if I can trust Him with eternal matters,
I can trust Him with daily matters. I believe I can trust Him with
the greater, I can trust Him with the lesser. Casting all
your care on Him. Trust Him with all your wickedness
and all your welfare. All of eternity and all of time,
your daily bread, your earthly needs, your family, whatever
it is, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God, and the peace of God that passeth understanding will
guard, keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus the
Lord. Well, why should I do that, Brother Don? Look at the last
word. For he careth for you. He careth for you. Present linear tense. He took up your cause, Bob Pottser,
before you ever existed. And he never put it down. He
careth for you. Do you get it? He careth for
you. That implies two things. A distinct,
special love for you. Cast your care on Him, Rod. He
loves you. He loved me and chose me. He loved me. gave himself for
me. He loved me and called me by
his grace. He loved me and forgave all my
sin. He loved me and called me to
himself. He loved me and put me on his
shoulders and is carrying me into his fold in heavenly glory. And it implies something else.
A distinct and personal and special providence. He careth for you. He cares for you personally. He takes care of you personally. Every day. All the time. He takes the care of you. And if God cares for me, I am
well cared for. Oh, cast all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. In a word, the admonition is
that which the wise man gives. Trust in the Lord. with all thine
heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Now I'll tell you where this
came from. I get a lot of inspiration to
preach from this dear lady I'm married to. And we were chatting
last couple of weeks. Y'all don't need to spread this
around, but she's soon gonna be old enough, she can draw Social
Security if she wants to. She has such a great attitude. God'll take care of things. I'll
be all right. I tend to fret about her. Because
women on her side of the family don't start getting gray or getting
wrinkles till they're 90. They live a long time. And I
figure she's gonna be around a long time after I'm gone. And
she keeps telling me, God's taking care of me, and he will. God has taken care of us. Do
you hear me, children of God? He has taken care of us, and
he will. Amen.