SPEAKER_00: A 2016 article in the Harvard Business Review was entitled, Don't Take Your Work Stress Home With You.
SPEAKER_00: The last paragraph of that article declared that, quote, work stress can be a challenge for home life.
SPEAKER_00: Learning to manage stress by working to cope and by keeping some of your professional stress out of the house can contribute to better relationships and better physical and mental health.
SPEAKER_00: Apparently, Harvard couldn't do what they thought they were doing because in 2017, the next year, Forbes magazine printed an article entitled, How to Leave Your Stress at Work So You Don't Take Out Your Frustration on Your Family.
SPEAKER_00: One paragraph stated, Research confirms people who are mistreated at work are likely to mistreat people at home.
SPEAKER_00: If you've been insulted, criticized, or belittled, you're at a higher risk of doing the same to your loved ones at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_00: End quote.
SPEAKER_00: I think most of us have experienced that, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, Harvard couldn't fix it, and Forbes couldn't fix it, and so we are left with being insulted, criticized, and belittled and being left at a higher risk to do the same to our loved ones at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's why just this last week yet another article appeared telling us the very same truth.
SPEAKER_00: We are left taking stress home and taking it out on our loved ones.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know the same is true with the church?
SPEAKER_00: The same is true with the church.
SPEAKER_00: Much of our struggle to love one another the way Jesus loved us, that depth of love that we've sung about this morning, is because we carry the pains of living in a sin-cursed world into this building.
SPEAKER_00: And even out of this building in our relationships with one another.
SPEAKER_00: And those impact us and they begin to frustrate us and hurt us.
SPEAKER_00: And before we know it, we're doing the same thing to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It just happens.
SPEAKER_00: As we've been working our way through the book of 1 Peter, I think we can see how that could happen.
SPEAKER_00: Again and again and again, Peter has shown to us that we are children of the living God, living in a world that, well, doesn't like us because it doesn't like our Savior.
SPEAKER_00: It's bound to mistreat us, it's bound to criticize us, it's bound to irritate us, it's bound even to persecute us.
SPEAKER_00: And before we know it, what we're facing as Christians in our world comes into our gatherings as a church and impacting and spreading amongst one another.
SPEAKER_00: We've all experienced it.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe not to the extent that it could be.
SPEAKER_00: We were hearing from our Nepalese brother this morning in our fellowship time about how in Nepal they have recently passed a law that is a non-conversion law.
SPEAKER_00: That is, you can't work to convert people to Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: So soon believers in Christ may be going to jail.
SPEAKER_00: We haven't experienced that in the United States of America as of yet.
SPEAKER_00: How will that impact us?
SPEAKER_00: Because we are people who take what happens to us and we internalize it, and then it comes out in our relationships to one another, and before you know it, the church is disintegrating because we're at each other's hearts, we're at each other's souls, we're nitpicking at one another.
SPEAKER_00: Well, this morning we are beginning the last chapter of the New Testament book of 1 Peter in chapter 5.
SPEAKER_00: And if you have a Bible or a device, I encourage you to go to that text in 1 Peter chapter 5.
SPEAKER_00: After the Apostle Paul concluded writing about Christians living in a world that doesn't readily accept us, he moves to talk to us as family.
SPEAKER_00: Family who is seeking desperately to entrust ourselves to a faithful creator while doing good in a world that doesn't accept us, that doesn't like us, that doesn't enjoy who we are.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is sort of a family text.
SPEAKER_00: Perfect for a family gathering on a Sunday morning, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: And as happens in a family gathering, the Apostle Peter begins to talk to some specific groups within the family.
SPEAKER_00: He begins in the first part of chapter 5 with elders in the church, not the elder Lee necessarily, but elders as a leadership group.
SPEAKER_00: And then he moves in the rest of the chapter to talk about everybody.
SPEAKER_00: Our attention this morning is on the first five verses, speaking directly to the elders of the church.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what Peter says.
SPEAKER_00: So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.
SPEAKER_00: Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.
SPEAKER_00: And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
SPEAKER_00: Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.
SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Peter spoke directly to the elders serving the local church.
SPEAKER_00: He included the rest of the church in this directive, though.
SPEAKER_00: So think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Think about this for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: You know those times when you've had a family gathering.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe remember the times when you were a child, and your parents had a family gathering and they were talking to the family as a whole, but their attention was directed to your brother or your sister.
SPEAKER_00: And you were sitting there thinking, I'm glad they're not talking to me.
SPEAKER_00: Because all the attention was directed at your sibling, what they were doing or saying.
SPEAKER_00: That's the picture and the feeling that we get here.
SPEAKER_00: Peter is calling a family gathering and he's talking specifically to the elders, and the rest of the family gets to watch and gets to hear what God has to say.
SPEAKER_00: Being the one, though, who is the subject of the attention can be a little uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: So if you are sitting this morning next to one of our elders and they start to get a little shifty, you know why.
SPEAKER_00: In this case, the church is watching Peter speak to the elders.
SPEAKER_00: But that was the Lord's intention.
SPEAKER_00: Well, this is directed to the elders of the church.
SPEAKER_00: The rest of the church is hearing what is being said because this is attached right to the rest of the letter that would have been read in the context of a church gathering.
SPEAKER_00: And the rest of the church must hear and know what God says to the elders of the local church.
SPEAKER_00: It could be that the Lord is preparing one of you men here this morning to serve in that capacity at some point.
SPEAKER_00: But beyond that, the congregation affirms the appointment of elders to serve the church, so you need to know what an elder is to look like, what they are to sound like, what they are to be like.
SPEAKER_00: You need to know what God expects of your leaders so that you can humbly hold them to what God expects.
SPEAKER_00: But also be able to follow what they say, as verse 5 indicates.
SPEAKER_00: But perhaps even more importantly, this passage of Scripture, if you are hearing it and you are not serving as an elder, you need it because you need to know how to pray for your elders.
SPEAKER_00: Because they desperately need your prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And this will help guide it.
SPEAKER_00: Now there's some history that serves as an important background to this passage, and that's found in Israel's history in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: So I'd like to point out a couple of passages that really help us understand some background.
SPEAKER_00: The first is Jeremiah chapter 23.
SPEAKER_00: In Jeremiah 23, God is speaking through the prophet to the leaders, to the elders of his people.
SPEAKER_00: And he says to them, Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, declares Yahweh.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people.
SPEAKER_00: You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, I will attend to your evil deeds, declares Yahweh.
SPEAKER_00: Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
SPEAKER_00: I will set shepherds over them who will care for them.
SPEAKER_00: And they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be dismissing, declares the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: A little bit later in verse 11, we see a little bit more specifically, God says, Both prophet and priest are ungodly.
SPEAKER_00: Even in my house I have found their evil.
SPEAKER_00: It's as if God is having a family meeting, and he said, You leaders, you shepherds, you elders, you are being ungodly in my own house, underneath my own roof.
SPEAKER_00: It continues in the book of Ezekiel.
SPEAKER_00: In Ezekiel chapter 34.
SPEAKER_00: We read some astounding words.
SPEAKER_00: Ezekiel 34, the word of Yahweh came to me.
SPEAKER_00: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord Yahweh.
SPEAKER_00: Ah, shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding yourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Should not shepherds feed the sheep?
SPEAKER_00: You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.
SPEAKER_00: So they were scattered because there was no shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And they became food for all the wild beasts.
SPEAKER_00: My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill, my sheep were scattered over the face of the earth, with none to search for them or seek for them.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh.
SPEAKER_00: As I live, declares the Lord Yahweh, surely because my sheep have become prey and my sheep have become food for the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves and not my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh.
SPEAKER_00: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I am against the shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: And I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves, I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
SPEAKER_00: For thus says the Lord Yahweh, behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.
SPEAKER_00: As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so I will seek them out, and I will rescue them from where they've been scattered.
SPEAKER_00: We can go on.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 15.
SPEAKER_00: In Matthew 15, beginning in verse 7, Jesus said, You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
SPEAKER_00: In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
SPEAKER_00: We could go on.
SPEAKER_00: In Matthew 23, Jesus gives a picture of the spiritual leaders of Israel, saying that they preach, but they do not practice.
SPEAKER_00: And then beginning in chapter 23 of Matthew and verse 13, Jesus pronounced judgment on those leaders with seven consecutive woes.
SPEAKER_00: Woe to you, woe to you, woe to you, seven times.
SPEAKER_00: So as you trace the history, it becomes clear that church leadership in New Testament times grew out of the pattern of Israel's leadership.
SPEAKER_00: The concept of elders leading a group of people goes as far back as Moses in the desert with the people of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: So that pattern has approval by God himself.
SPEAKER_00: But over the course of history, those serving as elders often acted godless and selfish.
SPEAKER_00: So much of what we see in 1 Peter chapter 5 is the opposite of what has been demonstrated throughout the pages of Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: You might say that what Peter is seeking to do is provide the antidote to ungodly shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: This is what God intended to fulfill the promise of godly shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: Not only, though, is it an antidote to ungodly shepherds, it is God's guiding and protective hand for his church, living in a world that opposes what they stand for.
SPEAKER_00: This is part of God's purpose in moving you to entrust your soul to the one who is your anchor.
SPEAKER_00: This is part of God's way of keeping the outside from impacting the inside, the family.
SPEAKER_00: There are three basic parts to this passage.
SPEAKER_00: The first verse shows us the ground upon which Peter stands.
SPEAKER_00: He can write to the elders and tell them to lead a certain way because he himself is an elder in the church.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't write ignorantly, but from experience, and his experience is based, of course, in his apostleship.
SPEAKER_00: Peter walked with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He talked with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He learned from Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He saw what Jesus endured.
SPEAKER_00: And like all of us, he longs to be a part of the return of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And so that motivated Peter to give a command to the elders of the Lord's church.
SPEAKER_00: Shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And he explains what that looks like.
SPEAKER_00: At the end, in verse 4, Peter points to a reward that will be given to elders who lead properly.
SPEAKER_00: That's the basic structure of the passage.
SPEAKER_00: But I want us to notice more carefully here what Peter says about elders.
SPEAKER_00: We've read about the terrible ungodliness of the leaders of Israel's past.
SPEAKER_00: We've read about God's promise to send godly shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: So what does a godly shepherd look like?
SPEAKER_00: Well, this passage doesn't tell us everything that's included in Scripture, but we do get a glimpse at the heart of a shepherd who is obedient to God's call to be a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, we can identify six characteristics, I think, of a godly elder.
SPEAKER_00: The first characteristic is that he must willingly work with others.
SPEAKER_00: He must willingly work with others.
SPEAKER_00: Peter identified himself here as a fellow elder.
SPEAKER_00: Speaking to the elders, he says, I am your fellow elder.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the Greek grammar here carries over to the next statement as well: that Peter is a fellow witness.
SPEAKER_00: He is a fellow elder and a fellow witness of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He then says that he is a partaker or a sharer in the glory that's going to be revealed.
SPEAKER_00: That word, partaker, is a form of the word fellowship, which means to share.
SPEAKER_00: So the idea of being a fellow is emphasized by repetition.
SPEAKER_00: An elder is a fellow elder.
SPEAKER_00: Now, on the one hand, that points the Roman Catholic belief that Peter was above all the other pastors and elders, and everyone else was underneath of him.
SPEAKER_00: To the contrary, it's clear here that Peter considered himself merely one among many.
SPEAKER_00: And that speaks to the plurality of elders in a local church.
SPEAKER_00: Now there may be times, such as in a church plant, where you don't have enough qualified men to serve as elders and someone has to serve alone for a time.
SPEAKER_00: But the New Testament pattern is to have multiple elders serving a local church, telling us that a lone wolf should not serve as an elder.
SPEAKER_00: Someone who desires to work entirely alone or desires to be the one calling all the shots, someone who resists input from others and despises being part of a team should not serve as an elder.
SPEAKER_00: God designed the position of an elder to be filled by more than one man.
SPEAKER_00: They serve together, they lead together, they shepherd together, they are fellow elders.
SPEAKER_00: And there's safety in numbers, especially safety from pride.
SPEAKER_00: As you continue reading in this text, you will see that Peter makes a transition into an emphasis on humility.
SPEAKER_00: Humility is fostered when elders work and serve together.
SPEAKER_00: Working alone fosters pride and power.
SPEAKER_00: And as we know, the British historian Lord Acton said, all power tends to corrupt, but absolute power corrupts absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, a group of equals working together with their eyes on Christ is more likely to resist pride and pursue humility.
SPEAKER_00: And we know that needs to be addressed, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: Pride has dwelt in the human heart since the days of the Garden of Eden.
SPEAKER_00: We spend our lives either feeding our pride, or by the grace of God, seeking to drive it out.
SPEAKER_00: If we're honest, we all want our own way and think our way is best, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: And that's one of the reasons why fellowship is so important.
SPEAKER_00: As we come together, as we walk with Christ together, as we serve together, we are a body made up of different parts being joined together by the Spirit of God, and as we come together, we are fellow believers, and together we are moved towards humility and less towards pride.
SPEAKER_00: Granted, that's not always the case.
SPEAKER_00: There are some of us who are especially stubborn in our pride, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's not always the case, but if, like our Savior, we are seeking to make others more significant than ourselves, then we are well on our way to battling pride.
SPEAKER_00: So too a man who would serve as an elder.
SPEAKER_00: He must take on the mind of Christ so that he is driven to serve with other elders for the benefit of others.
SPEAKER_00: If there are indications that a man cannot do that, either he should not be appointed to serve until he can, or if he's already serving, he should step down and be removed from serving.
SPEAKER_00: There's a warning here.
SPEAKER_00: For those who are serving as elders to keep on fighting pride and pursuing humility by working together.
SPEAKER_00: The shepherds must work well with others.
SPEAKER_00: They must also care for the flock.
SPEAKER_00: When Peter says to shepherd the flock of God, he means all that's involved in caring for sheep.
SPEAKER_00: That's the main verb of this sentence.
SPEAKER_00: This is Peter's command.
SPEAKER_00: Elders are to shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: That's their work.
SPEAKER_00: But they are not the shepherd, are they?
SPEAKER_00: They're not the shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: That role belongs to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We saw back in chapter 2, verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: For you were straying like sheep, but have now turned to the definite word.
SPEAKER_00: The shepherd of your souls.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus serves that position.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the overseer, which is another word for elder.
SPEAKER_00: That's why in verse 4, Peter refers to Jesus as the chief shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: Elders, in other words, are underlings.
SPEAKER_00: And when shepherds, when elders do the work of shepherding, they're not caring for their own sheep.
SPEAKER_00: They're not the owners of the sheep, but the caretakers of the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: The flock does not belong to them, therefore they must follow the instruction given to them by the one chief shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: So what does it look like to shepherd people?
SPEAKER_00: Well, let me tell you, sometimes it's rough.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's great.
SPEAKER_00: But what does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: What does it look like to shepherd people?
SPEAKER_00: Well, much of what we glean about shepherding from the Bible is actually through negative examples.
SPEAKER_00: It's through negative examples.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them are positive, for example.
SPEAKER_00: We learn from Psalm 78, verse 2, that shepherds guide their sheep with skill and with wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: It says, with upright heart, he shepherded them and guided them with a skillful hand.
SPEAKER_00: See, sheep are not prone to being driven.
SPEAKER_00: You can't push them from behind and make them go a certain way.
SPEAKER_00: You need to be out in front leading them, and that's how you guide them to the right paths.
SPEAKER_00: Additionally, in Psalm 80, verse 1, we see that they are to function as leaders of people.
SPEAKER_00: Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock.
SPEAKER_00: Shepherds are leaders.
SPEAKER_00: They are out in front, setting the pace, setting the tone, guiding, directing all along the way, and they do so, according to Isaiah 40, with love and care and gentleness.
SPEAKER_00: It says there, he will tend his flock like a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: He will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, he has a softness in his heart, a gentleness to be out in front and to lead, but to lead with care and gentleness and insight into who needs that care.
SPEAKER_00: Additionally, in Jeremiah chapter 2, verse 8, shepherds handle the word of God, specifically rejecting other things that are worthless.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah says, The priests did not say, Where is the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Those who handle the law did not know me.
SPEAKER_00: The shepherds transgressed against me.
SPEAKER_00: The prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.
SPEAKER_00: A shepherd must understand what is profitable and pursue it.
SPEAKER_00: What is profitable, the word of the living God.
SPEAKER_00: They must be able to discern what is worthwhile and what is worthless, and handle it properly before God's sheep, because that is how they feed God's sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Shepherds are to feed the sheep so that they know and understand the true shepherd in his word.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah says, I will give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Of course, that means that shepherds themselves have knowledge and understanding.
SPEAKER_00: And in that knowledge and understanding and insight, they know how important it is to continually seek Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah 10 says, the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of Yahweh.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
SPEAKER_00: Elders shepherd the flock by continually seeking Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That is their pursuit continually, always, again and again and again.
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean they're perfect, they will falter.
SPEAKER_00: Just like everyone else does, they will falter, they will trip, they will fall, and then they get back up and they pursue Christ again.
SPEAKER_00: Because they know that as shepherds, they must lead the sheep down the right path.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah chapter 50, verse 6 says, My people have been lost sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains.
SPEAKER_00: From mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their fold.
SPEAKER_00: Elders as shepherds must lead the sheep down the right path, always being able to discern which path is wrong, so that they can go down the right path.
SPEAKER_00: Could go on and on and on.
SPEAKER_00: So many passages of scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just give you three more.
SPEAKER_00: Amos chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: They will do whatever is necessary to protect the sheep from an enemy.
SPEAKER_00: Thus says the Lord, as the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not the greatest picture there.
SPEAKER_00: See, the people of Samaria were not wholly following God, and so they had been taken as though it were by a lion or a bear.
SPEAKER_00: That was part of God's judgment.
SPEAKER_00: But the shepherds go after them.
SPEAKER_00: The shepherds go after them to rescue them, to protect them, to keep them safe.
SPEAKER_00: Which is why I think the greatest example is the Lord Jesus in John chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: I am the good shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: We see this later in Philippians chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: In these words, considering others more significant than yourself.
SPEAKER_00: As Jesus, the good shepherd, lays down his life for the sheep, under shepherds consider others more significant than themselves, and maybe even lay down their life for the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: And that means in John chapter 10, verse 12, they stand firm in dangerous times.
SPEAKER_00: He who is a hired hand, Jesus says, and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
SPEAKER_00: Good shepherds who follow the example of the good shepherd stand firm in dangerous times.
SPEAKER_00: That's a tremendous amount of responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the duty of an elder.
SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, elders are not responsible for the universal church.
SPEAKER_00: The extent of their responsibility is limited, and it's determined by God Himself.
SPEAKER_00: Peter says to the elders of the local church in verse 2, Shepherd the flock of God that is among you.
SPEAKER_00: Reminding us that the church, the whole flock is large, it is huge, it is massive, but it's divided by the chief shepherd into many locations.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord Himself divides them.
SPEAKER_00: There is one flock divided among many locations, and the good shepherd himself gives specific groups of sheep particular elders, and vice versa.
SPEAKER_00: So the responsibility is limited to the group of sheep God places in their care.
SPEAKER_00: They are to shepherd the flock.
SPEAKER_00: The third characteristic of sheep that Peter mentions is that of leading.
SPEAKER_00: Elders are to exercise oversight over their allotted group of sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Exercising oversight here describes the elders' work of leading.
SPEAKER_00: They have a responsibility and the authority to oversee their part of the flock and to lead and to care for them.
SPEAKER_00: Thinking again of chapter 2 and verse 25, it says you have now turned to the shepherd and the overseer of your souls.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the one who oversees, and he delegates responsibility to under-overseers.
SPEAKER_00: He delegates the local personal responsibility of oversight of the sheep to those whom he has appointed as elders.
SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what the Apostle Paul told the elders of the Church of Ephesus in Acts 20, 28.
SPEAKER_00: He said to them, his last time seeing them, he said, Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he has obtained with his own blood.
SPEAKER_00: Pay careful attention to them.
SPEAKER_00: In their book, Elders in the Life of the Church, authors Phil Newton and Mark, Matt Schmucker write, and I quote, as those who shepherd, elders give pastoral oversight.
SPEAKER_00: A shepherd knows his sheep, he watches out for dangers.
SPEAKER_00: He ensures they are well fed and watered, he applies healing balm to their wounds, and he occasionally disciplines them to return to the fold.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, shepherds watch over the souls of those under their charge.
SPEAKER_00: They understand their needs, they apply God's word to them with precision.
SPEAKER_00: They regularly feed them with the truth of Scripture by unfolding the doctrines of the word and helping them stand firmly in the faith.
SPEAKER_00: They continue on.
SPEAKER_00: They set the example for Christian living.
SPEAKER_00: The early elders were admonished to guard the flock from false teachers.
SPEAKER_00: Elders were to ensure that the church maintained solid doctrinal footing and that the members were equipped to resist the influence of false teachers.
SPEAKER_00: Well-fed and well-cared for sheep have less reason to wander from the fold and into danger.
SPEAKER_00: Now, as most know and many have experienced, that kind of responsibility and that kind of authority can and will be abused and exercised inappropriately.
SPEAKER_00: It's going to happen when God uses sinful people.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter knows that as well.
SPEAKER_00: He's not discounting that.
SPEAKER_00: So he gives three contrasts to show yet another characteristic of a shepherd of God's sheep.
SPEAKER_00: And that is that he must possess the proper heart.
SPEAKER_00: Three times God recorded not this, but this.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be like this, but instead be like this.
SPEAKER_00: Not this kind of attitude and heart, but this kind of attitude and heart.
SPEAKER_00: It's right and appropriate to feel the weight and the responsibility to be an elder.
SPEAKER_00: Guys, if you are shaking where you sit, it's good.
SPEAKER_00: It's good for us to do that.
SPEAKER_00: The rest of you, please pray for us.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it can be frightening.
SPEAKER_00: It's right and appropriate to feel the weight of the responsibility to be an elder.
SPEAKER_00: It can be a joy and a trial.
SPEAKER_00: There are times when it is a light burden, and there are times when it can be overwhelming.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, an elder should not simply serve because others think he should.
SPEAKER_00: The man should not take on the position of an elder unless there is a willingness and an eagerness to step into that place by the call of God.
SPEAKER_00: Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you.
SPEAKER_00: Some might desire to serve as an elder, and that's that can be a good thing if it is a righteous desire.
SPEAKER_00: Others might not desire it, but yet serve willingly and eagerly because they love the Lord and his people.
SPEAKER_00: But the concern that Peter has here is that someone who serves out of compulsion and without willingness is not likely to care for the sheep as much as someone who is willing.
SPEAKER_00: He might be less likely to endure under the pressures.
SPEAKER_00: He might seek the easy way instead of the right way in his leadership.
SPEAKER_00: He might seek to make his service time a little more comfortable instead of standing firm.
SPEAKER_00: Additionally, in the second negative, an elder should not serve for shameful gain.
SPEAKER_00: Now the scriptures say that an elder is worthy of his pay if a congregation pays them.
SPEAKER_00: But that's not what this is about.
SPEAKER_00: Surely it includes money, finances, but what is at the core of this statement is the heart of an elder.
SPEAKER_00: Does he serve or is he likely to serve for what he can get out of it?
SPEAKER_00: Especially if it comes at the expense of someone else.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you think about it, that can apply to money, but it can also apply to power, influence, position, all of which have sinful motivations and can turn into wretched abuse of the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, elders are to serve as an under-shepherd with eagerness, not because of what comes to them in this life, but out of love for Christ and his church.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the third aspect of the shepherd's heart relates to his authority.
SPEAKER_00: He should not serve in a domineering way, but in an exemplary way.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus told his disciples that the way of the world is the domineering way.
SPEAKER_00: He said in Matthew 20, verse 25, calling all of his disciples to him as a little family meeting, you know, he said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
SPEAKER_00: He said, You know that.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to look far to see that.
SPEAKER_00: But that is not the way of the Lord's people.
SPEAKER_00: They don't domineer, they lead by example.
SPEAKER_00: Elders do not lead by lording it over others as a master because there's only one master.
SPEAKER_00: An elder must lead and exercise oversight through humble obedience to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And when that happens, when elders lead properly, they make it easier for the sheep to follow.
SPEAKER_00: They make it clearer in their example for what the sheep are to do.
SPEAKER_00: Sheep can even submit to their leadership, as verse 5 says.
SPEAKER_00: Acts 20 and 28 says that elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit to lead.
SPEAKER_00: And that is affirmed by the congregation.
SPEAKER_00: Even to exercise authority.
SPEAKER_00: They are to keep watch over your souls.
SPEAKER_00: And Hebrews 13 says that in response they should be obeyed.
SPEAKER_00: That only happens if all are functioning in humility.
SPEAKER_00: But that's next week's sermon.
SPEAKER_00: That can and should be the proper functioning of the local church.
SPEAKER_00: But when we bring in those outside pressures, when we bring the frustrations and the pains and the problems of life home to a Sunday morning, problems can result.
SPEAKER_00: A proper functioning of leading and following in the church only happens when all are living in humility.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where Peter goes next.
SPEAKER_00: But before we get there, let's notice the final characteristic of a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: A shepherd must submit to the chief shepherd and look forward to his return.
SPEAKER_00: You know, as young people, it's often difficult to process life in the light of future results.
SPEAKER_00: You young people, I'm not speaking down to you.
SPEAKER_00: I've been there.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking by experience.
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to see why you should do something now because of something that will happen months or years down the road.
SPEAKER_00: Because when we're young, we can't see very far down the road.
SPEAKER_00: The joy of the present seems far greater than any discipline from mom or dad that might come tomorrow or the next day, but you never know, mom or dad might never find out.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, they will.
SPEAKER_00: They will.
SPEAKER_00: But as we mature, shouldn't we be able to see further down the road and be able to make decisions for today based on what might happen down the road?
SPEAKER_00: We should be able to live life today in light of next week.
SPEAKER_00: For example, we should be able to endure a little bit less weekly income now in order to set aside some funds for a vacation next summer.
SPEAKER_00: We should be able to look ahead and say, I want that vacation.
SPEAKER_00: I can see it a year down the road, and so I can go through the struggles now to get to that place.
SPEAKER_00: Elders are no different.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you are serving as an elder, have served as an elder, or will serve as an elder, or if you follow the elder's lead, you must look forward to the coming of the chief shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: He is coming and he will demand a report for your shepherding.
SPEAKER_00: And he will demand a report for your following.
SPEAKER_00: Every elder will answer for his leading of the shepherd's sheep, and that must impact their shepherding today.
SPEAKER_00: Must look forward to that.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone else will answer for how they follow under shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: All of us respond to the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Now, up until this point, we've felt the weight of the chief shepherd's eyes on the elders.
SPEAKER_00: We've seen that.
SPEAKER_00: And it can sound and feel as though the demands and the expectations of leadership are not worth it.
SPEAKER_00: Why would anybody do that?
SPEAKER_00: Why would anybody desire that?
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says it is worth it because those who lead well will receive a crown.
SPEAKER_00: They will receive a reward of glory with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And that reward is going to be unfading.
SPEAKER_00: Just like everybody else's inheritance, as we studied in chapter one, an unfading inheritance, referring to a flower of that time that was believed to never fade.
SPEAKER_00: It never goes away.
SPEAKER_00: Elders must keep their eyes on eternity to endure the struggles of leadership now, in the same way that all of us are to keep our eyes focused on our promised inheritance with Jesus when he returns so that we can endure the struggles of today.
SPEAKER_00: Being a Christian is sometimes like having a difficult job.
SPEAKER_00: It comes with frustration, it comes with pain, insults, criticism.
SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't bring that into our family gatherings as a church.
SPEAKER_00: The first step in accomplishing that is by having elders who shepherd like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The next step is following the elder's lead by all of us together being humble.
SPEAKER_00: I'd like to leave you with this one last thought.
SPEAKER_00: These are not unusual characteristics applied to a special group of people.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they are here.
SPEAKER_00: But they're not that unusual.
SPEAKER_00: These are the attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And they are characteristics that every single follower of the Lord is to have and to display and to further develop.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just elders.
SPEAKER_00: You know, mom and dad have a family meeting talking to your siblings, but they intend for you to hear it too.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what Peter's doing.
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to hear about these characteristics that are found in the one true chief shepherd, and we all follow him.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, be like him.
SPEAKER_00: So pray for your elders.
SPEAKER_00: And as you do, ask the Lord to grow you in these areas for his glory and your reward.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, thank you for loving your church enough to give us leaders.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that doesn't look too well.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's a struggle to endure as leaders and as followers.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it doesn't go perfectly.
SPEAKER_00: But we give you thanks that you are building your church and you will build your church and nothing will stand in your way.
SPEAKER_00: So we simply ask that you would enable us to have your heart, your attitude, and your love for one another.
SPEAKER_00: So that we might grow closer to one another and so more like you.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we want to display this because a world is watching.
SPEAKER_00: A world is watching to see how we function, how we live, how we think, and how we act.
SPEAKER_00: So we ask that you would make us like Jesus as you promised you would.
SPEAKER_00: And empower us then to go into a world to say, Look what this family's like.
SPEAKER_00: Come join us as sheep with a chief shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.