True Shepherds | 1 Peter 5:1-5 | Pastor Andrew Coleman | 04/26/26

The book of First Peter is a glorious,

beautiful passage for us. A letter that

helps us to see God's heart for the

church. And it's a letter written to

people who aren't home yet. They're in

this life. They're in this world, but

they're not home yet. That's why the

subtitle right there says, "A letter to

the elect exiles." These are the people

that are not chosen by God. Excuse me.

They are not chosen by the world, but

they are chosen by God. And so he's

saying, "The world may reject you, but

God has accepted you, and here is

information that you so desperately need

for this life." Um, last week we looked

at a very difficult uh area of scripture

as we actually passed through Old

Testament and New Testament looking at

corrupt pastors. Well, this morning

we're going to actually look at the 1

Peter 5 1-5 text and we're going to be

looking at true shepherds.

Why did this need to be written? We

answered that question a bit last week.

and tell me if these words from Jesus

do not help you to remember why Peter

would have to write this.

In Matthew 7 and verse 15, our Lord

Jesus Christ said, "Beware of false

prophets who come to you in what?

>> Sheep's clothing." So they come looking

like the real deal but inwardly Jesus

said they are what?

>> Ravenous wolves. So not just wolves but

what do ravenous wolves? These are

hungry violent

deadly wolves.

Um, and so we see that that was going on

throughout the Old Testament and it was

going on um in Jesus's day and it was

going on in the New Testament. In that

first hundred years when the New

Testament was all being recorded, we see

that this was a very big issue. And you

know what? It is still an issue today.

For the last 2,000 years, there have

been impostors.

For the last 2,000 years, there have

been plenty in many, many different

Christian um circles that have been um

violently opposed really to the true

holiness of God and the doctrinal

foundation that God has given us in his

word. In fact, many people in this room,

um, it's kind of a miracle that you're

even here because of experiences that

you had in places that were not led by

faithful pastors.

Last night, while I was finishing this

sermon, without even searching for it, I

came across a new song that is out. And

if you want to go listen to it, not now,

but later you can. Um, Franny

Cash, a Christian singer, wrote this

song, Raised by Wolves.

And as she writes raised by wolves, she

kind of gives a little clue to not her

parents

but to spiritual influences that were

around her as a young person.

And here we see what she writes when she

says that, you know, be quiet, little

girl. Be quiet. Know your place and say

your prayers. Stay in line and mind your

manners. Even if you're scared. Even if

you're scared, the man behind the wall,

he keeps he's the keeper of the law.

Better watch out when he falls. He's

taking us all down. He's taking us all

down.

That is exactly what happens

when wolves lead churches.

She says, "I was raised by wolves

dressed in sheep's clothing. I was made

a fool to trust without knowing. I was

raised by wolves

but saved by the lamb. She ends the song

with these words. You were there. You

were there. You were there the whole

time.

Not a minute, not a second. Never out of

your sight.

You kept saving, kept saving, kept keep

saving my life. And then look at this. I

was raised by wolves but saved by the

blood of the lamb.

Some of you would say, "Well, that may

be my testimony. Maybe it wasn't a

legalistic church that I was in that was

manipulative, controlling. Maybe it was

just a church that was theologically

dead and no one taught the word of God.

Maybe it was just all cultural

Christianity.

Maybe it was just all feel-good

theology. Or maybe it was just all kind

of entertainment Christianity.

Whether it by merely music or by music

and positive self-help messages,

these are not from the heart of God.

The great commission says this

that pastors

and leaders are to go we we as a church

are to go and to make disciples. All of

us

baptizing people as we saw at the

beginning of the service from these

testimonies. Baptizing people in the

name of the father, the son, and the

holy spirit. And then after that it says

this, teaching them to observe teaching

them to observe all that I commanded

you. Jesus said,

not just teaching them to observe the

things that are easy, not just teaching

them to observe the things that they

like to hear about, but it's teaching

from his word, teaching all that he's

commanded.

And he says, "And when you do that,

I'm going to be with you always."

Similar to this, the Lord with his own,

the people he's ultimately saving, he's

calling them sometimes even out of

dangerous situations. Let's look at the

review. If you're new to us this

morning, I want us to see the context. I

want you to be able to do this. Uh, some

of you are brand new and you're

wondering, "What is First Peter?" First

Peter is a tiny letter in the back of

the New Testament. It's part of the word

of God. It's very important. The Apostle

Peter was one of the 12 disciples. In

fact, he was one of the inner three,

Peter, James, and John. So, he was very

close to Jesus. Let's look at this.

Number one, the Apostle Peter writes

this letter to what kind of churches?

>> Persecuted churches. The Roman Empire

was persecuting them all over the

Mediterranean world about how many years

after Jesus had died. Does anybody

remember from last week about

They gave you the answer. They weren't

supposed to do that.

35 years. I'm getting I'm sorry. I'm

sorry. That's what I just got. It's

okay, sweetheart.

35 years after Jesus dies and and rises

again for us and then ascends to the

father, the church has been going. The

church has been multiplying. We looked

at a map all around the Mediterranean

world. But they needed instruction. They

needed help. They needed some important

things. Notice this. Number two, the

letter was written and distributed to

them to encourage them, instruct them,

and warn them so that they may be

faithful to God. So these warnings are

important.

Faithful to God in a world that was

hostile to their faith and practice as

Christians. It hasn't become

any less hostile. I mean, ask the

believers in Iran this morning. There's

over a million Christians in Iran. Ask

believers in China. Ask believers in

certain areas of Nigeria. Ask the

believers of Sudan. Ask the believers in

Algeria

of the hostility that is toward them.

You know, if we had a little bit more

persecution here in America, I'm not

asking for it, but if we had it, we

might look at this letter far more

intensely than we have been.

We might take these words far more

deeply into our heart

if it was truly costing us to follow

Christ in America. Notice this. Number

three, Peter turns his attention to

pastors and elders as he writes this

letter. He writes both to the pastors

and elders themselves, but also to the

believers in their congregations.

He intends to either remind or set the

standard for how a pastor or an elder

should fill it in. Live and lead.

Because it's not just how he leads. He

has no leadership if he doesn't live in

a way that is honoring to God.

Number four, last Sunday we saw how

corrupt human leaders have been a

problem since the beginning of time. We

walked through the Old Testament and the

New Testament and saw that a great many

of the leaders of God's people were very

corrupt. They often led God's people to

fill it in idolatry

and even immorality.

They would bring sexual immorality at

times or they would bring greed into the

religious system of the Old Testament or

into even the religious system of the

New Testament.

How about number five? Last Wednesday

evening, Pastor Ben walked through the

many good and godly leaders of the Old

Testament and the New Testament. And

this is an important thing to remember.

Yes, God has always provided faithful

leaders, too.

There's just fewer of them.

And you say, "Really? There's fewer of

them? Really? Is that is that the way it

goes?" Well, when you look across

scripture, that certainly is true in the

Old Testament. I mean, there was about

39 kings in the Old Testament. And

listen to this. Only about 20 of them

were good kings.

You know what I said? 20. 12.

Out of 39, nearly 40 kings, only 12 of

them were good kings. That's not a very

good record.

And then when we look at the prophets,

it's similar. It's about 5050 with the

prophets. So there's kings leading and

there's prophets also leading at

different times in different ways. There

was there was a lot of a lot of

tremendously

dangerous and perilous times in the Old

Testament. What about in the New

Testament? We see a lot of names come up

that are that are war that we are warned

by. We looked at that last week. But

there were good ones too. There were

certainly good ones. So, God's design

for true shepherds. Um, we see this in

our text. Let's read the text very

quickly. Um, and let it sink into our

hearts and then we're going to pick it

apart a little bit as we go. Look with

the box on your page there in 1 Peter

5:es 1-5. So, I exhort, that means to

strongly encourage, to strongly

instruct.

I exhort the elders right above that

pastors because those words are used

synonymously. So it's not just talking

about the older congregation. It's

talking about the spiritual leaders. So

I exhort the pastors among you, 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

to be revealed. And here it is,

underline this. 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 doineering over those in your

charge, but being what?

>> Examples to the flock. And when the

chief shepherd appears, you will receive

the unfading crown of glory. Likewise,

you are young, you who are younger, be

subject to the elders. Clothe

yourselves, all of you, with humility

toward one another. For, let's read the

last line here together. For God opposes

the proud but gives grace to the humble.

So this is a very high value to God

um that we see in all of this and this

we're going to see there's a couple of

themes in this in this text that are

here f so very quickly number one Roman

numeral number one God's design for true

elders is this notice the heart of a

true shepherd notice the heart of a true

shepherd look so I exhort the elders

among you as a fellow elder and a

witness to the sufferings of Christ so

we're going to see the the motivation.

We're going to see the heart here. Look

at letter A. See that the Apostle Peter

was an elder like them. So the first

thing that he's doing is he's

identifying with them. He's saying as a

fellow elder, I'm one of you. Um so

Peter saw himself, look at this, this is

real important, especially since

what Chrisom

and specifically Roman Catholicism

has done with the Apostle Peter. It's

very important for us to see the

biblical perspective on Peter. Okay. So,

we often take the apostles and we put

them in a class that somehow has no

relationship to us as Christians. We're

like, "Oh, well, those were the apostles

and I can't touch the apostles. I can't

in any way compare myself to the

apostles. I can't in any way do that."

And you would say, "Well, in one way

that's kind of true. They had a very

special task and a very special moment

in history that God used them for the

sake of his glory in the church and

establishing the church. That's

absolutely true. But what we see in the

rest of scripture

is and what we'll see in this text is

that

the ground at the foot of the cross is

level ground. There's not a hierarchy in

in coming to Jesus.

The same grace that saves the Apostle

Peter is the same grace that saves you.

And the same sin that condemns you and

anyone else in the world is the same sin

that condemns Peter without Christ. So

here we see that Peter sees this and he

starts off by saying to them, I exhort

the elders among you. And then underline

that as a fellow elder. So he's saying I

among you. So Peter saw himself fill it

in among them, not above them.

And that's very important.

>> Peter is pointing out that I am one of

you and I'm not better than you. Look at

the next thing that we see here. So

that's Peter's view of that as a fellow

elder. Letter B, Peter called elders to

see themselves among God's people.

not above God's people. So it's very

similar. So he's just like I'm one of

you. He's saying you guys are one of

them. So he's he's looking at the

elders. He's looking at the pastors and

he's saying you're among them.

You're a you're a member of the flock,

too. And so where do we get this from?

Look at what it says in verse one. So I

exhort the elders what? Among you. those

elders are with the flock.

It's very very important picture here.

And where do we get this from? You see,

Peter is getting this from the fact that

Christ is the anchor of this great

humility. And how do we see this? Look

at verse one. So I exhort the elders

among you as a fellow elder. And look

what he brings up. And a witness of

what?

>> The sufferings of Christ. So you talk

about going the way of

humility and going the way of relating

to us. The Apostle Peter is reminding us

from the get-go, hey, I'm one of you as

a pastor and two, we're all witnesses of

the great humility of how Jesus came and

suffered for us. He joined us in our

sin.

>> Amen. He never sinned but he did take

our sin upon himself as the perfect

sacrifice. So he comes and he was among

us.

That's the picture that is here is that

Christ is not somehow

um distantly related to us and and

reigning over us in such a way that he

was never among us. No, he reigns over

us but he reigns over us really because

he became one of us. So Peter is not the

hero. He's not going to let them exalt

him as the hero. The elders are not the

hero. Fill it in. Christ is the hero.

And that's what Peter is getting at

right at the start as he talks about

elders. He's saying, don't think it's

anything or anyone else. Letter C, we

see from verse one in this as well.

Letter C. This gracious hero Christ

is going to share his glory. What hero

does that? Especially in the Roman era.

I mean, if you got caught trying to ride

the coattails of the glory of the

emperor, you were put to death. I was

going to go through and show you all of

the the ark of triumph. The ark of

triumph that's it's in Rome, it's in

Algeria, it's in uh Marseilles, it's in

Orange, it's in Jordan, it's in you you

go all over the Mediterranean world and

there's these huge arcs that are built.

They're huge, beautiful arcs and they

have mosaics or they have um freezes all

over them that are telling the

victorious story of the conquering

emperor.

And it was it was all about the glory of

Rome all over the world. And so we're

we're talking about this in a context

where they understood that the average

Christian were sitting there

understanding what it meant to talk

about the glory of Rome and the victors.

And here we see that our victor

suffered. Here we see that our victor,

he doesn't just wear the wreath for

himself, but listen to this. Our victor,

he shares his glory. And that's this is

the amazing difference in God versus

man. Look what it says in verse one. So

I exhort the elders among you as a

fellow elder and a witness of the

sufferings as Christ of Christ. Look at

the last part. As well as a partaker in

the glory that is going to be revealed.

This is amazing. He's going to share his

glory with us. You see, it isn't so much

a statement about what you get. A lot of

times we go, "Oh, wow. We're going to

get some glory." No, that's not so much

what this is emphasizing. It's not about

what you're going to get, but it's about

about what Christ will share. This is

yet another picture of the goodness of

God. You see, you fill it in. Our savior

is a generous victor and hero. And this

is totally opposite of the Roman

victories that were all around them. So

this Christ is one who comes and he

suffers and then when he vanquishes the

enemy, he spreads his glory into our

lives through salvation and through the

glory of heaven. This is a gracious God.

Listen what I what you wrote down there.

This is a generous God.

amazingly generous God. Not only do we

notice um the the picture of his true

heart as a pastor and the call of a for

our our hearts as pastors, but look at

this. Notice the call of a true

shepherd. Fill that in. Notice the call

of a true shepherd. Shepherd the flock

of God that is among you.

Now, the first thing that I notice in

this is

the flock belongs to God,

not the pastor.

And I can tell you that as a pastor for

the last 30 years, um I just, you know,

in cultural Christianity, sometimes you

get around other pastors and they talk

about my church, my church, uh my church

this, my church that, and my people

this, my people that. And folks, I have

never been able to say that um just

because that's not true. I didn't die

for the church.

I didn't die for the people in the

church.

>> This church is Jesus Christ's.

>> This church is the one who died for it

as the owner of this church. And there

there should be absolutely

no ambiguity about that.

Even when people ask me, "So tell me

about how things are going at your

church." I will graciously with a smile

on my face say, "Well, it's not mine."

and they go, "Oh, oh, you know what I

mean." And I'm like, "Yeah, but it's not

mine.

>> It's his."

>> Um, I'm going to tell on Elizabeth uh or

Isabelle Zider. Isabelle Zider when she

was just a little thing. Now, she's a

grown woman, but when she was just a

little thing, she was riding with Anna

across the front of the church. They

they were in the vehicle and they're

walking along or they're riding along

and little Isabelle asked a question

similar to this.

Is Pastor Andrew the owner of this

church? Is this his church?

And Anna rightly said to her, "Oh no,

sweetheart. He is not the owner of this

church.

Not in any way."

Um, this is the heart and the calling of

a true shepherd is to shepherd the

flock. The and and we see in this text,

the shepherd she he the call is to

shepherd the flock of God that is among

you. And so letter B is this the work is

shephering. And that's not just a noun

when you talk about a shepherd, but it

can also be a verb. You shepherd people.

And it's not merely managing them. It's

far more than management. It involves

management, but it's far more than

management.

You see, this is the same charge given

by Jesus to Peter

after the resurrection.

After the resurrection, the disciples

are fishing on the beach. Jesus calls

them to come in. They come in. They come

up and there's a little charcoal fire

there by the shore early in the morning.

They fished all night. They're tired and

they recognize him as Lord and they're

going, "Wow, Jesus is here." And they

come there and Jesus has already fixed

breakfast for them. And by the way, I

love that imagery

that the creator of the universe comes

and meets these guys while they're still

confused, still trying to figure out

what's next for us

>> and he's fixed on breakfast.

It's always touched me. And then he and

Peter have this conversation. Now Peter

just a few days earlier had denied him.

Had denied him three times. And now

Peter is given the opportunity to

confess him. And the Lord says to him,

look at John 21:15.

John 21:15

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus

said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of

John, do you love me more than these?"

Now, we believe that he was probably

talking about the fish because they

caught a bunch of fish. He's saying, "Do

you love me more than your job?"

He could have been saying, "Do you love

me more than the disciples?" But that

would not be the character of the Lord.

Most likely, he's saying, "Do you love

me more than these?" Because Peter was a

fisherman. And fishermen love their

fish, right?

He said, "Lord, you know I love you." He

said, "Feed my lambs." He said to him a

second time, "Simon, son of John, do you

love me? Lord, you know I love you. Tend

my sheep." Look at how Jesus is

commanding him. Verse 17, he said to him

a third time,"Simon, son of John, do you

love me?" Jesus said to him, "Feed my

sheep. Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep.

Feed my sheep." This is the calling that

Peter was receiving. This is the calling

that every pastor shepherd is receiving

because the word pastor literally means

shepherd.

So how do you shepherd a people?

The first and perhaps most important

thing to begin with is the idea that you

are going to shepherd them by fill it in

knowing them. By knowing them you must

know the flock. You listen to what Jesus

said in John 10. In John 10, he says, "I

am the good shepherd." I know my own and

my own know me.

In Acts 20:28, it says, "Pay careful

Acts 20:28

attention to your flock, to all of the

flock in which the Holy Spirit has made

you an overseer or a pastor." So, pay

careful attention. So, the first thing

that has to happen is a pastor has to

know his people. He has to know the

flock. He has to know the shepherds. And

this is all of the pastors are called to

this.

>> And then look, feeding

feeding the flock. Somebody's having a

hard time. It's okay. You can help him

out.

>> You can He's having a difficulty.

Okay. So, look at the next one.

The second one. Feeding the flock.

That's exactly what Jesus just called

them to do. to feed the flock. Pay

attention to this. Not that over there.

Pay attention to this. This will help

you. Don't don't let the get devil get

two victories here. Okay. Number two,

John 21 says, "Feed my lambs. Tend my

sheep. Feed my sheep." 1 Peter 5:2 says,

1 Peter 5:2

"Shepherd them." And how do they do

that? A pastor is told, Timothy is told,

preach the word.

That's how you feed people is you preach

the word of God.

>> And then notice this, the third one,

lead. Pastor Billingsley said to me when

I was a young pastor, he said, "Andrew,

how's things going up at Crescent

Beach?" I had planted a church in

Crescent Beach, Florida. And I said,

'Well, we're we're doing okay. We're

we're doing good and things are

happening and you know, this is what I I

think we had about 30 people coming to

church. And Pastor Billingsley said,

"Andrew, mark it down." He said it to me

right here in the center aisle one

Sunday night when I was down here. He

said, "Enthusiasm without leadership

brings frustration."

Because he knew I was 25 years old and I

was enthusiastic.

But he was saying to me, if all you are

is enthusiastic and you don't lead them

to where they need to go, they're just

going to be frustrated because they're

going to be excited and they're not

going to have anywhere to go.

>> And so I was told and I was sent

leadership is important.

When you think about a shepherd, think

about a shepherd. He knows his flock.

He's seeking to bring that flock to

green pastures. Is that not exactly what

Psalm 23 talks about? The Lord is my

shepherd. What? I shall not. That means

I have no needs. He is my shepherd. So I

don't need anything. He is such a good

shepherd. I don't need anything. The

Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

He what?

>> Leads me beside still waters.

He leads me to green pastures.

He comforts me. He takes care of me.

So he leads them. Did you know that

sheep? Now the Lord does call all of us

sheep. And in some ways that's a very

sweet thing. In other ways it's a very

important lesson for us because sheep

are not very strong. Sheep are pretty

weak, right?

And sheep, listen, they're not very

smart.

And a lot of times we're not very smart,

right? We think we are, but we're not.

Did you know this sheep, a flock of

sheep, if you just leave them alone,

they will eat the pasture down to the

dirt, and they will often not find their

way to greener pastures. They'll die.

They don't know how to migrate to truly

healthy pastures. They'll do it a little

bit, but they won't do it in the long

run. They will they will become

um anemic and starved and and sheep can

get tumbled over. A sheep can get turned

upside down and not be able to write

itself.

Um and a shepherd has to come and write

the sheep and get them going again. So

sheep sheep really need a shepherd. And

even in this modern day and time, that's

that's what when I go to North Africa,

when I go to the Middle East and I'm

riding along on those distant highways

out there, um sometimes on the edge of

the desert where there's sparse grass

and everything else, you'll see a whole

flock of sheep moving along and you'll

see a guy in a big shabia over him, a

big robe over him, and he's out there

and he has a big stick. In this modern

day and time, he's out there walking

along with the sheep.

They need a shepherd.

Notice this. Knowing, feeding, leading.

How about this one? Protecting.

Protecting.

That's exactly what a shepherd is

supposed to do. Is that not what David

was doing? David was protecting

the sheep. David protected sheep from

bears. David protected the sheep from

lions.

David protected the sheep. Well, the

Apostle Paul is saying to

the the pastors of the present day of of

his present day, you must protect the

flock because there are going to be

adversaries after adversaries that seek

to come in and destroy it, mimicking the

words of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are

called to protect the flock. There's

been plenty of times that the pastors of

this church, I remember growing up,

Pastor Billingsley doing this, and I

also remember many times where Pastor

Jason or Pastor Ruben or Pastor Ben uh

have been at different times, we see

something happen and we're like, "That

is a threat to the church.

We need to go deal with that." There was

a Wednesday night, a guy came here. We

were I was preaching and he came in the

center aisle and he walked right down to

the front and came over here and was

like that was kind of strange. And then

a couple of other things happened and

then as soon as the service was over he

was he was loudly discussing something

in the middle of the aisle of the church

declaring a theological position on

something that was very strange. And he

was he was very vehement about it. And I

walked up to find out what's going on

and I quickly learned that this person

was here to create a disturbance

and I got a hold of his backpack and I

led him out the door and I said, "I'm

glad to talk to you in a different

context than this, but you're not going

to come here and disrupt and disturb the

people."

>> You're not free to do that.

You're not free to intimidate and harass

and condemn people in our church family.

We'll be glad to talk with you at a

later time in a different way, but we're

not going to do it like this. That in a

small way is protecting the flock.

There's sometimes when people come into

the life of a church and

they have extraordinary stories or they

have extraordinary experiences and um

they want to be known for those things

or sometimes somebody comes in and they

have a lot of money and they want

everybody to know what they give. Um and

there's some there's some issues like

that that

are are not unifying to the church.

They're individualizing to the church.

And a the pastors of the church should

protect the church from behaviors that

bring division to the church from a lot

of different angles. That's part of

protecting the church. So this language

only makes sense of shephering, knowing,

feeding, leading, protecting because of

Jesus Christ. This is exactly what Jesus

Christ does for us. Um, this is exactly

where we ended the sermon last Sunday

where we talked about the fact that he

is the perfect shepherd. He says, "I am

the good shepherd." John 10:11, "I am

John 10:11

the good shepherd." The good shepherd

laid down lays down his life for the

sheep. You see, every pastor Philan is

an undersheperd

of the chief shepherd. Every pastor is

an undersheperd of the chief shepherd.

So um none of us are the chief shepherd,

the good shepherd. Only he is truly the

good shepherd and the chief shepherd.

Number three, I want you to see this on

page three. Notice the motives of a true

shepherd. And we see this in in verse

two, the second half of verse two. Look

at verse two. He says, "Shepherd the

flock of God that is among you

exercising oversight." And then we have

three things. Not under compulsion.

Not for shameful gain gain, not

doineering. So there's three knots

there. Not under compulsion, not for

shameful gain, and not doineering over

others. Very important. Notice this.

Instead of compulsion, a pastor should

be willing. He shouldn't be doing his

work as a shepherd because he is only

obligated to and he feels burden only.

He should be glad to do this. You see,

it's not forced. It's not reluctant.

It's not mere obligation.

I've heard pastors talk about their

calling before and they were like,

"Yeah, you know, I didn't want to go. I

went kicking and screaming. I didn't

want to do it. I didn't want to do it

and um you know but now here I am and

I'm like man I can't relate to that. I

was like Lord are you calling me to this

really?

Are you sure?

You got a whole lot better people than

me.

You must be getting to the end of the

barrel if if I'm being called to do

this. I know that's what many of you

think as well.

But

it's not to be forced. It's not to be

reluctant.

It's not to be obligated. Well, I guess

I have to.

God has called us to serve like Jesus

shared. You see, ministry is not a

burden to escape. It's a calling to

embrace.

It's not a burden to escape. It's a

calling to embrace.

We also see the second one, not

as a result of shameful gain. We're not

called for shameful gain. What we're

called for is to be eagerly serving in

sharing.

Notice this.

You see, this includes money,

recognition, and influence. There are

some pastors who pastor for those

things. Now, most pastors, I promise

you, are not pastoring for money because

most pastors are very poor.

But there are some who start making a

lot of money. And there are some who

wind up with these massive congregations

where it is an enormous amount of money.

It becomes quite a racket.

And there are some who it has nothing to

do with money, but it has to do with

recognition and status.

And there's others who love the

influence. There was a guy who one time

came um in another context, not our

church, but another church. And he said,

"I I feel called to be a pastor." And I

said, "Okay. Um what what makes you feel

called to be a pastor?" And he said,

"Well, I like telling people what to

do."

I mean, he just said it. He just said

it. I was like, "Really?

That's why you feel called to be a

pastor. You like telling people what to

do. I said, "Dear brother, please don't

become a pastor.

Spare the church."

Oh my goodness.

But instead, it's with eagerness. And

that's what you see here.

It's with eagerness that we But eagerly,

the end of verse two, but eagerly

you serve.

You see, in Hebrews chapter 12, we see

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

this in eagerness. It's the joy in

serving Christ's people. You say,

"Really, joy in that?" Yeah, joy doesn't

always mean happy,

but very often it talks about a settled

contentment.

Hebrews 12:22,

Hebrews 12:22

we are to look to Jesus, the founder and

perfector of our faith. Look what it

says here. Who for the joy set before

him did what?

>> Endured the cross.

>> Endured the cross. He He for the joy set

before him didn't enjoy talking to the

crowds telling them what to do. But for

the joy set before him, he went to the

deepest, darkest, dirtiest part of his

role. And why?

For the joy of the glory of the father.

For the joy of the glory of the saints

who would be saved.

For the joy of obedience.

This is why Jesus serves with eagerness.

He was anxious to get to the cross once

his way was established.

How about letter C? Not doineering. Look

what verse three says. Not doineering

over those in your charge, but instead

what? Being what?

Examples to the flock. This is amazing.

So, it's not about control. It's not

about intimidation. It's not about

personalitydriven leadership.

It's about the authority comes through

example,

not pressure.

That's what you see in this passage.

Look what it says in verse three. Not

doineering over those in your charge,

but being examples to the flock.

>> The greatest leadership comes from

seeking to be an example that is

honoring to God.

So the end there of number C or letter

C, Peter isn't in isn't inventing a new

leadership model. He is describing

Christ. That's what he's doing. And then

notice the reward. Not only the motives

of the true shepherd, but now we see the

reward. And when the chief shepherd

appears, you will receive the unfading

crown of glory. You see letter A, we are

looking to that coming day. There's a

coming day. Jesus is coming again.

>> And when he comes again, look at

Revelation 22 and verse 12. Jesus is

speaking and this really is the picture

of Isaiah 40, the prophecy of this.

Look, he says, "Behold, I am coming

again, bringing my recompense with me

to repay each one for what he has done."

Now that can either make you really

joyful or that can make you really

concerned

because he is coming again and he is

going to either bring reward or he is

going to bring a judgment of great

austerity.

Letter B, accountability is coming with

him.

And over and over again, the pastors are

warned, you're going to be held

accountable. And in fact, in Hebrews, it

says, you're going to be held

accountable more strictly

because you are teaching.

And so there is an accountability that

is coming, but there's also a reward

that is coming with him. Look at Matthew

Matthew 25:31–34

25:31-34.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory,

then the king will say to those on his

right, come you who are blessed by my

father, inherit the kingdom pro prepared

for you from the foundation of the

world. This is a beautiful inheritance

that God has for those who follow him

and for those who serve him. In Matthew

Matthew 5:1

5:1, Jesus is speaking and he says,

"Rejoice and be glad for great is your

reward in heaven."

>> In the biatitudes, he is talking about

the sorrow now and the reward later. And

that is for all of those who are God's

true children.

But that also applies to those who labor

on his behalf in the life of the church.

Roman numeral number five. Notice the

response of the true church. Here's the

response of the true church. He says,

and how do we know that? Look at verse

five. In verse five, at the beginning,

the first two words are likewise you.

Now he's talking about the whole

congregation.

Likewise, you who are younger, be

subject to the elders. Clothe

yourselves, all of you, with humility

toward one another. For God opposes the

proud but gives grace to the humble. So

this is the response of the true church.

Notice this. Now the focus turns to the

congregation as well. Not only should

they know what to expect in their

pastors, but also themselves.

And this picture is all about humility.

Letter B, humility. Humility remains the

core value and attitude.

And notice these Peter modeled it at the

beginning of the sermon. I said he said,

"Hey, I'm a f fellow elder." He didn't

lord over them. He didn't seek to be

something above them. He modeled it. He

said, "I'm a fellow elder." Number two,

Peter pictured it with Christ. The

sufferings of Christ. This is humility.

In humility, Christ suffered for our

sins. Then Peter instructed the leaders.

No compulsion, no dominance, no greed.

And then Peter applied it to all you who

are younger. And then what does he say

in verse 5? In verse 5, he says, "Clothe

yourselves what? All of you. All of you

with humility toward one another."

So just as there are tendencies for the

older and leader types to be prideful,

so fill it in, young people can be

blinded by pride, selfishness, and

arrogance. And I would put out there to

the side as well, self-confidence.

Young people need to be aware that yes,

okay, look, the elders and perhaps the

older folks got both barrels from the

Apostle Peter saying no pride.

But it's not just saying that to the

older folks who have a tendency toward

pride. He's also saying, look what he

says in verse 5. Likewise, you who are

what?

>> Younger. So he's making clear,

you know, there's this thing in society,

American society, this thing in Roman

society, it's kind of been all through

the ages. When you're young and you're

strong and you can move fast and you can

think quick and you can do all these

things, we call it the young and the

beautiful or the bold and the beautiful.

You know, there they are graduating from

high school, going out to attack the

world with all of their youthfulness and

everything. And we can be very prideful

about that. Maybe graduate from college

and be very I'm going to do this and I'm

going to do this and I'm going to do

this and I'm going to do this and we can

be very self. We can think we know we

got it. You know, it's one of the

phrases that parents of teenagers

probably grow to loathe more than any

other phrase is. I know,

right?

>> I know you. You said now, son. When you

got I know. I know. Now, sweetheart,

when you're starting to I know, Dad. I

know.

>> Right.

We need to recognize that tendency. If

you're a Christian, please recognize

that tendency. When you're young, you

tend to know it all

until you start to discover maybe you

don't.

And so he's saying to the young, look

what it says. Likewise, you who are

younger, be subject to the elders.

Clothe yourselves. And then he opens it

up to everybody, all of you, with

humility toward one another.

What does it mean to be subject to the

elders? Let's unpack this a little bit.

Let's look at it. This means to listen

to what they are saying. That's one of

the hardest things for young people to

do is to listen.

>> And I know that because I have an older

father

and I may be 57 years old, but sometimes

I have a hard time listening.

Listen to what they are saying. Number

two, submit yourself to their authority.

God has placed, when you talk about the

elders or the pastors of a church, God

has placed them in a place of authority.

And we've just unpacked that they're not

supposed to be lording over and

compulsive and and and uh demanding and

doineering. Okay? Assuming they are none

of those things, but they're fulfilling

their God-given role under the power of

the Holy Spirit, you should listen to

them. And look at this. You sub submit

yourself to their authority.

You will be blessed

as you do that.

Number three, this means to heed their

warnings.

A big part of

the care that we need is to be warned,

to heed warnings. My my dad is a boy

scout among Boy Scouts. He's always, you

know, his motto is be prepared and a boy

scout is favorite or what is it?

Thrifty, this, that, reverent, cheerful,

and everything else. Um, cl clean

cleanliness. Somebody can quote it. Dad

will give you all that. But one of the

things that dad often does is he says,

"Now son, you need to listen

to what can happen."

And what is very often our response? I

know.

How about this? This means gain from

their experience.

You haven't lived life yet.

You haven't figured it all out. You

haven't been there in every way yet.

Gain from their experience.

How about this next to the last? This

means to seek their counsel.

You know, it's a it's an extremely wise

thing to go and seek wisdom from others,

to seek counsel. There are many people

in the life of our church that make

major decisions in their life without

ever having sought counsel.

They'll make decisions financially.

They'll make decisions legally. They'll

make decisions familially, vocationally.

They'll make decisions with parenting.

They'll make decisions with schedule.

They'll make decision with many, many

things that are major issues in their

life with no counsel from anyone that's

older than them.

And we often run the rat race because of

that and the difficulty of that without

realizing that we need wise counsel.

I know that God is really maturing

someone young people in our church when

they come to the pastors and they say,

"Can I meet with you? I really need to

ask about some things. I I just I don't

want to I just don't want to do this all

on my own. I would like to just hear

what you have to say."

Do you do you know

how encouraging that is to a pastor when

somebody is seeking to be careful with

their life as opposed to just doing what

they've planned out in their own

thoughts and wisdom. Well, I did the

research and I did this and I know me

and I I I'm going to just this is what

I'm going to do.

You know, in James it says be very

careful about that mindset. Instead,

it's so much better to say if the Lord

wills.

So, it's a submission. It's a submission

to God. And part of the way that we

submit to God is very often is we submit

to each other.

>> And one of the ways that we submit to

each other is sometimes in coming for

counsel

with

your pastoral shephering heart. How

about this? This means to follow their

guidance. To submit to the elders is to

follow their guidance.

Um there's been many times when somebody

will come and ask and we share

um our view, we share some dangers, we

share some warnings, we share some

possible steps and sometimes they will

seek to follow those things and then

other times they'll go thanks. See you

and do it their way. And very often, not

always, but very often there's a

tremendous price that is there.

You see this attic attitude of

submission, this attitude of being

subject to our elders is against our

fallen human nature. Our flesh resists

submission. Our flesh resists

submission. Now, I know that some of you

um struggle with that as I do, and I can

tell you that um God has used his word

in my heart about this issue. But he

also used something else. When I was 19

years old,

um a man recommended that I read this

book, The Calvary Road. It's a very

short book. It only has

um 150 pages.

And this little book written 75 years

ago

really dives into what does it mean to

submit to Christ?

What does it mean to live on the Calvary

road?

The road of life following Christ.

And this has helped me so much. I I read

it on a regular basis still. I've read

it many times. It's in the bookstore. I

want to encourage you that it's just a

few bucks. I want to say that if you

really struggle sometimes with your

heart, saying, "I I don't think I want

to submit to anything. I'm kind of

enjoying my strength. I'm kind of

enjoying my autonomy."

This may be helpful to you to rein in

the aspects of your life that may not be

honoring to the Lord. Notice this. What

is the attitude that we are to have?

Philippians 2:5-8. Have this attitude

Philippians 2:5–8

among yourselves which is yours in

Christ Jesus. Who though he was in the

form of God, did not count equality with

God a thing to be grasped or held on to.

Look at verse 7. But he emptied himself

by taking the form of a servant, being

born in the likeness of men, being found

in human form. Read it out loud. He

humbled himself by becoming obedient to

the point of death, even death on a

cross. This is the humble heart of God.

And this is to be the humble heart of a

pastor.

And this is to be the humble heart of a

church member.

This is the way of God because God is

humble.

He goes to the cross for us.

You see? So notice the last statement

here and we're finished. The church is

and its members are strongest not when

it has perfect bosses

but when it has humble shepherds

and humble people or humble members.

>> Everyone is looking to the perfect

shepherd

our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is what true shepherds and true

church members are to look to. Amen.

>> Let's stand together for prayer. Father

in heaven, thank you. Thank you for this

text that challenges us and reminds us

to be careful who is our leaders,

that instructs leaders with the right

attitude and motives and actions

and instructs all of us with the most

basic value, the value of humility.

Lord, so often we're not humble.

So often we're filled with selfishness

and pride and arrogance and

self-confidence.

Lord, I pray that you would use these

words today

from your word to remind us of the right

attitude to be like Jesus.

And Lord, I pray about our submission to

one another,

that we would indeed submit to one

another in humility,

loving one another and caring for one

another as you have designed so that we

might be the church

that you've called us to be, to be the

church that is glorifying to you. In

Jesus name we pray. Amen.