 Well, today we're going to be looking at 1 Peter 5. We're looking at verses 1 through 4. And it's a passage that really is one of those passages that are taught to leadership, their leadership verses. This pertains to leadership in the church, qualifications and duties. And I've taught this passage on many occasions to those who are training to be pastors. I've spoken out of it to those who are leaders and pastors. And so this is one of those passages that really in many ways can have a specific message to a certain group. And yet there are certain transferable concepts that we'll find here that help every believer to walk more solidly with the Lord. So let's begin in chapter 5 of 1 Peter at verse 1. I'll read to verse 4. We'll get into our study. 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 1 through 4. The apostle Peter writes, The elders who are among you, I exhort. I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. And also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God, which is among you. Serving as overseers. Not by constraint, but willingly. Not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. Nor as being lords over those entrusted to you. But being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. So you see some duties that are spoken of. You see challenges in relation to their motives as well as the fact that the apostle Peter is pointing to the rewards of their service. And we'll be seeing that in these four verses of 1 Peter chapter 5. What he's doing here is he's continuing his letter by addressing the church. And he begins as he's speaking to the church by addressing those who are referred to as the elders. That's how he begins, the elders who are among you. So he's speaking to the elders. Now he's not speaking to the elderly, the general age and population of the church. He's speaking specifically of those who have leadership in the church or those who rule, those who are the elders. And he begins to designate their duties and a variety of other things as he's speaking to them. He's speaking to the elders because they have the responsibility of shepherding the sheep that belong to Jesus Christ. These are those who are referred to as overseers. And normally in the church you would have as overseers, those who were more mature, more experienced, and thus under normal circumstances, especially in church life, the older ones who've been walking with the Lord for some time would be highly respected. Now in general, respecting the elderly was part of the law of Moses. Moses made it very clear that you should in general respect those who are older than you. In Leviticus 1932, you shall rise before the grayheaded and honor the presence of an old man and fear your God, I am the Lord. And so within the confines of just general relationships in the community, the age had had a place of respectability. And that in general was something that was normal, even in this society, even in my lifetime, that you show respect to those who are older or aged or those who are willing to admit their age at least, you're supposed to show them respect. You know, I was trained that way, many of you in this room were too. I was trained that if I were seated and a woman got on the bus that I was riding, my responsibility was to stand up and offer the seat. I was told that when a woman, a lady entered into a room, my parents taught me, when a lady enters the room, you stand up and show respect. I was taught to show respect to the older. So if I'm in the house and an older person walks in, my responsibility was to stand up and show them due respect. That's a biblical concept. We didn't call people who were older than us by their first names. We would speak to them by their last name, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Garcia, whatever it may be. That's how we were. I didn't speak to them by their first name unless they gave me permission to do so. You go to a doctor's office today and you can be 40 or 50 years older than the young girl who's there and she'll call you Davey. You know, how you doing, Davey? I'll slap your face, you know? But they'll call you by your first name, you know? And it's not like it's offensive. It's just a different way of thinking. And that has found its way into how we are in church life. The younger people don't necessarily respect those who are older, those who are aged, those who have gained their wisdom through experience. They don't necessarily do that anymore. As a matter of fact, very often they think that they have just as much or more understanding than that old person over there. You know, of course, age doesn't necessarily equate to wisdom. Job 32.9 says it like this, great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand justice. The fact is, is you show respect to those in general, but especially to those who have faithfully served the Lord. Like it says in Proverbs 16, 31, the silver-haired head is a crown of glory if it's found in the way of righteousness. And so he's speaking not just to the aged, but he's speaking to the leadership. There's a general tendency to show respect to those who are older, but you especially respect those who are leaders in the body of Christ because these were men who were not self-appointed. These were men who actually were appointed in leadership positions due to their experience in the things of the Lord and the leading of the Spirit. And people would pray and ask God concerning leadership, who would you have us to lead and prayerfully decisions would be made and elders would be placed in that position. You didn't come through a vote. It came through a prayerful leading of the Holy Spirit. Like it says in Titus 1, verse five, when Paul writes, for this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. Or as it says in Acts 14, 23, so when they, speaking of Paul and Barnabas, had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commanded them to the Lord in whom they had believed. And so the most experienced and most mature in Christ were to watch over and instruct the rest. That's how it is to be in the church. You see the church is spiritual, so its leaders must be spiritually mature and have impeccable character. And a spiritual leader is there to be aware of the integrity and humility that is necessary for them to lead. And there are qualifications that you can find in 1 Timothy chapter three, verses one through seven, as well as Titus chapter one, verses six through nine. And you can read those passages and you can see the qualities of an elder, a bishop, a person who's involved in leadership. And so he's writing to the elders. These elders are accountable to God for the spiritual work that they perform. Now, as you look at this in verse one here in chapter five of 1 Peter, notice what he says. He says, the elders who are among you, I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. So first I want you to notice that he reveals humility as he's approaching them. In essence, he's saying, I'm not presuming an attitude of superiority, but I appeal to you as a comrade in service, a comrade in ministry. And so I'm speaking to you as an equal amongst equals. Now, obviously in the flesh, if the apostle Peter wanted, he could have boasted of his credentials. I mean, this is a man who was involved from the very beginning. He was a first generation follower of Jesus Christ. He was one of the 12, but notice he didn't make any special demands on them for their respect. He wasn't seeking that. It reminds me of what the apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians two, verse six, where he says, nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. So he's not taking that tact with them. He's not taking that approach with them. He says, I'm going to begin with an attitude of humility and servanthood. I want you to know that I am an elder, a fellow elder. I too am under the yoke of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not seeking glory. We're seeking to have a relationship with you. Interestingly enough, though he begins as a fellow elder, he does gently remind them of his unique credentials because he refers to a couple of things. One makes, he makes reference to the fact that he was noticed in verse one, a witness of the sufferings of Christ. And though I may be a fellow elder, yet you need to remember that I had a very close relationship to Jesus Christ. I was a witness of his sufferings. I'm somebody who is an eyewitness and I can bear testimony of what I saw. So what he's writing as is as an apostle, an apostle who experienced the ministry of Jesus firsthand and somebody who walked with him and saw the suffering that Jesus endured. Now, remembering, of course, that much of the theme of 1 Peter relates to suffering and how you're supposed to look to Jesus Christ, who is the greatest model of enduring great opposition, he would be speaking concerning one who understands suffering and therefore he'd say, I saw this firsthand. I saw Jesus. I saw Jesus Christ firsthand and therefore I have relationship with him. Now, I'll give this as an aside. The question sometimes is asked, are there modern apostles? Are there people with the same equal authority that the apostle Paul had? There are some who refer to themselves as the apostles of the church. There are certain denominations that refer to their leaders as their apostles. There is a movement right now, some of you may be aware of, where those who are quote unquote the leaders of that movement are claiming apostolic authority equal to that of the original apostles and I had just this week, it was brought to my attention, questions were asked related to that. When you look into the New Testament, there are certain qualifications for an apostle. One is Paul mentions this in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 12 when he said that the signs of an apostle were worked amongst the Corinthians through his hands and he spoke concerning the signs and the wonders and the mighty works of God. And so the apostle was one who was used by God to perform miracles, you see that in scripture. The apostle Peter in 2 Peter actually makes it very clear to us in chapter three verses 14 through 16 that the apostles were inspired by God to write scripture. There's nobody today who's writing scripture because scripture is already a sealed canon. We already have received all that God was going to give to us and so there are no modern apostles writing scripture but beyond that requirement for being an apostle was to have firsthand experience with Jesus Christ. You see that in Acts chapter one verses 20 through 22 when the failure of Judas was being addressed in and when they were gonna select someone to take his place and it says in Acts chapter one verses 20 through 22 for said Peter it is written in the book of Psalms may his place be deserted let there be no one to dwell in it and may another take his place of leadership therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us for one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. So one of the qualifications to be an apostle was to have begun with Jesus to walk with Jesus to see Jesus after he died was ascended and this was somebody who was supposed to be appointed as an apostle and that was one of the qualifications and Peter was an apostolic witness he was an individual who saw firsthand the sufferings of Jesus Christ he was there in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was agonizing in prayer and as it were he sweat great drops of blood he was there in Caiaphas court yard when he saw Jesus as Jesus had been beaten he saw the sufferings of Jesus Christ and the sufferings of Christ had deeply been embedded in the soul of this apostle and so he could speak of one as one who had seen the sufferings of Jesus and then secondly he says he's gonna be a partaker of the glory that will be revealed now that's gonna be when Jesus returns now he saw a portion of that glory there on what was called the Mount Transfiguration where Jesus was transfigured before him and he saw the glory even as it says in Matthew 17, 1 and 2 after six days Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother led them up on a high mountain by themselves he was transfigured before them his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light so he saw a glimpse of the glory of God but he's anticipating the return of Christ a time when Jesus' glory is going to be seen by all at the second coming now this anticipation is serving to motivate him to faithful service in the Lord because he's gonna share in eternal glory with Jesus Christ he says that in chapter 5 verse 10 when he says later on made the God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after you have suffered a while perfect established strength and unsettled you so he's looking forward to the glory that he'll have with the Lord with all of that said he now goes into speaking some very basic things about the attitude of a shepherd notice what he says in verse 2 he says to these elders shepherd the flock of God which is among you serving as overseers not by constraint but willingly not for dishonest gain but eagerly nor as being lords over those entrusted to you but being examples to the flock so he begins speaking to them concerning their duties what are they supposed to do what are pastors supposed to be like well one he's saying to them shepherd that word shepherd in the original language speaks of tender care it's a word that you get the word pastor from he's saying tenderly care for the flock of God which is amongst you when he calls it the flock of God he's simply saying these are God's people and you should tenderly care for those whom the Lord loves gently lovingly care for the sheep don't beat them love them lead them and that's what he's saying jesus had commissioned the apostle peter to be a tender shepherd he had said if you love me you're gonna feed and you're gonna tend my sheep and the apostle peter had learned that that what he was to do as a leader was to care for those sheep in the name of jesus christ now when he says shepherd the flock of God tenderly care for that flock which belongs to God and it is among you serving he says as overseers not by constraint but willingly constraint not because you're forced to but have a willing heart to so the guy is in bed sunday morning his mom knocks on his bedroom door son's time to get up time to go to church no mom i'm not going today i don't feel like going son get up it's time to go to church you know we go to church on sunday it's time to go to church no mom i'm not going to go i don't want to go today son you gotta get up it's time to go to church i'm not going why should i go i don't like going the people there are mean they gossip about me they're cruel to me they say the meanest things they treat me so just i just don't want to go why should i go give me one reason she says it's sunday we go to church and secondly you're the pastor you have to go not out of constraint not being forced to but doing it willingly because you love to you see when you're forced to do something it reveals spiritual immaturity or if you're pastoring out of constraint it can reveal fleshly ambition or it's the kind of thing that maybe you just reject authority over you and therefore you want to be the authority over others but the bottom line is is you're not to do it by constraint he says what you're to do is to serve the Lord as an oversea as an oversea see here because you have an internal uh... fueled desire by the spirit of God it's like what it says in 1 Timothy 3 verse 1 where Paul says if any man desire the office of a bishop he desires a good thing it's that internal desire that driving motivation that causes you to get up in the morning and and to do the work that God called you to do and if if you're a shepherd if you're a pastor which is the context of this if you're an overseer if you're an elder then you have an internal compulsion there's not somebody there who's always pushing you and forcing you in and constraining you and you're not having to be talked into it you do it because there's nothing else you can do i was being interviewed and somebody asked me a question related to ministry and i said i i passed it because silly thing i can do i wasn't saying that i can't get another job used to drive a truck i've worked in restaurants i've worked in supermarkets i i can do all kinds of work it's not that i can't what i was doing as i was quoting spurgeon from his book lectures to my students and and spurgeon was quoting a man by the name of mcneil or mcneil basically said and spurgeon quoted young man if you can do anything else and by all means do it the bottom line is is a man who's called to serve the lord full time there's nothing else for him to do but to serve the lord full time that's a calling it's an internal thing it's not the kind of thing where you have to sit down for weeks months or years and begin to say i wonder if i'm called i wonder if i'm not called i want it's just a drive within you i've had people ask me when did you know you were called to the pastoral ministry the answer is always the same the day i got saved the day i got saved there was something inside of me the day i got saved that motivated me to pursue the path that led me to this place right here the desire to talk about the lord and care for other people in the lord and it's there it's placed in you by the spirit of god it it isn't something you get through seminary classes it's not something that happens because several people agree that you'd be a great pastor it isn't because certain people say oh every time you talk it makes sense to me therefore you ought to shepherd me it's got to begin within your own heart and and and that's why paul would say if you desire the office of the bishop you desire a good thing it's something within you and it's something that god does through you it's something that god calls you too and and and these pastors are to be gifts to the church it's like it says in jeremiah three fifteen i will give you shepherds after my own heart who will lead you with knowledge and understanding so you do it willingly and then he says nor for dishonest gained but eagerly you don't use the ministry to steal people's money you don't acquire finances dishonestly it's not wrong for minister to receive compensation for serving the lord that is a biblical principle paul writes to the glations in chapter six verse six let him who has taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches first Corinthians nine verse fourteen the lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel so it's not as if it's wrong to receive compensation but when you have a dishonest heart and you want to become the one who becomes rich off or profits off of the the gifts of others that is what is wrong somebody was sharing with me how a a tv preaching personality recently apparently was on air uh... uh... service recorded as he was sharing with the congregation how he was asking them to give generously so he could buy a new lear jet i guess the old one wasn't good enough so he needs a new lear jet and and i was asked about that what do you think about that i think well what i think is that i think you ought to get the new lear jet and give it to me no what do i think about that i think the bible says that i'm not supposed to take advantage of people i think that the bible makes it very clear that you're not in ministry for dishonest gain it's very very clear and it states it very clearly in and one of the marks of a false teachers the constant emphasis on you giving him more and more and more so he can live better better and better matthew twenty three fourteen jesus speaks of this attitude when he says woe to you scribes and Pharisees and they call them hypocrites for you devour widows houses and for a pretence make long prayers therefore you'll receive greater condemnation a widow would go to the Pharisee and say i need prayer and if she gave a generous gift to him he'd pray a long time if she didn't give him a generous prayer he might not pray at all or pray very little and so jesus said that's an act of hypocrisy you're making money by praying when in reality you ought to be ministry now that the love of god paul in second chrithians two seventeen said it like this paul said and like so many we do not pedal the word of god for profit on the contrary in christ we speak before god with sincerity like men sent from god we don't adulterate the word of god for financial gain we give it to you as men of god and that's what we're to do so he says not for dishonest gain but eagerly in verse three going on nor as being lords over those entrusted to you but being examples to the flock instead of walking around the church like you are the king and this is your domain you're to be an example you're to be an example of what a believer is you're to be an example to to the body of christ there's this movement that some of you are aware of uh... that that i think has been really depreciating the value of ministry and the integrity of the word of god it's a movement where there are some who are well-known who are using the pulpit and as they express themselves in the pulpit they use uh... an occasional profane word they swear in the pulpit they use the word various words to describe certain things that are course and vulgar and forbidden by the lord who says let no unprofitable word proceed out of your mouth but that which is good for the use of edification that it may minister grace to the hearer god's word teaches us not to use course words and course verbiage and and uh... the pulpit of all places is the place where god's sacredness ought to be exalted all the more uh... coming from my background and let me give to you an example of how this kind of is is worked out in daily church life uh... my background being raised in the catholic church when you walk into uh... catholic church as many of you have done maybe for many years and perhaps still do you'll notice that the center of the of the the area there is is the alter it's called the alter so you walk in at i was raised as a catholic you walk in and there's the alter and and the priest will do most of his quote unquote service there at the alter the alter is the center of the platform and they have the cross there and various other things but that's where they celebrate communion from and it's the center so the center of the catholic church has always been what is called the sacrifice of the mass we all know that those of us who were raised in the catholic church it's not the mass it's called the sacrifice of the mass because when you have communion and all there's a re-crucification re-crucification of jesus christ he's once again being uh... his body and blood is being revealed there and it's an act of sacrifice that's the catholic church's theology as it pertains to that and so when you walk in you have the alter and then some point some portion of what is called a mass uh... the minister the priest will go to the side and he'll normally have his is a pulpit area off to the side and he speaks to the congregation and then comes back to once again the center which is the sacrifice that's not true in the process in churches normally you walk into a process in church and what's the center the center is the pulpit why is the pulpit the center because the center of all church life is the word of god and when somebody is there with the bible opened up and the center all all eyes are to be on the word of god and so there's a difference a major difference between coming in for a sacrifice and coming in to celebrate the reality of a sacrifice that took place two thousand years ago and that's what we celebrate the resurrection of christ and we do that to the life of god that is revealed to us by the word of god and so i'm up here at what used to be called the holy table you may have never heard that phrase but in old days they would speak of the pulpit as being the holy table why is it the holy table because the bread of life is being presented to people and we're to divide it properly and distribute it and so people receive life from god's word and so how can i depreciate the value of the word of god by making a course in vulgar and use profanity as i express it and the message that takes place when that happens is god is not a holy god even though peter has said to us be ye holy for i am holy and so when we don't take the word of god and live it and honor it and teach people to do so we're depreciating who god is and his work in our life not everybody understands it and not too many people value that but the bottom line is is that's what we're called to do and that's what the apostle peter is teaching us he's saying we're to be living in such a way that people will see our lives as ministers and we are examples to them why because god entrusted his sheep to us and thus i need to live in such a way that that my fellowship knows that i take these things seriously one of my sons was around a pastor years ago now who used a profanity in front of him more than one pastor and so he used a word this is years ago now my son used a word when he was talking to me and i said to him what he says oh i and i said son that's an improper word and then he says well so-and-so this other pastor so-and-so said it and i smiled at him and i said is so-and-so your father he says no i said does your father speak like that and he said no i said then who are you going to use as your example your father or somebody else he says somebody else i said no i'll slap your face no he says i'll use my dad i said then use your dad that's what we're called to do you see we're to be examples that people see the way that i as a pastor live god has blessed my life and i don't put it on and i'm not to pretend i'm not to come up here hypocritically so let's do this and then go off and do something else on my own oh nobody knows me in this city i can go into this fire here i can drink that there i can go no you're to be an example at all times that's the sincerity of ministry and that's what the apostle is speaking concerning now does that mean that we don't fail you know there are a lot of people who have eyes to see you fail they want to see your failure no it doesn't mean that we don't fail but it does mean that we do our very best in the lord by his power love from him and love for him to be an example to others that's why the apostle paul could say imitate me as i imitate christ and that's what we're supposed to be is examples to the flock in titus chapter two verses seven and eight it says in everything set them an example by doing what is good in your teachings show integrity seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us now when the writer of hebrews was writing in chapter 13 in verse seven he wrote remember those who rule over you who have spoken the word of god to you whose faith follow considering the outcome of their conduct so he said leaders in the church are to be faithful communicators of the word of god remember those who rule over you who have spoken the word of god to you they faithfully communicate god's word so faithful teaching of god's word is worthy of respect he says whose faith follows because their way of life is to be worthy of imitation they live out the gospel message and then he said consider the outcome of their conduct in other words carefully look at their lives especially at its conclusion look at its fruit observe how they live and how they close the life that's been well spent and observe whether there are regrets and sorrows and grief and as you see them dying with victory use them as your example and that's what he's saying here that's what the apostles saying we're to be examples to the flock and then he speaks concerning the reward when he says in verse four when the chief shepherd appears you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away you look to the reward temporal crowns do rust they do fade because they can't last but the reward for faithful service is eternal it's like what he says what paul says in in in first grintians nine 24 and 25 do you not know that those who run in a race all run but one receives the prize run in such a way that you may obtain it everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things they do it to obtain a perishable crown but we an imperishable crown our reward is eternal so for me as a pastor this is one of those passages that is really directed to my heart before it's directed to anybody else's and as i have said before as i've stood in this pulpit on more than one occasion in the past i'll say it again as i close my promise to this church before the lord is i'll do the very best that i can as a pastor to follow these guidelines to learn to shepherd tenderly to serve as an overseer to do so willingly to not profit in a dishonest way from you to not lord it over you but to be an example to you and i will do that because i'm looking to the prize because i don't want to go to heaven alone i want to take with me as many people as is possible and i'd like you to come with me