Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: 1 Peter 5:1-7

Theme: Elders are to shepherd the flock of God.

Date: 12/04/2022 File Name: 1_Peter_15 Code: NT21-05

If you’re a pastor who preaches through the various epistles of the New Testament, one of the more humbling sermons you’ll eventually have to preach is one on a text like tonight’s passage.

It’s a text that deals with pastoral ministry, and it begs the question from every pastor — “How well am I measuring up to the demands of the Scriptures in ‘shepherding the flock’ under my watchcare?”

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to council men who have asked my advise about entering pastoral ministry.

I always tell them essentially the same thing ... “Ministry is the best of callings, and the worst of professions in the world.

Nobody, nobody, nobody should seek the ministry as a profession!

Nobody, nobody, nobody should refuse the ministry as a calling!” ILLUS.

John Piper, a nationally-known Baptist Pastor in Minneapolis/St.

Paul was right when he told fellows pastors, “Brothers, We are NOT Professionals!” Ministry is a calling and not a profession.

Men who don’t understand that are doomed to a miserable career as a minister.

ILLUS.

Haddon Robinson, a professor and dean at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, had this to say about ministers: “The modern minister has a job description that sounds like Superman.

He is expected to make house calls like an old country doctor, to shake hands like a campaigning politician, prepare lessons like a professor, and see as many people as a Psychologist.

He has to be as skilled as an executive of a business, and as shrewd as a financier at a bank.

He has to be so good a diplomat that he could umpire a baseball game between the NAACP and the Ku Klux Klan.”

That said, Peter is writing to men who have felt called into pastoral ministry.

As he closes out his letter, Peter singles out the elders among you for some special admonitions.

This last chapter breaks down into two topics: 1) Rules for Shepherds (vs.

1-4), and 2) Rules for Sheep (vs.

5-7).

I. RULES FOR SHEPHERDS — THEY ARE ROLE MODELS

"To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed:“

1.

Peter speaks to the elders of these congregations as a fellow elder

a. this begs the question, “What is an elder?” who is Peter referring to when he exhorts his “fellow elders”?

2. the New Testament uses three terms interchangeably to refer to the same church leader — they are Elder, Bishop, and Pastor

a. each Greek word gives us a different description of what these church leaders are to do

b.

taken together they refer to spiritually mature men singled out by the Church to be spiritual leaders, who oversee the evangelistic, missionary, and benevolent ministries of a congregation, and some of these men are gifted to become shepherds who feed the flock of God through a preaching/teaching ministry

3. Peter appeals to these church leaders, not as an Apostle with apostolic authority, but as: 1) a fellow elder, 2) a witness of Christ's sufferings, and 3) a sharer of the glory to come

4. from vs. 1 we can glean several important attributes about an Elder's responsibility to be a role model

a. let me begin with the last of the three and work my way forward

A. AN ELDER IS A ROLE MODEL IN HIS SPIRITUAL LIFE

1.

Peter ends vs. 1 by telling his readers that he is confident that one day he will share in the glory to be revealed

a. he's talking about the Second Coming of Christ and the resurrection of believers

b. he reminds his readers that he is a follower of the Christ who has been born from above

2. every Christian pastor ought to have a conversion testimony he can relate to his congregation

a. an Elder must be a man who has a relationship with the risen Lord, Jesus Christ

b. this congregation has heard mine repeatedly over the years; some of you can probably repeat my testimony as well as I can

c.

pastor must be men who know Jesus, who love Jesus, and who worship Jesus

1) like Peter, I will share in the glory to be revealed because God mercied me and compassioned me by giving me a heart of flesh, granting me repentance and giving me the gift of faith that I might be adopted into His family by Christ

3. elders are leaders of the local congregation and as such our most important area of leadership is to exhort people to faith in Christ that we ourselves have experienced

B. AN ELDER IS A ROLE MODEL IN BEING A WITNESS

1.

Peter was a witness of Christ's sufferings

a. he alludes to Gethsemane and Golgotha where Jesus suffered and died

b.

Peter was a witness to the life of the Anointed One of God

2. throughout the New Testament the term witness has a double meaning ...

a. 1st it means to see something take place (in a literal sense), and

b. 2nd it means to proclaim the message of the occurrence (a figurative sense)

3. being a witness, first of all means that we are witnesses of the resurrection of Christ

a. you may protest, "But pastor, this is twenty-two hundred years after Calvary.

You couldn’t have been present!"

1) and I say, yes I was!

2) Christians believe in a vicarious substitutionary atonement meaning that Jesus substituted himself for you upon the cross

ILLUS.

When I was growing up there was a television show called, "You Are There".

It blended history with modern technology, taking an entire network newsroom on a figurative time warp each week reporting the great events of the past.

It ran on TV from 1953-1971.

The series featured various key events in American and world history, portrayed in dramatic recreations.

Each episode would begin with the characters setting the scene.

News anchor, Walter Cronkite would give a few words on what was about to happen.

An announcer would then give the date and the event, followed by a loud and boldly spoken "You are there!"

b. if you're a Christian You are there at Calvary with Jesus, your sins being atoned for

4. being a witness, secondly means that we are witness to the resurrection life we have experienced in Christ

a. Elders are men who, by their life and by their word, witnessed the events of Calvary

C. AN ELDER IS A ROLE MODEL IN GODLY CHARACTER

1.

Peter writes to fellow elders, men who had been gifted by God and called out by the Church to serve the needs of a local congregation

a. it is an awesome responsibility and everywhere in the New Testament Elders are held up as examples of Godly character for the people of God to follow

2. I cannot read the biblical requirements of eldership without being humbled and convicted

"Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.

5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.

7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap."

(1 Timothy 3:2-7, NIV84)

a.

I will tell you, however, that it is sometimes easier living up to God's expectations than a congregation's expectations

ILLUS.

Some years ago I cut the following article out of a Christian magazine.

It speaks to the difficulty of being a pastor in the church today.

The title of the article is, "The Characteristics of a Good Minister."

It reads: "After dozens of years, a model minister has been found to suit everyone.

It is guaranteed that this man's character will please all the people in any church."

He preaches only 20 minutes, but thoroughly expounds the Word of God.

He condemns sin, but never hurts anyone's feelings.

He works from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. doing every type of work from preaching in the pulpit to janitor work.

He makes $350 a week, wears the very best of cloths, drives a nice car, and gives half his weekly salary to the church.

He always stands ready to give to any other good cause that comes along.

His family is perfect in their behavior, dress and attitude.

His wife is beautiful and talented and his children perfectly behaved.

He is 30 years old and has been preaching for 35 years.

He is tall, but not too tall, he is thin, but a little on the heavy side, he is handsome, but rugged looking.

He has a burning desire to work with teenagers and spends all his time with the older people.

He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his work.

He makes 15 calls a day on church members, spends all his time evangelizing the unchurched, and is always in the office when you need to find him.”

3. The Elder as Role Model (but cut him a little slack if he's not perfect)

II.

RULES FOR SHEPHERDS — THEY HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES

“Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them-not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”