Untitled Sermon (19)
Notes
Transcript
Read whole passage 1 Peter 5.
v. 1-4 deal with who? The pastor or elder.
1 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:
Peter, who is an elder, is speaking to the elders of the churches that will read this letter.
Peter had the perspective of someone who had physically been with Jesus. (elaborate)
But he also is an adoptive child of God. This is what he means when he says that he is a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. This is the same phrase that he uses in verse 13. God’s glory will be revealed to everyone one day.
2 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;
Peter is speaking to the elders/pastors. He is giving them a command that was given to him. John 21:16 “16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”” When Jesus told Peter to tend his sheep, he is telling him to shepherd the flock of God. This is the call to every pastor, to shepherd the flock of God. But it is more than just that. He says to do it for the flock that is among you.
Facebook livestream and technology is a great thing. But my focus as a pastor is the people who are sitting in the pews here on a Sunday morning. I know not going to cater a sermon for people online. I am pastoring those who are here. And of course, this language points us to the Old Testament when the writers would speak of God being the shepherd to his people and that he would appoint shepherds for the people of Israel and would eventually chose a shepherd to be king in David.
But the shepherd is a loving position. The pastor is not someone who doesn’t know his sheep. I try to know our people as best I can. Do I know every little detail in everyones life? No, but who could. What I try my best though is to know the hearts of the church. I can sometimes even tell when something is wrong with someone just by the way they are acting. This is part of what oversight is. Being a counselor. Knowing what is going on in peoples lives and helping them through it.
But it also involves leadership and direction over the church. And this is not something that is popular. Many churches want pastors as employees and not as shepherds. But with the office of pastor comes a level of authority. This doesn’t mean that the pastor is God. But the pastor does have leadership. The sad part is that pastors are still sinful people who can be corruptive and abusive. Churches should be expected to remove pastors if this happens. But this doesn’t mean that they should remove the duties of the pastor.
This leadership should be done willingly. And not because the pastor will benefit from it. But eagerly doing it because it is what God has called them to do.
3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.
A pastor should be one who cares. Not a dictator. But a pastor should be an example to the congregation. This is one of the many areas that I am working on doing better. Being a Godly example for the congregation. This is what a church should have in a shepherd.
Also, I want to point out once more that every time the New Testament speaks of pastor/elder/overseer, it is always in the plural. I believe that in the New Testament, we see God’s design for church structure and it is for churches to have more than one man in the position of pastor. Even here in verse 1, he exhorts the elders. There is not an instance that you will find the NT talk about a church having only one pastor. I want to also say with that, that if a church does not have more than one man who is qualified to be pastor, then they only need one pastor. This doesn’t mean that we put unqualified men in the position. Immanuel once had multiple pastors. I don’t know the dynamic that they had and if the ones other than the lead pastor had any authority or if they were just men who were pastors who were members here. But it is my prayer that we will have men here feel a call into the ministry and be trained to do so.
4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
This is both true for pastors and believers. Faithfulness is rewarded in the kingdom of God.
5 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.”
As the church is growing up in Godliness, the people subject themselves to the elders. But the elders are not dictators but are men who are able to be followed. Quality men who have the ability to lead. To display how one should live their life. Which results in the people of God clothing themselves with humility toward each other. This is the command that Peter gives us right here. We are to be humble with one another. Not thinking that we are better than each other.
So now, he takes the focus and puts it on the entire church. Over the next several verses, Peter gets very pointed and practical. He tells us things that we must do in order to grow in our faith.
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
Continues with humility. Under God’s might hand. God has complete power and control. Nothing happens with out God knowing. There is not one rogue molecule in the universe. And if there was, God would not be sovereign. But seeing God’s might, and being humble will lead to him exalting you at the proper time.
7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Anxiety is something that I personally deal with. I am actually on medication for it now. For a while though, it was almost crippling. I would have thoughts just take over that weren’t real or that played off of events that had not even happened yet. But if I would rely only on medicine, it still would not be enough. I still have to cast my anxieties on God.
Hebrews 4:15 “15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
God understands how to help us with our anxiety. He loves us and cares for us. So we need to give it to him.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
He has given us the command to be sober-minded before, but this time he adds in to be watchful. He is saying to have a clear head and to keep a watch on yourself. Why? Because the devil is prowling around for you to devour you. Just because you are a Christian means that the devil won’t go after you. Job is a prime example. He is trying to get us off course. But being sober-minded and watchful will protect us.
9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
Resist the devil. We do this by standing firm in our faith. We are not alone in our battle. The letter is written to Christians to encourage them in the midst of being persecuted. He is reminding us that we are in this together. We are to suffer together. Because we can identify with each other because of our sufferings. Therefore, we can resist the devil
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Our suffering is only temporary. Back in the very first verse of this book, he tells us that we are elect exiles. This means that we are chosen by God and that we are only passing through. We are inhabitants in a land that we will no longer be part of. Our citizenship is in a heavenly place. And the suffering that we have here is only temporary.
And when we are glorified(in heaven), Jesus will restore us, confirm us, strengthen us, and establish us. All of this will describe what will happen in heaven.
And then we get to the end of the book here. And the hardest part of a letter in the bible to teach through is the end. He is ending the letter and names a couple of people here.
12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.
14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Stand firm - don’t give up. Keep on keeping on. Continue to grow in the knowledge and grace of God
v.13 - you are not alone. The name of Babylon represents those who are opposed to God. So she too is an elect exile.
I want to finish off this study of 1 Peter with pointing out a main theme going throughout the entire book. To stand firm.
1 Peter for You Stand Firm
We stand firm in the true grace of God as we suffer simply because we are Christians.
We stand firm knowing that while the world may take everything away from us, it cannot take our glorious identity or our imperishable future, because we are elect exiles, set apart by the Holy Spirit for the salvation accomplished by Christ, and now on our way home (1:1–2).
We stand firm knowing that even though the world may kill us, we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ to an imperishable inheritance (1:3–5).
We stand firm knowing that God does not waste our suffering; he intends for it to purify our faith in order that we may obtain our future salvation when Christ is revealed (1:6–9).
We stand firm knowing that our Lord Jesus Christ traveled the road marked with righteous suffering and blazed the path for us to follow (2:21–25).
We stand firm knowing that if we suffer for doing good we will be blessed (3:8–17) and will be exalted to glory as Christ was (3:18–22).
We stand firm knowing that as we share in Christ’s sufferings, we are proven to be Christians (4:12–19).
We stand firm by humbling ourselves under God’s mighty hand, knowing that he will exalt us (5:6–11).
We—you—can, and must, stand firm in the true grace of God until we breathe no more or Christ is revealed. May it be so.
