Shepherd God's Flock
Notes
Transcript
Shepherd God’s people
Shepherd God’s people
Scripture reading & prayer
Intro- Our study of 1 Peter
Peter addresses a host of issues that this people would be facing- namely persecution
As the Lord would have it, we have been in this section of 1 Peter 2-4 that dives deeper into the subject of suffering unfairly- Suffering for righteousness sake
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
The context of this passage in Ch. 4 was still concerning the suffering of God’s people
Now, it may seem to shift gears since Paul is now speaking about pastoral leadership, but in fact- it is still in the context of a struggling church
What the struggling church needs
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: 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;
What does a struggling church need? A solid pastor
Of all the things that could be mentioned here- money, strategy, influence- the one thing that Peter jumps to is the need for biblical solid pastors
What is a pastor?
The biblical wording for leadership is found in two offices- within scripture and within this church
There is a deacon- This is one who leads by way of service- An example of a servant to the body of Christ
There is a pastor- elder- Literally an overseer
The idea is one who oversees the operation, health and well-being of the local body of Christ
This can be misconstrued to imply value- That somehow the pastor has more value or worth than other church members-
That is not the case- This does not speak of a higher status- but of the function of this office
Peter, a pastor to pastors, extends an instruction to the pastors of these churches-
The instruction for the pastor-
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;
Why would we be going over the instruction that is directed towards pastors?
Every Christian can benefit from understanding these instructions for 3 reasons
You realize that you have a pastor who is striving for these things within your church- Which will produce thankfulness
You realize that you DO NOT have a pastor who is striving for these things within your church- This will produce prayer for your pastor
You are without a pastor and searching for another- 1 Peter 5 gives guidelines that you can apply as you search for a new pastor or a new church
The instructions-
Shepherd the flock of God
The pastor is often called a shepherd- and rightfully so
John 21:17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
This would have been a familiar title to Peter as he reflected on Christ’s mandate for His life
The pastor is a shepherd of the local church
The job of the shepherd was to
Feed
Lead
Correct
Protect
The pastor feeds by preaching and teaching God’s Word- The church needs nourishment and this is only accomplished through the preaching of God’s Word
There have been and continue to be church that are starving because their undershepherd does not feed them a healthy diet of God’s Word
The church does not need a pastors opinion, strategy or vision- The church needs a healthy diet of God’s Word
The pastor leads by directing the flock in the right direction
This is often challenging for the shepherd as he deals with a vast number of sheep
It often times takes months or years to even see a damaged flock moving in the right direction
Regardless of the challenge, this is the job of shepherding the church
The pastor corrects by discipline or rebuke
As you can probably tell, this is the more unpopular job of the shepherd-
In biblical times- the shepherd would at times have to discipline the sheep to correct them
This was done in with two tools- The shepherds staff, and the shepherds rod
The staff would use the crook to reach out and draw the sheep back in
The rod was used to hit or even injure the sheep that continually wandered away
Although this is a difficult reality, it nonetheless was the best thing for the wayward sheep
This is a picture of the pastor who rebukes the sheep that are wayward- It will hurt and bring great pain to the sheep as well as the shepherd, but it is for the good of that member
The pastor protects from outside danger
1 Samuel 17:34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.”
The job of the shepherd was not an easy one- it was a dangerous job that attracted predator looking for the weak and vulnerable
False and divisive doctrine has attempted to infiltrate every church and the difference between whether or not it succeeded often times had everything to do with a pastor who was willing to protect his church
“The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.”—John Calvin.
To shepherd the flock of God means that a pastor is feeding, leading, correcting and protecting his church
How to shepherd the flock of God- The pastor should:
Exercise oversight- to be intentional in the overview of the body of Christ
Do this not out of compulsion- or not because you are forced to
But do so willingly- According to God’s Will
Not out of ill gotten gain- but still yet doing so eagerly
Not domineering or oppressive over the church- but striving to be an example to those under a pastor’s charge
The reason for all of this:
And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
The pastor strives for these things- The church looks for these things in a pastor- Because Christ is returning
The pastor submits to the difficult challenge of pastoring- shepherding because he know that Christ, our Shepherd, is returning for us
The commonality between any pastor and his church is that Christ is our chief shepherd
Peter encourages the pastor of this weighty task with the encouragement of Christ’s return and the subsequent joy to follow
The struggles, difficulty and frustration of pastoral ministry is fading
But the crown of glory is unfading as Christ appears
Christ our shepherd
feeds us with His word
Leads us with His hand
Corrects us by His Spirit
And protects us by His power and Grace
As we reflect on the instruction to pastors we find in this text, lets end with the reflection of Christ’s goodness to us as our good Shepherd