Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

We come now to the Word of God and our study in 1 Peter

The culmination of our worship this morning brings us to the Word of our Creator

Let me invite you to take your Bible and turn with me to 1 Peter 5

Read 1 Peter 5:1-4

Leadership is important for a suffering church because “in time of persecution, much depends upon the prudence and fidelity of...leaders” (Hiebert)

“When churches experience persecution and suffering, it falls primarily on the church leaders to provide help, comfort, strength, and guidance” (Strauss).

So how a leader leads during this difficult time will either encourage or cause disillusion

A leader is to lead by example

He is to weep with those who weep

He is to rejoice with those who rejoice

Peter already said trials are grievous (1:6)

But it is the testing by fire that reveals the true nature of a person

Trials have a way of purging us from sin

They also have a way of revealing who and what we are trusting

Peter has already told his readers in 1 Peter 2:20, “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience?

But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

So as we look at verse 1 this morning, we need to understand “There is a deep sense of personal concern and urgency in Peter’s exhortation” (Strauch).

Peter begins verse one with “Therefore” as we hear him write...

LESSON

I. From Elder to Elders (v.1)

Notice...

The Exhortation

“Therefore, I exhort the elders among you”

“The fact that Peter can address in one letter the elders of churches in five Roman provinces (Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 1:1) demonstrates that the elder system of government was standard practice” (Strauch).

“Therefore” (oun) refers back to 4:12-19 “where Peter’s readers were suffering persecution and being attacked for righteousness sake” (MacArthur).

Peter wants his fellow elders to shepherd the flock in the midst of these attacks.

“The word, ‘therefore,’ links the exhortation to the elders (5:1-4) with the preceding instructions to the entire church (4:12-19)” (Strauch).

Next he says “I...”

“exhort” (parakaleo, pres.act.ind.) is an “appeal not command” (Hiebert).

The word literally means, “to call alongside,” or in the general sense, “to encourage or compel someone in a certain direction” (MacArthur)

This word is translated “encourage” (Acts 11:23), “implored” (Mat.8:34),

“urge” (1 Thess.5:14),

“appeal” (Mat.26:53), and “comforted” (Mat.5:4)

Peter has already used this word in 2:11 translated “urge” and 5:12 “exhorting”

Who is Peter coming along side to appeal to?

“Therefore, I exhort the...”

The Identification

as “elders” (presbyteros, adj)

What are elders?

This term is rooted in the OT and is of Jewish origin

The primary Hebrew word for elder, zaqen, was used, for example, in Numbers 11:16 and Deuteronomy 27:1, of the seventy tribal leaders who assisted Moses.

There it refers to a special category of men who were set apart for leadership—much like a senate—in Israel.

***Deuteronomy 1:9-18 indicates that these men were charged with the responsibility of judging the people.

Moses communicated through them to the people (Ex.19:7;

Deut.31:9).

They led the Passover (Ex.12:21) and perhaps other elements of worship.

Later, the elders of Israel were specifically involved in the leadership of cities (1 Sam.11:3; 16:4; 30:26).

Still, their function was decision making—applying wisdom to the lives of the people in resolving conflicts, giving direction, and generally overseeing the details of an orderly society.

The OT refers to the Greek word for elder, presbuteros, is used about seventy times in the New Testament.

Like zaqen, which means “aged” or “bearded”; sab, which means “gray-headed”; and our English word elder; presbuteros has reference to mature age.

For example, in Acts 2:17, Peter quotes Joel 2:28: “Your old men shall dream dreams.”

The Hebrew word used for “old men” in Joel is zaqen, and the Greek word used in Acts is presbuteros.

Used in that sense, elder does not constitute an official title; it simply means “an older man.”

In 1 Timothy 5:2, the feminine form of presbuteros is used to refer to older women.

There, older women are contrasted with younger ones: “[Appeal to] the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.”

In that context, the term again signifies only mature age, not an office in the church.

First Peter 5:5 contains a similar usage: “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders.”

There, as in 1 Timothy 5:2, the word is used to contrast between age and youth.

In such a context, presbuteros is generally understood to mean only “an older person,” not necessarily an officeholder of any kind.

That is the primary meaning of the term in general Greek usage.

In the time of Christ, presbuteros was a familiar term.

It is used twenty-eight times in the New Testament to refer to a group of ex officio spiritual leaders of Israel: “the chief priests and elders” (Matthew 27:3); “the scribes and elders” (27:41); “officers of the temple and elders” (Luke 22:52); and “rulers and elders of the people” (Acts 4:8).

In each of those instances and every similar usage, presbuteros refers to recognized spiritual leaders in Israel who aren’t defined as priests of any kind.

These seem to be the Sanhedrin, the highest ruling body in Judaism in Jesus’ time.

Matthew 15:2 and Mark 7:3 and 5 use the phrase “tradition of the elders.”

There presbuteros refers to an ancestry of spiritual fathers who passed down principles that governed religious practice.

These were the teachers who determined Jewish tradition.

In this sense, elder is equivalent to rabbi and may or may not signify official status.

There are twelve occurrences of presbuteros in the book of Revelation.

All of them refer to the twenty-four elders who appear to be unique representatives of the redeemed people of God from all ages.

(John MacArthur, Answering Key Questions About Elders)

Each synagogue had ruling elders who held leadership duties and were responsible for teaching (Neh.8:4-8;

Acts 15:21)

After the church was born the leadership was the apostles

Later there were added prophets and elders

Each NT church had elders that were also identified by three interchangeable terms: “elders” (presbuterion) (Acts 20:17), “overseers or bishops” (episkopos) (Acts 20:28) and “pastors” or “shepherd” (poimen) (Acts 20:28)

***According to Ephesians 4:8 these are gifted “men” who are identified in verse 11 as “pastor-teachers” (“pastors and teachers”) or “teaching Shepherds”

The term “Elder emphasizes the man’s spiritual maturity…bishop, or overseer, states the general responsibility of guardianship.

Pastor is the word shepherd and expresses the priority duty of feeding or teaching the truth of God’s Word” (MacArthur)

There were always more than one in a given church (Titus 1:5 - the churches at Crete, plural is used in Acts 14:23; 15:2, 6, 22, 23)

What do elders do?

They equip the saints for ministry - Ephesians 4:11-12, “11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;”

They preach the Word of God - 2 Timothy 4:1-2, “1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

They baptize new believers - Acts 2:41, “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”

They confront false teaching - Acts 20:28-31, “28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

29 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

31 “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”

They labor in the Word of God

1 Timothy 5:17, “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard (“labor” kopiao, “to work until one is exhausted” [Rienecker]) at preaching and teaching.”

1 Timothy 3:2, “An overseer, then, must be...able to teach”

Titus 1:9, “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

They ordain other elders to ministry

Acts 14:23, “When they (Paul and Barnabas) had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

1 Timothy 4:14, “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.”

“To lay hands upon someone to affirm their suitability for and acceptance into public ministry.

It expressed solidarity, union, and identification with them” (MacArthur).

1 Timothy 5:22, “Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.”

“Thorough investigation must precede ordination.

To fail to do so leaves the church liable to share responsibility for the sins of others” (MacArthur).