Let's look at the first verse.
1 Peter 5, verse 1.
The elders which are among you I exert,
who am also an elder, and a witness
of the sufferings of Christ, and also a
partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
Feed the flock of God which is among
you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint,
but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of
a ready mind, neither as being lords over
God's heritage, but being in samples to the
flock.
And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye
shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth
not away.
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to
another, and be clothed with humility.
For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace
to the humble.
And may God add his blessings to this
portion of his scripture.
We frequently see ourselves in animals.
And when we want to draw attention to
some particular characteristic of an individual, we usually
compare him to some member of the animal
kingdom.
He may be as strong as an ox,
or she is as stubborn as a mule,
or as wily as a serpent, or as
harmless as a dove, or as commanding as
a lion, or as crafty as a fox.
But when the word of God compares God's
children to the animal kingdom, the word of
God always likens us to sheep.
Back in the Old Testament, the psalmist saw
himself as a sheep in God's flock when
he said, The Lord is my shepherd, I
shall not want.
Our Lord looked at those who had trusted
him as sheep.
When in the tenth chapter of John's Gospel
he said, I am the good shepherd, I've
come to give my life for the sheep.
When the apostle Peter looks at that suffering,
persecuted group of believers to whom he is
writing this epistle to sustain them in their
sufferings, Peter views them as sheep.
Sheep who are in need of a shepherd.
Sheep are among the most helpless and defenseless
of all of the creatures that God has
created.
They do not have the tough hide of
a pig to protect them.
They do not have the strong horns for
defense.
They are not fleet of foot to outrun
a pursuer.
They have no camouflage in their coloring so
they can hide.
They are utterly helpless and defenseless.
While most animals, members of the animal kingdom,
can fend for themselves, if left to itself,
a sheep will probably die of hunger or
thirst before it would find its way to
a stream of water or find green pasture
after it has denuded the area in which
it was feeding.
The sheep of all animals are dependent on
the watch care of a shepherd.
And as Peter looks upon those of his
day for whom he feels a spiritual responsibility
who are being persecuted and scattered, he sees
them as a flock of God's sheep who
are without a shepherd.
And yet he realizes that God has made
a provision in his wisdom for the supervision,
for the care, for the protection of the
sheep.
God has given his sheep shepherds.
And those shepherds and the relationship of the
sheep to the shepherd constitute Peter's message to
scattered believers in 1 Peter 5 as he
gives instructions concerning the work of the elder.
There are two words in the New Testament
that seem to be used interchangeably.
The word elder and the word bishop.
The word elder comes from the Greek word
presbyteros, from which we get presbyter, that speaks
of the dignity that associates itself with the
office of the elder.
In their day, old age or maturity spoke
of wisdom.
For as a man lived, he learned.
And the man who had lived long learned
much.
Therefore honor was given to the elder in
the home.
And when in ordering the flock of God,
God calls the under-shepherd elder, he is
emphasizing the dignity, the respect that attaches itself
to the office and to the man whom
God puts in the office of elder.
On the other hand, the word bishop comes
from the Greek word episkopos, from which we
get our English word episcopal or episcopacy.
And that word means to watch over or
to oversee.
And while the word elder refers to the
dignity and the honor and the authority of
the office, the word bishop refers to the
responsibility resting upon those whom God sets apart
as elders.
Now Peter was set apart to be a
shepherd with Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ was
here on this earth.
Peter was called of God.
Peter was separated by Jesus Christ to be
taught by the Lord Jesus and then to
serve as a shepherd under the Lord Jesus.
Those men who associated with Christ during his
earthly ministry and then were sent out by
Christ after his ascension were called apostles.
But Peter in chapter 5 does not refer
to himself as an apostle.
I believe he does not call himself an
apostle because the office of apostle was non
-hereditary.
It could not be passed on to another
from one who was an apostle.
And so if Peter were to write as
an apostle, those to whom he was writing
who were appointed as shepherds would feel no
response because they had not fellowshiped with Christ
and had been taught by him and sent
out by him.
But Peter introduces himself as an elder, one
who has the youth demand down through the
church age in order that the flock that
is in danger of being scattered might be
preserved.
So Peter introduces himself in 1 Peter 5
verse 1 as an elder and he is
writing to the elders whom God has raised
up in the midst of that scattered flock.
Peter introduces himself not only as an elder
but also as a witness.
Peter could speak concerning suffering because he had
witnessed the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
Peter could minister to those who were suffering
because he had been ministered to by Jesus
Christ when Jesus Christ was ridiculed, when he
was rejected, when he was persecuted, when he
was taken to the cross.
And Peter had witnessed not only the sufferings
of Christ but also of the glory that
followed.
Peter was one who stood on the mount
of transfiguration and was given a vision of
the glory that belonged to Jesus Christ which
glory was veiled when Christ came down from
the mount.
Peter did not see that glory again until
he came to the mount of ascension in
the first chapter of the book of Acts
where Christ was received up in glory.
And there Peter witnessed the glory that came
to Christ after his suffering.
And so Peter has fastened in his mind
this concept of suffering and glory that follows.
And now because he is writing to those
who are suffering he wants to comfort them
as they wait for the glory that should
follow and to emphasize the provision that God
has made for his suffering, persecuted flock.
We have had occasion to examine our Lord's
words in John chapter 15 and 16 on
many occasions in connection with Peter's teaching on
suffering to be reminded that Christ said that
the world would hate believers as long as
believers are here in this world.
This age is characterized by its hatred of
God, by its hatred of Jesus Christ and
by its hatred of those who name the
name of Christ.
And since the world cannot pour out its
venom on Jesus Christ personally it will select
those who belong to Jesus Christ and attack
them because they name his name.
Our Lord instructed the disciples then that this
age was an age in which believers would
suffer because of their faith, that they would
be in threat for life and for their
very security.
And yet God made a provision to nurture
and sustain, to guard and protect the flock.
And it is this that Peter is emphasizing
when he says in chapter 5 and verse
2 the elders which are among you I
exhort, feed the flock of God.
The flock of God is Peter's designation for
the whole body of believers.
This body of believers in the first place
would include every living believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
There would be a flock composed of those
not only here in Grace Bible Church but
those across the city and the state and
the country and even to the ends of
the earth who have by faith received Jesus
Christ as a personal Savior.
They are members of what the Apostle Paul
calls the church which is his body, that
body of which Jesus Christ is the living
head.
They are one in Christ, they are one
with Christ and therefore believers are one in
Christ.
Yet the flock may refer not to the
total body of believers but to a local
group of believers.
And it seems as though that is the
emphasis here in 1 Peter 5, 2 where
Peter is writing to a local situation where
local believers are living, who are undergoing the
persecutions and the sufferings that that godless generation
has to heap upon them.
And Peter says that God's provision for them
is to raise up shepherds or elders who
are responsible to feed the flock of God.
Back in the prophecy of Zechariah, the prophet
anticipated the rejection of Jesus Christ and the
consequences of that rejection for those who had
trusted him.
In Zechariah 13, 7 the prophet says, Awake,
O sword, against my shepherd and against the
man that is my fellow, saith the Lord
of hosts.
And there God through the prophet is anticipating
the rejection of Jesus Christ by his own
generation and nation.
And yet the verse goes on and says,
Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be
scattered.
Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be
scattered.
In the book of Acts, in chapter 20,
the apostle is speaking to the elders in
the city of Ephesus and he is anticipating
just such a scattering of God's little flock.
I read in Acts chapter 20 beginning at
verse 27 where Paul says to the elders,
I have not shunned to declare unto you
all the counsel of God.
Take heed therefore unto yourself and to all
the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath
made you overseers, bishops, to feed the church
of God which he hath purchased with his
own blood.
Now why are the overseers or the elders
or bishops to take heed to the flock
and to feed the flock?
Verse 29, for this I know that after
my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among
you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise,
speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after
them.
Therefore watch and remember that by the space
of three years I cease not to warn
every one night and day with fear.
I think there are three things in these
verses that Paul tells the elders to do.
Verse 28, take heed.
Also verse 28, to feed.
And then in verse 31, to watch.
You see, Paul is emphasizing the same thing
that Peter is emphasizing in verse 2 of
chapter 5.
That God has graciously provided for the protection
of the helpless, defenseless sheep by providing them
shepherds.
And those shepherds are called elders.
Now when Peter says to the elders, you
are to feed the flock, it certainly includes
the spiritual food that is provided for the
sheep and for the lamb.
The sheep, according to the 23rd Psalm, must
be led to green pastures and to the
still water.
You would think that a man who has
sense enough to go to the dinner table
when he is hungry and go to the
refrigerator to get a glass of cold water
when he is thirsty would have enough sense
to see that he is fed and nourished
spiritually when he is hungry and thirsty.
But God's sheep don't seem to have that
much sense.
And therefore Peter says that God has raised
up shepherds to see that the flock is
fed.
And it rests upon the elders to see
that that which is taught is the truth
of God and to see that those who
should be taught are there to be taught
the truths of the word of God.
One of the requirements that Paul lays down
in 1 Timothy 3 for elders or bishops
is that they must be apt to teach.
Or if I could paraphrase that, skilled in
teaching.
That does not mean that every elder must
have the ability to stand in the pulpit
and preach and declare the truth of the
word of God.
But an elder must be skilled in the
teaching so that he can discern the difference
between truth and error no matter how scuffle
it may be.
And to make sure that that which is
being presented before the flock for their food
is the truth of the word of God.
This means supervision not only over what is
taught from the pulpit but what is taught
in the Sunday school class, what is taught
in young people's organizations, Pioneer Girls and Boys
Brigade, the entire church program.
It becomes a responsibility of the elders to
tend to feed the flock of God.
But this feeding the flock has to do
more than just providing the spiritual food to
see that there is a teacher or a
preacher at the right place at the right
hour if the people decide they want to
come to the feeding trough.
Feeding includes much more.
It includes total oversight for the life of
the sheep.
This has to do with an exercise, a
care and a concern for the total welfare
of the total flock over which these elders
have been placed as shepherds by God.
One thing that a flock needs is protection.
They need protection against wild animals.
They need protection against fiends in their natural
state.
And this imagery certainly applies when Peter tells
the elders to feed the flock of God
because as John tells us, who was an
elder, many false prophets are gone out into
the world.
And the elders would have a responsibility to
declare what is truth and what is error.
And if we could be very practical, if
I knew that you were spending your time
before the radio listening to a false prophet
and if I knew that it came to
my attention or the attention of elders, I
think it would be the responsibility of elders
to point out the error and the danger
of submitting to false teaching and false preaching.
A part of protection because many lambs may
not know the difference.
The sheep may be able to tell the
difference, but the lambs can't.
And that is part of the exercise of
the office of elder feeding the flock.
Often the flock needs discipline, and that is
a responsibility of the elder.
It is well put, as sometimes we sing,
if we don't skip that verse, prone to
wander, Lord, I feel it.
Prone to leave the God I love.
What did the hymn writer have in mind?
The propensity of sheep to leave the flock
and to stray away.
They need to be disciplined.
They need to be corrected.
Where there is some conduct contrary to the
word of God, it is the responsibility of
the elders to discipline according to the word
of God.
Not with a view to punishing, but with
a view of teaching and restoring the sheep
that has wandered astray.
There were two things that a shepherd took
with him, a rod and a staff, and
the psalmist makes mention of these.
The rod was a short cudgel that was
used as a measuring,
lest we also be tested.
Now when Peter gives this command and this
exhortation to the elders, concerning the total work
of overseeing the flock, he deals with the
motives that must characterize these who become shepherds
under God.
He says three things about their motives in
verse 2 and 3.
First of all, their oversight must not be
by constraint, but willingly.
The willingness comes not because one is ignorant
of the enormity of the obligation.
After all, it's one thing to carry along
some sweet little lamb.
Quite another thing to deal with some stubborn
old goat.
And Peter, writing to the elders, says that
these elders are to assume this responsibility willingly.
Not because they're ignorant of what's involved in
the discharge of their responsibilities, but because they
counted it a high and a holy privilege
to be set apart by the Spirit of
God to do what Jesus Christ would do
if he, the Good Shepherd, were here.
And if Jesus Christ were personally present as
a shepherd in Grace Bible Church, he would
feed, he would guard, he would protect, he
would discipline, he would restore, he would keep
from straying the sheep and the lambs and
even those that might be classified as goats
in the flock.
And Peter says that you have the privilege
of doing for the flock what Jesus Christ
would do.
Therefore, do not take it because it is
an obligation to be discharged, but take it
willingly.
The second attitude at the conclusion of verse
2 is that this responsibility is to be
assumed unselfishly.
They are not to take this for filthy
lucre.
That is the support that might come to
them, the material sustenance that might be given
to them to free them from other labor
so that they can give themselves faithfully to
the work of a shepherd.
But they are to do it instead of
a ready mind.
This has to do again with a willingness
to assume the burdens, the heartaches, the responsibilities
that go with shepherding sheep.
The third attitude or motive is given in
the third verse.
They are to serve as servants, not as
lords.
Not as lords over God's heritage, but being
ensamples to the flock.
We perhaps would think of the work of
a shepherd as a lordly work, but that
completely inverts that which is God's divine perspective.
For the shepherd is not the lord of
the flock, he is the servant of the
flock.
And when the little lamb bleats, the shepherd
is ordered by the bleat of that lamb.
You don't tell lambs, I, your shepherd, will
be on duty from eight to five with
time for lunch and coffee break, several weeks
vacation and sick leave.
No, lambs don't operate that way, neither do
sheep.
And so Peter's concept is that when one
is put as a shepherd over the flock,
he thus becomes the servant of the flock.
And unless one put in that position recognizes
that he is God's servant and the servant
of the flock, he will not be able
to discharge the office of shepherd or elder
in a manner that satisfies God and meets
the need of the sheep.
And then this portion concludes in the fourth
verse with the reward for the elder.
The scripture tells us that God graciously gives
each believer the privilege of serving him with
a view to obtaining a reward.
Rewards are a gracious bestowal which God makes
for those who have been faithful in the
administration and execution of God's will for them.
And this reward mentioned here in verse four
is unique.
It is special.
It's a reward that God has designed that
is reserved exclusively for those who serve faithfully
as shepherds of the flock.
This isn't a reward open to all believers,
as all other rewards are open to them.
This is a special reward.
Maybe God was conscious that one who becomes
the servant of the entire flock and serves
so many masters deserves a special reward for
faithfulness to so many.
But he does tell the elders that when
the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive
a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
This unfading, glorious crown is given to the
shepherd as a reward for faithfulness in that
which may have been a faithless ministry when
they served the flock.
You know, the first shepherd has yet to
hear the sheep come and say to him,
Thank you for your ministry.
That hasn't happened yet.
No shepherd in the natural realm has ever
had a manifestation of affection by the sheep.
The sheep are simply not affectionate beings.
The shepherd who ministers with the hope of
thanks or the hope of love or affection
is doomed to disappointment and ultimately discouragement.
But you know, if a shepherd faithfully tended
his flock, he can expect to receive thanks
from the owner of the flock.
And how prone we are to look to
the sheep for our rewards.
And we forget that in the divine economy
it is not the sheep who thanks the
shepherd, but it is the owner who rewards
the shepherd for his faithfulness to his sheep.
And our Lord has promised through Peter that
for those who are privileged to be set
apart as under-shepherds, to supervise the work
of the flock, the owner of the flock
will reward that shepherd for his faithfulness commensurate
with the responsibilities that were placed upon him.
When the scripture speaks to us of sheep,
it speaks to us in our weakness, in
our ignorance, in our immaturity.
It recognizes the dangers in doctrine, the dangers
in practice, the defections that may entice us.
It doesn't castigate us because we are sheep.
It recognizes us for what we are.
But God, knowing exactly what we were and
what we are as sheep, has in his
economy met our need by giving us shepherds
to whom we are asked to be in
subjection.
Peter will proceed, as we, Lord willing, next
week shall see, to speak of the responsibilities
resting upon the sheep and their relationship to
the shepherd.
But as he looks at us as sheep,
I'm reminded of what Horatius Bonar wrote a
number of years ago and says, I was
a wandering sheep.
I did not love the fold.
I did not love my shepherd's voice.
I would not be controlled.
I was a wayward child.
I did not love my home.
I did not love my father's voice.
I loved afar to roam.
The shepherd sought his sheep.
The father sought his child.
He followed me o'er vale and hill,
o'er deserts, waste and wild.
He found me nigh to death, famished and
faint and lone.
He bound me with the bands of love.
He saved the wandering one.
Jesus my shepherd is.
T'was he that loved my soul.
T'was he that washed me in his
blood.
T'was he that made me whole.
T'was he that sought the lost, that
found the wandering sheep.
T'was he that brought me to the
fold.
T'is he that still doth keep.
No more a wandering sheep.
I love to be controlled.
I love my tender shepherd's voice.
I love the peaceful fold.
No more a wayward child.
I seek no more to roam.
I love my heavenly father's voice.
I love, I love his home.
Is that your testimony this morning?
Lost like a sheep, but sought by THE
shepherd and found of him.
We pray our father that the spirit of
God who has revealed the plan of God
to preserve and protect and guard the flock
of God may bring these truths home to
our hearts.
That we might realize that God's gift of
elders is not simply to administer a church
but to give total oversight to the needs
of the people of God.
We pray that we who have been set
apart by the spirit of God to this
high calling may be faithful and diligent lest
some of God's sheep should not be tended.
Let the riches of thy grace and mercy
and peace rest and abide upon each one.
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.