God's Description of Elders in His Church

Introduction: The Ideal Pastor and Peter's Exhortation

0:03 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, January 30, 2000, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now may I invite you to turn with me in the word of God to 1 Peter, 1 Peter and chapter 5, and I shall read in your hearing verses 1 through 4. 1 Peter, chapter 5, and the first four verses.

0:35 The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed, tend or shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God, nor yet for filthy lucre, but of adultery.

1:13 The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed, tend or shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God, and when the chief shepherd shall be manifested, you shall receive the crown of glory that fades not away.

1:34 Let us pray and ask God by his Spirit to give us understanding in this portion of his holy word. Our Father, we are again bowed in your presence. Because in some little measure you have taught us the truth of the words of our Lord Jesus, who said, Without me, severed from me, cut off from me, you can do nothing. We own that truth as preacher and listener, and together we pray, Lord Jesus, by the present ministry of the Spirit, give utterance to the one who says,

2:19 Give understanding and illumination and discernment to those who hear, that when this hour is concluded, we may together lift up our hearts in praise that you have come near in the ministry of your word. Amen. I begin this morning by asking a question of each one of you, young and old alike, and it's a relatively simple question. The question is,

2:54 is this what is your idea of an ideal pastor what is your idea of an ideal pastor or perhaps I could state the question in a different way if you had the power to make an ideal pastor what would he look like if you had the power to construct an ideal pastor what would he look like from his physical demeanor

3:31 to his voice to his spirit to his attitude to his actions in functioning as a pastor if you had the power to create an ideal pastor what would he look like well the famous dreamer in a Bedford jail by the name of John Bunyan he gives us an insight to how he would answer that question you'll remember that early in pilgrims progress when Christian is brought into the house of interpreter that the interpreter takes him into a private room and bid his man open the

4:10 door the witch he had done Christians saw the picture of a very serious person hang up against the wall and this was the fashion of it it had eyes lifted up to heaven the , books in his hand the law of truth was written upon his lips the world was behind his back it stood as if it pleaded with men and a crown of gold did hang over its head then said Christian to interpreter what means this an interpreter answers the man whose picture this is is one of a thousand he can beget children travel in birth with children and

4:55 then said what I'm going to do with him that he's going to have to pay for his father's and nurse them himself when they are born and where as you see him with his eyes lifted up to heaven the best of books in his hand and the law of truth was written on its lips it is to show you that his work is to know and unfold dark things to sinners even as you see him stand as if he pleaded with men and whereas you see the world as cast behind him and then a crown hangs over his head then you see the one which was expressed in the text and that one that was not understood by head that is to show you that slighting and despising the things that are present for love that he has to his master's service he is sure in the world that comes next to have glory for his

5:40 reward now said the interpreter i've showed you this picture first because the man whose picture this is is the only man whom the lord of the place where you are going has authorized to be your guide in all difficult places you may meet with in the way wherefore take good heed to what i have showed you lest in your journey you meet with some that pretend to lead you right but their way goes down to death bunyan answers our question by giving us this portrait of this

6:20 man of god in the house of interpreter but i'm glad to say this morning that a greater than Bunyan has spoken to this question. What is the ideal pastor? What does he look like? If you were to have the power to create him, would he in any way approximate what the greater than Bunyan has done in giving us a description?

Contextual Connections of Peter's Exhortation

6:49 For it is the Lord Jesus, through his inspired Apostle Peter, that here in this very passage read in your hearing, gives us a most condensed and yet a very rich picture of what a servant of God should be who takes upon himself the responsibility of a pastor to God's flock or God's people. Now, by way of introduction, as we come to our first study in this passage, I want you to notice two things, and this is just introductory, then we shall have two major heads by which we open up verse one. First of all, note with me the connection

7:31 of these verses with the preceding and the following context. If you have the New King James Version, you don't find the word therefore. That's because the translation comes from a different Greek original text. But the overwhelming evidence of textual indications are that when Peter wrote, he did connect these words with what went before.

7:56 Therefore, with a little Greek particle, um, translated therefore. And most frequently, unless the context indicates it, it is not just a word of transition. Often I write in my notes, now and next, and they are used as words to transition without any tight logical connection with what goes before. But Peter wrote, therefore, as he is about to speak to elders.

8:26 In the company of all of the people of God, directing them to their Christ-appointed task, he begins with the word therefore. And you know the little statement that I've reminded you about many times. Whenever you find a therefore, always ask, what is it there for? When you find a therefore, what is it there for? Well, some suggest that the connection

8:54 is this. Peter has just completed this second major section of opening up a Biblical view concerning persecution and trial among the people of God. He concluded the section in verse 19 of chapter 4 with these words. Wherefore, let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator.

9:23 And when we expounded the passage, we noted that as Peter committed to the will of God, he committed to the will of God. And when we expounded the passage, we noted that as Peter committed to the will of God, when Stephen said that he committed to the one thing in the same place, which is that we should follow God will, so Peter thought that would be Paul, which is his true yes-men. It is a very important passage, indeed. As Peter calls, he calls them to this commitment of themselves to the will of God.

9:32 That is to say, that they are in a BOX to come to the work of the Lord. They are in the midst of opposition. Even when it becomes a burning, a fiery trial among them, they are to pursue the course of doing well. That is, they turn to食べ Ch客 well, that is, tenaciously holding to a path that is marked out by the revealed will of God.

9:49 By the revealed will of God. From that general statement he then says, in the universo. Dei ius Deair po. giving a specific aspect of well-doing to a specific group of people within the congregation.

10:05 And that would be a very natural, and it does indicate, a logical connection. There are many parallels in Scripture where biblical writers do the same. They state a duty generically, and then they move to a therefore, which shows the specific application of that duty to one or another segment of the congregation. Some suggest, and my judgment tends to this second conclusion, that what Peter is doing is using the therefore, looking back upon this entire section, beginning in chapter 3 and verse 13, in which he focuses in upon the subject of believers and their suffering,

10:49 for righteousness' sake. And we noted that about two-thirds of the way through that section, in verses 7 to 11 of chapter 4, he notes all these believers that in spite of the unusual pressures brought upon them by suffering and persecution, they are nonetheless to be diligent churchmen and churchwomen. He describes their responsibilities one to another within the fellowship of the church, rather than deliberately, being neutralized by the unusual pressures of persecution, those duties are heightened. If ever the people of God needed one another, they need one another when the world is most hostile to them.

11:34 And having then laid out general principles for all of the people of God, in the midst of their sufferings, Peter comes back to that theme, now focusing more particularly upon the leaders, within those various congregations. So there is this connection, and whether it is the more limited connection, primarily with verse 19, or the broader connection with that entire previous section, this much is clear. Peter envisions these elders as part and parcel of churches undergoing suffering for righteousness' sake,

12:16 knowing what it is to be opposed for Christ, and he assumes that these elders are undergoing the same pressures, and that as leaders within God's flock, rather than draw back and dissociate themselves from the people of God for fear that as leaders the persecution may be more focused upon them, Peter assumes they stand by their post, and he is going to give them instructions as to what they are to do among themselves, even in the midst of the reality of opposition and persecution for the sake of the Lord Jesus.

The Manner of Peter's Directive: Exhortation, Not Command

13:00 And then, when he moves on to more generic descriptions of the duties of the people of God in verse 5, likewise you younger be subject to the elder, all of you clothe yourself with humility, he is obviously speaking of those graces that are vital to harmonious church life. So he is, once again, tying in the life and ministry of the church against the backdrop of the reality of suffering and of persecution. Now the second introductory concern has to do with the manner in which Peter gives this directive. We've looked at the connection of this to the preceding and following context.

13:41 Second introductory concern is the manner in which Peter gives the directives. He writes, The elders, therefore, among you, I exhort, parakalo, I exhort, I appeal, I entreat. Now, as an apostle, Peter could have pulled rank and commanded, and the people would have fully understood, and I doubt anyone would have questioned his right as an apostle to charge or to command. And there are words found in the New Testament for charge, and the word would be one, and the word would be used when a military man spoke to the troops under his command,

14:25 and Paul is not at all reluctant to use it several times with Timothy and Titus. He could use the standard word for command, but he doesn't. He says, I appeal, I entreat, and in so doing, he reflects the same disposition of the man he calls his beloved brother Paul. That's how he refers to him in 2 Peter.

14:46 You remember in the book of Philemon, Paul wrote as follows to, Philemon, verse 8, Wherefore, though I have all boldness in Christ to enjoin you that which is befitting, though I have every right as an apostle to take a posture of rightful authority and express my mind in an authoritative way, yet, for love's sake, I rather beseech, and there's our word, I rather entreat, I rather plead as such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I beseech you. Now, what does the apostle Paul do in Philemon and to Philemon,

15:31 and what is Peter doing here? They both recognize this very basic principle that wherever God puts us in leadership, whether in society, in the home, in the school, and in the church, those in authority should seek to express the legitimate, dimensions of that authority as graciously and kindly as they can without eroding anything of the stuff of that God-conferred authority. When an entreaty will work, use it, even though to command would not be sin. A great lesson for parents.

16:13 A great lesson for teachers. A great lesson for governors, and rulers, and pastors, and chairmen of this board or that board, or any other where entreaty and appeal will work. Hold your commands for those situations where commands are the only proper way to express one's stewardship of authority. So it comes in the form of an entreaty.

The Recipients: Who Are These Elders?

16:42 It comes in connection with the overall thrust of the preceding context of the letter. Now then, we come to consider two things from verse one this morning. Having looked at the connections and the manner of this enjoining of duties upon the elders, note with me first the recipients of this exhortation, and then we will consider, secondly, the person giving the exhortation. First of all, then, the recipients of this exhortation.

17:16 The elders, therefore, among you, I exhort. Now, put yourself back in the situation there in Asia Minor, somewhere in the early 60s AD, somewhere around 63, 64 AD. You're sitting in the congregation. Whoever's reading the letter has brought you all the way through those glorious opening verses of our great salvation in Christ, what we are in the second chapter as living stones in a living temple, a holy priesthood, a royal nation.

17:50 We have heard those instructions given to some of our brothers. Some of our sisters sitting to the right of us who are house slaves, some of our sisters sitting to the left and in front of us who have unconverted husbands. We've heard the injunctions concerning the suffering and what we are to do and to be. And now when the reader pauses, when he has finished what in our Bibles is verse 19 of chapter four, wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well doing unto a faithful creator.

18:23 There's a pause in the congregation. The reader may have a problem with dry mouth and takes a sip of water. And then he says, the elders therefore among you I exhort. What would have happened in the chemistry of that congregation in whatever place this letter came?

18:46 When it circulated, when it was copied and went to congregations in those four distinct Roman provinces, one of them, it is split up into terms, sometimes I say five, there are five places named, but in reality it was four distinct provinces. What would have been the chemistry, the reaction when these words came forth from the reader, the elders, therefore among you I exhort? Well, immediately there would have been certain men in every congregation whose ears would have perked up with the knowledge that I am being addressed. I am an elder in this particular congregation.

19:24 I am an elder in this particular congregation. I am an elder in this particular congregation. I am an elder in this particular congregation. There would have been many others who would have immediately thought, oh, Peter's going to say something to John, and to Harry, and to Pete, and to Mike, because they knew who the elders among them were.

19:37 As we saw last week, the underlying assumption of this whole passage is, all true Christians in Asia Minor were church members. And as they gathered in churches, and the letter would be read in the churches, the recipients of this letter would have known that they were being addressed, and all around them would know the ones who would have the consciousness of being addressed. Now, the question that raises is this. Who were these elders, and how did a situation develop in which they would know who they were, and all around them

20:16 would know who they were? Well, the word here for elders in the plural, presbyteros, that means sometimes simply older ones. It's used that way in 1 Timothy 5.1. Timothy is to respect

20:32 older men, and even when he must exhort and admonish them, he's to show deference to their age. Acts 2.17, the word is used for just older men, children dreams. But in this context, and in the primary usage in the New Testament, it is clear that the word is used in a more restrictive and more restrictive way. It's used in a more restrictive and more restrictive way.

20:54 And technical sense as designating those recognized and appointed to official spiritual leadership in the congregations of God's people. The word elder is used in the more restrictive and technical sense as designating those who were recognized and appointed to official spiritual leadership in the congregations. This is why he, can say that you elders are to shepherd the flock of God which is among you. And he says

21:32 to the elders in the hearing of all the congregation, the elders among you I exhort. And each would have known precisely who was being addressed. Now the question is, how did such a situation come to pass that just some thirty, thirty-five years after our Lord Jesus died and rose from the dead, sent his spirit upon the 120, and the church has in ever-widening circles been established throughout the Roman Empire until what was, as we've said again and again, virtually

22:12 the northeast corner of the Roman Empire, there were these congregations established. How would they have known at this time that elders referred to the officially installed and recognized spiritual leaders among them? How would they have come to that conviction? Well let me give you just a brief survey of how that came to pass. Whereas with regard

The Origin and Establishment of Elders in the Early Church

22:38 to the office of deacon we can look to Acts chapter 6 as most likely being the seedbed out of which the office of deacon grew, though some would debate it, there is no indication that the office of deacon would have been the seedbed out of which the office of deacon grew. So let me give you a brief summary of how the office of deacon grew. At what point along the line of the spread of the church from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the outermost part of the earth, elders began to be recognized as the official leaders of God's people within congregations. The first mention of elders in the book of Acts is a very off-handed reference in Acts 11 and verse 30. I want you to look at it with

23:16 me. We'll see two other passages in the book of Acts. In Acts 11 and verse 30, notice this very off-handed, matter-of-fact, assuming way elders are introduced to us in the New Testament church. Verse 28 of Acts 11, Now in those days there came down prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch, and there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be a great famine over all the world which came to pass in the days of Claudius. And

23:49 the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren that dwelt in Judea, which also they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. There's our first mention of elders. And the Judean church, or churches, had elders. Now, in the beginning, the only officers we find are the apostles. The twelve

24:17 serve as the pastors of the first Passover. They serve as the pastors of the first Passover. There's a whole generation built in the city of Jerusalem, and each time that they bring Pentecostal church of Jerusalem. There is no evidence that elders were established or recognized in the opening days of the ministry of the Spirit of God in the church there in Jerusalem, but by the time this offering is taken, there are recognized spiritual leaders designated as elders to whom this offering is brought in order to see it distributed in an honorable and in an equitable manner. Now, how was it that elders just sort of appeared? Well, the best answer I know to give,

24:59 and one shared by, as far as I know, all evangelical scholars, is that the structure of the New Testament church took its basic lines from certain precepts, principles embedded in God's old covenant people, which came to expression in the life and structure of the synagogues that were scattered throughout not only Palestine, but the Roman world of the first century. And in that organization, the leaders were elders, even as back in Israel you had the 70 elders who assisted Moses in the administration of God's rule in Israel. So that when we come into the New Testament church, we are not alone. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New

25:42 Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New

25:43 Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New

25:44 Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New

25:45 Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New

25:46 Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New Testament church. We are not alone in the New

25:47 church or churches, and when we trace out the missionary endeavors of the Apostle Paul going primarily to the Gentiles, we see that this had a very high place of priority in overseeing the organization and life of the early churches. So we come to Acts 14 and verse 23, and we read this, back up to verse 21, and when they, Paul and his companions, had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

26:30 And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed. So here, in the midst of this infant church situation, the Apostle and his companions go back and visit the priesthood. They go back to the places where the church had been established, and they oversee the installation of an eldership in each of these churches, not because they did not believe Christ was the chief shepherd, Christ was the sufficient shepherd, for it says they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed. They were to look to Christ as the ultimate source of all of their life and power and

27:14 stability and direction. But they saw that it was the will of God. They saw that it was the will of God. They saw that it was the will of Christ, that in each of the churches of Christ there be these appointed leaders equipped by Christ, designated as elders.

27:28 So by the time we come to Acts 20, and Paul is passing through the area where the church at Ephesus had been established, where he had spent some three and a half years in labor, very naturally Luke can write in Acts 20 and verse 17, And from Miletus he, Paul, sent to Ephesus, called to him, the elders of the church. And when he calls them to himself, reviews his own ministry among them, and then charges them with their task, the echoes of 1 Peter 5 are heard rumbling in Acts 20, and echoes of Acts 20 are heard rumbling in 1 Peter chapter 5.

28:10 The eldership, the establishment of recognized spiritual leaders within the various churches was part and parcel of the church. The church as it is birthed and brought into its configuration under the guidance of Christ through the apostles. So that by the time we come near the end of the apostolic age, the apostle Paul, knowing that his days are numbered, he gives specific directions to Timothy about the recognition of elders, 1 Timothy 3, and he says to Titus in Titus chapter 1 and verse 5, very specifically,

28:49 for this cause I left you in Crete, for what end, that you should set in order the things that were wanting or lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I gave you charge. So that when we pick up the New Testament and we come to a passage such as the one we come to in 1 Peter, it is clear that wherever the apostles worked out their understanding of the gospel, they were able to do so. They were able to do so. They were able to do so.

29:19 They were able to do so. They were able to do so. They were able to do so. They were able to do so. They were able to do so. They were able to do so. They were able to do so.

29:20 So that was the understanding of the will of Christ in the foundation and initial formation of the structure of the church of Christ. It was the mind of Christ that in every congregation there should be elders, that is, those whom Christ equipped and the congregations recognized as those appointed to give spiritual leadership to God's people conceived of as a flock of God. Now, this is the group who are the explicit recipients of this exhortation. The elders,

Why Exhort Elders in the Hearing of All the People?

29:57 therefore, among you I exhort. Now, question. This exhortation is directed specifically and exclusively to the elders. Why didn't Paul put an asterisk, I mean Peter put an asterisk, and say, see footnote, and then you look down the footnote, special directions for elders attached, urge them to read in their next elders' meeting, and then get right on and say, I, Peter, exhort you, God's people, be subject, you younger, to the elder. Why did he articulate his exhortation

30:37 to the elders before the full display and open hearing of all of the people of God? He didn't have to do that, but he did. So that embedded in this letter that addresses all of the people of God in general, certain segments of the people of God in particular, 2.18, servants, house slaves, 3.1, wives, particularly wives with unconverted husbands,

31:07 husbands, chapter 3, verse 7, now a distinct group within the church is explicitly addressed, but addressed in the hearing of the entire assembly. Now, why? Do you ever think of that? Why?

31:25 Well, I didn't think about it seriously until sitting at my desk in preparation for this morning, and that question kept pounding away at me, and I said, well, maybe it was a pragmatic thing. Peter didn't want to take the time to write a little addendum and say, elders' manual for the next elders' meeting. But if Paul just gathered elders to speak to them on his way by Ephesus, would it not have been legitimate? Why are the directions specifically addressed to elders given in such a way that Peter knows that all of the people of God will hear them just as clearly as the elders will hear them? Yes, when the reader gives out the first line,

32:08 the elders among you I exhort, the people would immediately turn and say, oh, he's getting exhorted, he and he and he, and the he's would know I'm being exhorted specifically, explicitly by this letter. Lord, help me to hear. But it is a communal experience. The elders hear exactly the same exhortation that the people hear, and the people hear exactly the same exhortation the elders hear. Right?

Reason 1: To Recognize True Shepherds

32:35 You kids see that? Is that clear? Now then, why? Well, let me suggest there is profound and very practical wisdom in this arrangement by God. Let me give you four reasons.

32:51 Number one, so that the people of God will be able to recognize절 know those elders who are indeed a gift of the risen Christ to them.

33:05 These instructions become common property of the people of God so that the people of God will be able to recognize those elders who are indeed a gift of the risen Christ to them. One of the promises of the New Covenant, a precious word, is found in Jeremiah 3 in verse 15. God says this, I will give them shepherds, pastors, according to my heart, who shall feed them with knowledge and with understanding. God says, I will see to it that my sheep, my flock, have true shepherds who will feed them, not fleece them, but feed them.

33:49 Not be interested in them simply for the fleece on their back, but love them and care for them. I will give them shepherds, according to my heart, who shall feed them with knowledge and understanding. Ephesians 4 is the New Testament counterpart of that. When he ascended on high, he gave gifts unto men, and he gave some pastors, shepherds, and teachers for the perfecting of the saints unto work of service.

34:17 But you see, the people of God need to recognize who true shepherds are because all the way through the Old Testament and into the New, there is a doctrine of the ever-present wicked, wicked influence of false shepherds. True in ancient Israel, you had false prophets, you had leaders who are called false shepherds, and one of the greatest indictments upon God's people in the Old and in the New Covenant is the kind of leaders they produce, receive, and tolerate.

34:50 Now you think about that. Do you know Israel was as apostate as God says they were in the days of the prophets? Well, just read about it. Read about the kind of prophets they received as mouthpieces from God.

35:07 Jeremiah said the prophets prophesied falsely, and my people loved to have it so. Anyone who would put on a hairy mantle, they were ready to welcome as a prophet, especially if he stroked them, made them feel good. If he had gone out to the Crystal Cathedral and learned how to have a purely positive gospel and learned how to smile and make the whole world smile regardless of their state before God, in the days of our Lord, what's the greatest indictment upon Israel at the time of our Lord? It's the kind of leaders she produced, received, and tolerated.

35:44 Read Matthew 23. Read Matthew 23. Jesus' indictment upon the scribes and the Pharisees is an indictment upon the whole nation. The nation produced, received, and tolerated such leaders.

36:01 You know what Jesus says to the Apostle Paul? It'll be the same under the New Covenant. Remember what he says? In 2 Timothy 4, Timothy, Timothy, preach the word.

36:09 The time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine, but will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and will turn away their ears from the truth and turn unto fables. God's professing people will both produce, receive, and tolerate such leaders.

36:34 That's why the Holy Ghost is deposited in passages such as these. An unmistakably clear, open job description and character description of true shepherds that you, God's people, might know how to recognize a true shepherd and how to reject a false one.

36:58 One of the most telling things about this church, if the Lord Jesus tarries in the next 25 years, is the kind of leaders it produces, receives, and tolerates. That's why I want to preach through this thing in detail and do all I can with whatever power and ability God has given me to communicate His word in utter dependence on the Spirit to have etched in your mind God's description of a true shepherd.

37:34 You take the picture of 1 Peter and you scrutinize anyone who under any circumstances is ever put before you as a potential elder. And say, does he fit the picture delineated by Christ, not by the stuff of my own desires, or the stuff of the common consensus of the Christian community, or the stuff of my heritage and my background? But is it the picture etched in Holy Scripture by the finger of the Son of God who loved His church and gave Himself for it, and who in that ongoing love and mercy,

Reason 2: To Align Mutual Expectations

38:18 and who in that ongoing love and mercy, continues to give her true shepherds after His own heart? That's reason number one. Reason number two. So that the elders and those who may lead have the identical, divinely imparted job description determining their mutual expectations.

38:42 Now that's a mouthful, I'll run it by again. Why does Peter say, the elders among you I exhort, and then exhort the elders, and the elders in the company of all the people? I say the second reason is this. So that the elders and those whom they lead have the identical, divinely imparted job description determining their mutual expectations.

39:09 You see, if the people have an expectation of what an elder ought to be, that is different from what the elder expects he ought to be, is that a problem? A real problem. Either the people assume he's not doing what he ought to do, or they assume he's doing what he ought not to do, or he may be assuming he ought to do something that in reality he ought not to do, and the only way to resolve it is that both are reading the same job description coming from the same source. King Jesus, speaking through His inspired apostle, said, here's the job description of an elder.

39:53 You elders get your job description not from your past tradition, not from current consensus, and not from the people. Get the message, not from the people. You elders get your job description from the one who places you in that office. Congregation, you get your job description from the same source.

40:24 I asked you in the introduction, if you had the power to create what you think is the ideal pastor, what would you make? I followed up with another question. From what stuff would you get the impulse to make him what you'd like to make him? Would the stuff of your expectations come from the Bible, or from your temperament, or from your background, or from your associations, or from the way grandpa did it, and grandma spoke of their dear old pastor and their elders, whatever.

41:03 You see, there is blessed harmony in a church where the elders come and go. They constantly have their nose in God's job description of what they are to be and to do, and the people of God have their nose in the same job description. And together, under the Lordship of Christ, their mutual expectations and relationships are framed by the Bible. Something's bigger than the elder's temperament and his inclinations and his personal desires and the things for which he has a native affinity.

41:38 There's something bigger. His God-given job description into something more important than what you think you would like or someone else would like an elder to be or do. Hence, Peter's careful to make it plain that though he's addressing the elders, he's addressing them in the company of all of God's people. Reason number one, so the people of God will be able to recognize those whom Christ gives as true shepherds.

Reason 3: To Frame Aspirations Biblically

42:06 Number two, so that the elders and those whom they lead, have the identical divinely imparted job description determining their mutual expectations. And thirdly, so that those who aspire to the office have a biblically framed understanding of the task. So that those who aspire to the office have a biblically framed understanding of the task. Now, Peter does not here say what Paul does in 1 Timothy 3.1.

42:37 If a man desires, and then it's a noun, it's hard to render it. Overseership would probably be the best way to render it. If any man desires overseership, he desires a good work. But Paul does not say much about that work in the 1 Timothy 3 passage.

42:54 Peter focuses upon the work. The elders among you I exhort, shepherd the flock of God. Fulfill all of the functions of a shepherd to his flock of guiding, leading, protecting, providing, healing, all that is shepherd. What a shepherd does to his literal earthly flock of sheep, you do to God's flock of sheep.

43:18 Understanding they are not dumb animals. They are image bearers of God. They are fellow heirs of the grace of God in union with Christ. But with all of those qualifications notwithstanding, they are still to be regarded as a flock of sheep in all their vulnerability and dependantness.

43:39 And he says, shepherd them, exercising oversight, not this way but that, not this but that, not this but that, and do it ever with an eye to the reward that will come not from the sheep, but from the archipoimen, the chief, shepherd. You see, it's one thing for people to aspire to an office with a romantic notion of the task, but he who aspires to overseership desires a good work. And what is that work? It's the work that Peter defines and describes in this passage.

44:14 Is it right for a man to have sanctified, purified ambitions to serve as an elder? Yes. If it were not, Paul would not say, as he does in 1 Timothy 3, 1, if a man desires overseership, he's full of carnal ambition and needs to repent. Now for some men who desire overseership, that's what they need to do.

44:35 Because they do not desire a good work. They like a good title. In some cases, a good stipend, as my English friends would say, a good salary. They like a good something, but not a good work.

Reason 4: To Enable Prayer and Support

44:47 And for you men who have the beginnings of some holy, purified desire to serve God's people in that office, you need to hear this. Though you're not an elder, you need to know what the work is and count the cost, whether you're ready to aspire to this work as defined by the apostle. And then there's a fourth reason. So that the people of God will know how to pray for and support and cooperate with their elders, as they seek to fulfill their duty.

45:17 That's why Peter doesn't give an asterisk and a footnote and give an appendage to his letter for a private elder's reading. He wants the people of God to know what are the duties of these elders, that they might support them and pray for them in the fulfillment of those duties. And that's taught everywhere in the New Testament. 1 Thessalonians 5, 12, Know them that are over you in the Lord and esteem them very highly in love.

45:43 1 Thessalonians 5, 12, Know them that are over you in the Lord and esteem them very highly in love. For their work's sake. And at the end of that chapter, Paul says in verse 25, Brethren, pray for us, we who bear the burden of spiritual responsibility and leadership. 1 Timothy 5, 17, The elders are worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the Word and in doctrine.

46:02 If there's to be that mutual support and cooperation in the fulfillment of their duty, it's vital that both elders and the people of God have their minds, disciplined by a biblical understanding of what that task is. Well, then I move on in the second place. We've looked at the recipients of the exhortation, elders. The fact that the people would know who they were, they would know who they were, and why it is that Peter lays out these directives to the entire congregation.

The Exhorter: Peter's Threefold Self-Identification

46:35 Now then, the person giving the exhortation, look again at the text. The elders therefore among you I exhort, and notice, we could drop right down to verse two and not miss a stitch. The elders therefore among you I exhort, shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly nor yet for filthy hooker of a ready mind. We'd miss nothing.

47:01 But Peter does something utterly unique in this letter. He doesn't do it in the second letter. It is the most thorough expression of Peter's consciousness of his own identity. And he communicates it, particularly for the sake of these elders.

47:18 Notice what he says. The elders therefore among you I exhort. And they wouldn't say, well, who's exhorting? He already told them.

47:25 Verse one of chapter one. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Why doesn't he just carry on with his apostolic authority? Why does he pause to give this threefold self-designation before he actually exhorts them?

47:42 You see it? The elders among you I exhort, shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, and they're all ready to be exhorted. And he says, but pause for a minute and look at me. Look at the one who's exhorting you.

47:51 Then you'll be ready to receive my exhortation. This is who I am in my own consciousness of my own identity. The elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed, shepherd the flock. Three things in his own self-identity.

Peter as a Fellow Elder (Sun Presbyteros)

48:14 You see what they are? First of all, he addresses these elders with the consciousness that he is a sun presbyteros. Only time the word is found in the New Testament. He takes the word for elder and he puts the little preposition sun on front of it and he makes up a word under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and he says, the one who exhorts you is a with you, together with elder.

48:45 He is a fellow elder. Fellow elder. Now, why does he identify himself that way? I thought he was an apostle.

48:55 Why doesn't he say, I exhort, who am an apostle? That would have been true. But he says, fellow elder. Fellow elder.

49:02 Well, he does this, first of all, because that's what apostles were. As each elder has unique, God-given responsibilities for the flock in which the Holy Spirit is placed in. And as we further expound the passage, apostles were elders, pastors, of all the churches by the appointment of the Lord Jesus. They had a pastoral task and stewardship for the church universals.

49:33 Whereas elders have a responsibility for the church specific and local. And because Peter was an elder, he had been one of the twelve elders in the church. In Jerusalem, before, other elders were brought into the leadership and shared that leadership with the apostles. Not with apostolic gift or position, but in the place of leadership, as we see in Acts 15, when Paul and Barnabas go up to Jerusalem in order to discuss a problem, they meet with the apostles and elders and the church.

50:09 So Peter is rightfully identifying himself as an elder. John does it. Back in John 1 and in 3 John 1, he identifies himself as elder. Well, why does Peter do this?

50:22 When he was more than an elder, why does he say, I, who am a fellow elder, am exhorting you? Well, I trust by now you begin to see the answer to that question. He wants these elders to know, in those various churches in Asia Minor, that he is no heretician, no abstract theologian. That he is a practitioner of the trade concerning which he is going to speak.

50:54 Peter wants them to remember that he with them feels the haunting burden of Hebrews 13.70. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them, for they watch for your souls as they that shall give an account. I don't know what else to call that but one of the haunting, at times, all-encompassing.

51:17 I don't know what else to call that but one of the haunting, at times, all-encompassing. I don't know what else to call that but one of the haunting, at times, all-encompassing. If I go on march to certain places with you, if I do the fight of the people when you are not with me, let me know what it is I can do. Let me know the help and the savings you could give.

51:25 Let me know what il bugs you could give. You command me to do what I can do. You command me to do what I can do. You sock on let somebody who can help me.

51:29 You know the substance of what you do. How dare you mock me. How dare you mock me. Know that I am not ashamed to say that to the folks of vous who singing that I am your Savior and Advocate in glory andandez.

51:35 Oh, 근igter, rather that there be no wickedness. Know that I am God's servant. To Christ I have seen for one hand the isles of my heart. I exhort you as a fellow elder.

51:45 I'm no stranger to that haunting burden. I'm no stranger to the sobering prospect of James 3.1. Be not many of you teachers knowing that we should receive the heavier judgment.

51:58 It's a frightening thing to be pouring out a cataract of words week after week, decade after decade, and know that they'll all meet me in the day of judgment.

52:10 That's a sobering thing. Some of you wonder why I don't tell more jokes when you know I have a sense of humor. That's one of the reasons why.

52:18 Jokes may have their place in the living room in relaxed fellowship, but not in the place where one is seeking to bear down upon the consciences of people the great issues of heaven and hell and eternity.

52:33 Peter wants them to know I'm not a stranger to that haunting burden of accountability, the sobering prospect of a heavier judgment. He wants them to know he's not a stranger to the exhilarating joy that John says, and John describes in 3 John 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth. He wants them to know he knows that joy. He knows the crushing disappointment of 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 5, where Paul speaks of his concern, lest his labor be in vain.

53:08 Peter wants them to know this. Peter wants them to know that though he's an apostle, he is a sum presbyteron. He is a fellow. He is a fellow elder with them.

53:20 And let me say by way of application, have some of you wondered, maybe you've wondered, and I don't think it's sinful to wonder, why it is that we don't invite some very well-known evangelical and reformed leaders to preach in our pastor's conference? Have you ever wondered that?

53:39 Now, some reasons are, some of them wouldn't come to our little rinky-dink conference.

53:46 But one of the major reasons, and it's been difficult, men that I personally know and love, who are greatly gifted, men with keen minds and warm hearts and godly lives, but unless they are in the trenches as pastors, we don't want them here to address men who are in the trenches as pastors. We want anyone who addresses men in our pastor's conference to say, I, so-and-so, fellow elder, I'm no stranger to that haunting burden, no stranger to that sobering prospect, the exhilarating joy, the crushing, the crushing disappointment. We want men who can draw alongside,

54:29 who didn't come smack out of Annapolis or West Point with bars on their shoulders, but as enlisted men paid their dues in the trenches.

54:39 And when the bullets are whizzing, and the shells are blowing, and the shrapnel's flying, to be able to say, here, my brother, here are my scars. I've been in the trenches with you. That's what Peter's doing, fellow elder. It's a beautiful touch, by which to reach out, and snare the affections and the expectation of these elders.

Peter as a Witness of the Sufferings of Christ

55:03 Secondly, he says in identifying himself, he said, I am a witness of the sufferings of Christ. You see it in the text? The elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. What's he talking about?

55:20 Well, the word witness in the New Testament, martyr, it can mean one who testifies to something he's seen or heard. It's used that way in Acts 1.22, Matthew 18.16.

55:33 It can mean testimony to something one has experienced, Acts 26.16, or several times it's used of a martyr, one whose testimony of attachment to Christ causes him to shed his own blood. It's used that way in Acts 22.20 and Revelation 17.6,

55:52 which speaks of the blood of martyrs. But in this passage, Peter is asserting that he writes, these directives as one who actually saw the sufferings of Messiah. Look at the language. He doesn't say a witness of the sufferings of Jesus, but the sufferings of Messiah, the sufferings of Christ.

56:18 Now think for a minute what that meant for Peter to pin that on himself as a badge of unashamed self-identity. I am a witness of a suffering, a Messiah. Do you remember what this Peter did the first time it became very clear to him that Messiah would suffer? Remember it?

56:38 Acts 16. Lord, this will never be to you. No suffering, no rejection, no cross. The Lord has to say, get behind me, Satan.

56:48 You think not the thoughts of God, but the thoughts of men. God is so transformed in that this very Peter, who in this letter is constantly using a suffering Messiah as the, touchstone of how every believer is to view his own sufferings. He's referred to the sufferings of Christ no fewer than four or five times in this letter. And now as he speaks to pastors, to elders, to shepherds, with flocks that are suffering, he takes them back to this whole element of the believer's suffering, being a fellowship in the sufferings of Christ and says, I am an eyewitness.

57:30 I who write to you, witness suffering of Messiah. And what he once thought abhorrent is now precious to Peter's heart.

57:42 For he has come to see in his suffering Messiah the only hope of his own salvation. And one commentator suggests, and I believe it has merit, could it be that Peter knew when he wrote to these people and said, I who exhort you, and not only fellow elder, but witness of the sufferings of Christ, their minds would go back to what they knew about Peter when he was there when Jesus began to suffer. He was there in Gethsemane. He was there in the court of the high priest warming himself by the fire.

58:21 He could not say witness of the sufferings without thinking of his wretched denial, his frightening denial, taking oaths and maledictions that he had to bear. He had no relationship to this Jesus of Nazareth. And yet it was that Jesus who wonderfully restored him by the shore of Galilee. And you will find the echoes of John 21 in this passage.

58:46 Jesus said, Do you love me? Feed, shepherd my sheep. Give food to my lambs. Shepherd my lambs.

58:55 Shepherd my sheep. The exact same terminology. I wonder when Peter wrote this if he didn't pause. And maybe drop a tear or two on the parchment.

59:06 Oh, witness the sufferings of Christ. And while I was witnessing them, I committed my greatest sin. But that very Christ restored me by his grace. And I've been cleansed in the virtue of his sufferings.

59:23 You elders, you too may have tender, scarred spots in your soul where you think of your failures and your past sins. But remember the one who writes to you is a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Not a detached eyewitness, but a believing participant in the virtue of the sufferings of Messiah.

59:48 What would that do to your heart if you're sitting there as an elder and you say, But, oh, I've failed. I've wretchedly failed my Lord and his people. The one who writes me is an apostle recognized throughout the whole Christian world. Ah, yes, but he is witness of the sufferings of Christ.

60:05 And scripture records and no doubt Peter himself in the oral tradition was careful to include his own denial. Look at the details in the gospel of Mark and understand that Mark wrote his gospel under the tutelage of Peter. And Peter was unashamed to speak of those failures which magnified the grace of God as God restored him. He writes as witness of the sufferings of Christ.

Peter as a Partaker of the Glory to be Revealed

60:34 And then, thirdly, he says, I identify myself, strange language, notice now, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.

60:48 Literally, who am also of the about-to-be-revealed glory a partaker. Think of it as one long hyphenated word. Who am also of the about-to-be-revealed glory a partaker. Now, that's the rough way the Greek is used.

61:06 It's structured. But it's done so for emphasis. He said, I'm a partaker. I have fellowship.

61:13 I have koinonia in the glory that is about to be revealed. He didn't say in the glory that was revealed. That would be a reference to the Mount of Transfiguration. He refers to that in his second letter.

61:26 But he says, I am a partaker right now of the about-to-be-revealed glory. That refers to the glory that will be his at the second coming. But he says, I'm already a partaker. I'm a partaker of it.

61:38 It's about to be revealed, but I'm a partaker of it. In what sense was he a partaker of it? I believe he's just saying I experience what I've already described to a few believers. In chapter 1, he says, right now, you're in heaviness.

61:52 Trials have come upon you. But, verse 8, whom having not seen you loved, in whom though you see him not yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Same family of words. It is a joy, a joy that brings the very wonder and glory of the age to come into the present.

62:15 And Peter says, I'm a partaker of the glory to be revealed. He had said in chapter 4 in verse 14, if you are reproached because, if you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you because the spirit of glory and the spirit of God rest upon you. The spirit who comes from glory gives a foretaste of glory who will effect your glorification that spirit is resting upon you. Now Peter is saying, it rests upon me as well.

62:44 And in the midst of my suffering, remember he's writing from Rome. In a short time he's going to be martyred. Jesus had told him that in John 21. He said, when you were a kid you went wherever you wanted, played games, went out, came in.

62:59 When you're old you'll be carried where you don't want to go. This spake he signifying by what death he should glorify God. He knows he's going to be martyred. But he says, with all the dark clouds of martyrdom hanging over me, I'm partaking of the glory to come.

63:15 The Holy Spirit is earnest, gives him a taste of that glory. And as he writes these elders, he's going to fasten his exhortation to the coming glory. And it's as though he says, look, when I tell you about the coming of the chief shepherd and the crown that you will receive that fades not away, I'm not talking about something detached from me. The glory of the age to come has broken in upon my own soul.

Conclusion: Peter's Humility and Christ's Centrality

63:43 And I write to you as one who is a partaker of the glory. Hebert writes, that inner sense of glory he shared with his readers, that transforming power, that new life connected with this glory has already begun in Peter's own soul. But its open manifestation awaits the time of Christ's return. Well, in summary, in final application, I trust you have followed the track as I've sought to lay before you by way of introduction the connection of this to what precedes and follows the nature of this section.

64:25 It is entreaty. It is gracious exhortation. We've looked at the recipients of the exhortation, the elders, why he addressed them in the company of the whole congregation. And then the person giving the exhortation, Peter, in this self-conscious identification as fellow elder, as witness of the sufferings of Christ, partaker of the glory to come.

64:52 Have you noted the total absence of anything to suggest that Peter thought of himself in any role or office even remotely resembling the place which the Roman Catholic Church gives to him? Do you see anything in this language that even remotely suggested to you Christ's unique physical representative on earth, the thicker of Christ?

65:24 The man who, when a man that he was going to preach to bowed down to give homage to him, he says, get up off your knees and stand on your feet. Let's look eyeball to eyeball. I'm only a man. Who is this one who allows people to bow and kiss his foot and kiss his face?

65:41 And in all the semblance of being a humble man dares to arrogate to himself a position of infallibility?

65:57 If Peter's the first, he sure didn't have a clue that that's what he was when he tells these elders, listen to me because. He doesn't say because I'm an apostle, let alone say chief of the apostles. He says, fellow elder, I bear witness to the sufferings of another. In which all my hope is to be found.

66:20 And I am a partaker of glory that I shall know in the age to come because of the grace of God. Note that Peter exemplifies in this beginning verse the very graces he's about to enjoin upon others. He's going to tell these elders, don't lord it over God's people. He's going to tell God's people, be clothed with humility and serve one another.

66:43 Humble yourself. Peter is exemplifying the very grace of God. He's going to enjoin upon elders and upon the rank and file of God's people. And note finally that Peter, like all the apostles, cannot take up any facet of Christian duty and not plant the Lord Jesus right smack in the midst of that duty.

67:07 As I read my Bible, try to preach it, I'm impressed more and more with this great truth that Christ is the life and the soul of all that pertains to him. To the Christian faith, whether we think of its objective doctrine or its subjective experience, whether we think of its duties or its privileges, here he's about to give a job description to spiritual leaders and he plants Christ in the very center. Elders among you, I exhort, fellow elder, witness of the sufferings of Christ, partaker of the glory that shall be revealed when at the coming of Christ, tend the flock of God which is among us, among you the flock purchased by the blood of Christ.

67:52 Show forth the very demeanor of your Lord who said, I came not to be served but to serve and to give my life. Speaks of Christ as the chief shepherd. Christ breathes through the most practical exhortation. And dear people of God, if we are to know something of the life that manifested itself in those early assemblies, then Christ must continue and increase you to be to us the life and substance of all of our experience.

68:26 May God help us as we continue in our study of this passage that together we will sit before Christ speaking in his word and have etched upon our hearts his job description for those who are elders in his church. Let's pray.

68:48 Our Father, we are so thankful that you have given us your word. We sang before the ministry of the word this morning that your word abides, that it is a lamp, that it guides us, that it is given that we might know not only our way to heaven but how to walk while we are in that way. And we pray that you would write your word upon all of our hearts and bring forth that fruit which will glorify you in our lives in this assembly that in everything we may all be submissive to the common good and the standard of your truth that we will be ruthless in our rejection of anything in our own hearts

69:32 that would be contrary to scripture and that as a congregation you will make your people ruthless in their rejection of anything in the way of so-called leadership that does not square with your holy word. Seal then your word to our hearts. We plead in Jesus' name. Amen.