The Disposition of Godly Elders Described

Introduction: The Importance of Scriptural Views on Church Government

0:03 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, February 13, 2000, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us turn together to the book of 1 Peter, 1 Peter and the 5th chapter, and follow, please, as I read the first four verses in your hearing. 1 Peter, chapter 5, and verse 1. 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 or bittiness.

1:09 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. Well, once again, let us pray together and ask God that by His Holy Spirit, who gave these words, to the church, through the Apostle, would be present to give us understanding in them. Let us pray.

1:49 Our Father, we have sung very sober words of joyful consecration to You. We have owned ourselves as Your servants. We have confessed You to be our King and our Master. And we have said we would have it no other way.

2:08 We would not want You to change one of the laws of the world. We would not want You to change one of the laws of Your kingdom to accommodate our remaining sin. Come then by Your Spirit and use Your word to give us further understanding with respect to Your laws and will for us, Your people. Speak to us, we plead.

2:32 Hear us. Answer us in this hour. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

2:46 Now, as we return this morning to these verses in 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. Chapter 5 that I've read in your hearing. I ask you to listen very carefully to the words of a servant of God from a previous generation.

2:59 Commenting on this particular passage, John Brown writes, A Christian church is a very free society. That is, no one is brought into it by compulsion. At the end of a gun, or under the pressure of a club, or blows upon the head or the shoulder, a Christian church is a very free society. But they mistake the matter who view it as a democracy.

3:30 That is, a society in which one man has one vote, in which the opinion of one about the commonwealth is as important as the opinion of another. A Christian church is a very free society. But they mistake the matter who consider it as a free society. They mistake the matter who consider it as a democracy.

3:51 It is a monarchy, administered by inferior magistrates, chosen by their fellow subjects, who are to execute the king's laws, being guided solely by the king's word, and neither by their own judgment or whims, nor by the opinions and will of those whom they govern. Christ is the Lord or King, and He administers His government by officers appointed according to His ordinance and regulated by His laws. It is of great importance, both to the office-bearers and private members of a Christian church, that they have distinct and scriptural views on this subject, that the former, that is, those who are the inferior magistrates, that the former may not exact what they have no right to, and that the latter, that is, the people of God, may not refuse what, by the law of Christ, they are bound to give." As John Brown has so accurately stated the issue, it is indeed of, quote, great importance,

5:14 both to the office-bearers and the private members of a church, that they have distinct scriptural views on this subject. And John Brown went on to say, and now I give John Brown in my own language, this is crucial, namely, that both office-bearers and members have distinct scriptural views on this subject for two reasons. Number one, that the office-bearers do not exceed, or fall short, or give more, or seek to do more, than Christ has warranted them to do as they administer His rule in His church. It is crucial that office-bearers do not fall short of, nor exceed the law of Christ in their position of leadership. And secondly, John Brown says, it is important to have distinct and scriptural views, of this subject, that church members may not refuse to give, or give more, to their office-bearers, than that which Christ the Lord requires of them. Children, in answer to the question, what is sin? What does the old catechism tell us?

6:32 Sin is the want or lack of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. It is sin, for those who are appointed to be Christ's administrators of Christ's law and rule in Christ's kingdom. It is sinful if they go beyond what God warrants them to do, and it is sinful if they fall short of what Christ commands them to do. And likewise with the members.

7:08 It is sinful when people give up their judgment, and their very souls and bodies, to men like a Jim Jones, and let him rule them to a tragic death, drinking down their poisoned juice. That's wicked. If church members give more to their leaders than God requires of them, but it is sinful if they give less, than what King Jesus requires of them. So for both office-bearers, and the ordinary members of the church, in the language of John Brown, it is of great importance that both have distinct scriptural views on this subject. And all of that is simply to introduce and to explain afresh why it is that in our consecutive expositions of the book of 1 Peter, I have been nothing short of painstaking, in opening up these verses read again in your hearing this morning. We have seen that the underlying assumption of this passage is that all the true Christians of mature age in Asia Minor were members of specific local congregations. Peter could write and say,

8:34 the elders enhumene, the elders among you, the people of God, I exhort. And then he can say to the elders, shepherd the flock of God, and the flock of God enhumene, among you. There was this mutuality of recognition. The people of God knew who the elders were that God has placed among them, and the elders knew who the members were whom God had placed among them the circle of their responsibility.

Review: Duties of Godly Elders Defined

9:04 The underlying assumption of the entire passage is that all the true Christians of mature age in Asia Minor were members of specific identifiable local churches. Then we noted who is addressed. It is the elders, the presbuteroi, the pastors, and we noted that the term bishop or overseer, pastor, those who have the rule over you, those who are over you in the Lord, all of these terms are used interchangeably in the New Testament. He is addressing those who were duly recognized and set over the people of God by their own free consent, recognized as gifts of Christ to them to rule and to govern in Christ's name according to Christ's word. And who addresses them? It is the apostle Peter, but particularly he identifies himself as fellow elder, witness of the sufferings of Christ, and partaker of the glory that is to be revealed. Then last Lord's Day we focused our attention on the duties of godly elders defined.

10:20 And what are those duties? They are all bound up in the one imperative followed by the participle, shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight. The duties of elders succinctly stated in this imperative verb fulfill the manifold function of a shepherd to his sheep. And in so doing you are exercising oversight.

10:49 The exercising of the oversight is not something distinct from or in addition to shepherding. No, they shepherd as overseers and in their overseeing they function as shepherds. And we saw from the scriptures, not reading articles on what Middle Eastern shepherds do, but from the Bible, assuming the principle that the Bible is its own infallible interpreter, we saw that the shepherding concept involves at least four distinct responsibilities that God lays upon the elders. Shepherds have a duty to secure adequate nutrition for the sheep.

11:31 They have a duty to guard and to protect the sheep from anything or anyone that would harm them. They have a duty to guide, to govern, and to direct the sheep. And they have a duty to heal and to restore the sick and the straying among the sheep. And to whom are they to perform these duties?

11:51 To the flock of God which is among them, within the sphere and only the sphere of their divine appointment. They are not to be meddlers in other men's matters. They are not to extend a bishopric mentality to any and all the churches, but they are to shepherd the flock of God that is among them, exercising the oversight. Now then, so much for review.

12:22 What I hope to do today, and by today I mean this morning and again this evening, is to complete the exposition of these first four verses, considering this morning what I'm calling the disposition of godly elders described to be, in verse 3, and then the reward of godly elders declared, verse 4. So as you think back through the passage, I hope you will be able to sit down and open it up responsibly to anyone who might ask you. We have in this passage with its underlying assumption who is addressed? The elders.

13:00 Who addresses them? Peter. How does he address them? As fellow elder, witness and partaker.

13:07 Who is addressed? The elders. What are the duties of godly elders? Shepherd, exercising oversight.

13:15 What is the disposition of godly elders? Verses 2b and 3. And what is the reward that is promised to godly elders? Verse 4.

Introductory Observations on Elder Disposition

13:25 All right then, the disposition of godly elders described. Look at the text. Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, and now we will find three couplets of a negative and a positive, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God, nor yet for base gain, but of a ready mind, neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. Now what I want you to do with me is to put on your thinking cap and look at this section that addresses the disposition of godly elders, and I want us to consider, for you who take notes, three important introductory observations. Generally I would hold such observations to the end, but I feel it is critical to note them on the front end that we might come to the passage with a more accurate understanding. Some important introductory observations. The first is this.

14:36 These words, the words I have just read in your hearing that are there on your Bibles, of my words, God's words, these words are written to describe both the motives and the manner in which godly elders are to fulfill their previously defined duties of shepherding and overseeing. Now you see that in the passage. The duties are shepherd, oversee, that's the imperative and the participle. When Peter writes, not, but, not, but, not, but, he is not diluting, negating, or redefining the duty.

15:21 He's addressing the motives that ought to lead into and accompany elders as they shepherd and oversee, and the manner in which they fulfill the duties, not lording it over, but making themselves examples. Those are all issues identifying motives and manner, not duty. You say, Pastor, we're not stupid. That's obvious.

15:50 Why do you take the time to identify the obvious? Just to use up time. Now you know me better than that. I'm very conscious of the stewardship of the time of several hundreds of people every Lord's Day.

16:06 But I do this because I have heard people masking as responsible expositors of the Word say something like this. The only way elders are to govern in the New Testament is by example. You only lead by example. There's no essential authority in the office of an elder.

16:26 There is no essential authority, but the authority of the Word and all you do is lead by example. You submit yourself to the Word and you show people what to do and what to be by your example. That's it. And I've heard them use this text to prove it.

16:42 Well, my friend, this text is not in any way redefining the task. The task is to shepherd. And all of the godly, proactive, pastoral assertiveness bound up in shepherding. Shepherds are among their sheep seeking to secure for them adequate nutrition, food, and drink.

17:05 Psalm 23. They are aggressively watching and looking and when they see a predator, they don't sit back and hope the predator...

17:12 No. They go after the predator and they protect the sheep and all the other facets of that duty. So when we come to this passage, remember, there are no imperatives in this passage. There are two couplets of adverbial phrases describing how they shepherd and how they oversee.

17:34 The adverbs describe the verb. They don't cancel the verb. And then the final one is two participles that don't have any imperative force. You say, Pastor, you're really getting worked up.

17:48 Yes, I am. When I hear people butcher the Bible in the name of helping God's people, I get angry because it's Christ's precious sheep who are being misled. And the psalmist could say, I love your word. Therefore, I hate every false way.

18:10 And we need to have the capacity to become disturbed and upset when people twist the word of God to believe it of its plain sense and divine intention. So that's observation number one. When we come to look at the disposition of God the elders described, remember, these words are here to describe the motive and manner in which the task previously identified is fulfilled. Second introductory observation.

18:44 These words constitute a carefully crafted and I use the term without embarrassment, a carefully crafted combination of negative and positive descriptions of the motives and manner of godly shepherding and overseeing. These words constitute a carefully crafted combination of negative and positive descriptions. Look at it again. Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight not of constraint but willingly, according to the will of God, not yet for base gain, but of a ready mind, neither as lording it over the charge, allotted, but making yourselves examples. While Peter is guided by the Holy Spirit in the very choice of his words, that's the view of itself that the Bible presents to us. We believe in plenary verbal inspiration. Thoughts must be clothed in words.

19:55 The Spirit of God takes the thoughts of God and clothes them in the very words of God through the penmen of God. However, plenary verbal inspiration does not mean the biblical writers went into a semi-conscious state of ecstasy and things just flowed out of them and when they were done, they said, oh, what in the world did I write? No. They thought.

20:19 They pondered. They reached into the stuff of their own world of reference, their own experiences. We saw last week the strong echoes of that incident by Galilee Shore in that post-resurrection appearance of our Lord when he recommissions Peter and says, if you love me, feed my sheep, feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep. Peter has those echoes reverberating in the chambers of his mind when he writes to these under-shepherds scattered throughout Asia Minor.

20:53 And these words constitute what Peter carefully crafted as a combination of negative and positive description of the motives and manner of godly shepherding and overseeing. Well, you say again, Pastor, why are you pausing to underscore the obvious? And I answer, because sin has so twisted us that every one of us sitting here this morning has, because of the impact of sin upon our psyche, upon the circumstances in which we were reared, the associations that we have had throughout our lives, every one of us has a native predisposition to feel more at home with negative instruction or with positive instruction. Before Adam and Eve fell, no matter how God made his mind known to them, they felt equally comfortable with any disclosure of the will of God. Thou shalt not eat, subdue the earth, replenish. Adam and Eve say, Lord, make your will known anyway.

22:01 Give us a bunch of no's, give us a bunch of yes's, Lord, it's your will. And there was no indisposition to the prohibitions or to the positive injunctions. But one of the ways sin has affected you, if you've never discovered this, you need to face this issue. The way sin has affected me, sin in terms of our own indwelling, inbred sin, subdued if we are saved but not eradicated, sin as it worked in our family context, the way our fathers and mothers guided us, sin the way it operates in our molding influences, each of us has a predisposition to feel more comfortable with God's no no's or with God's yes yes's.

22:42 Have you ever faced that in yourself? Well, look what Peter does. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he gives us a perfectly balanced trilogy of couplets, equally negative and equally positive. Some love the negative.

23:01 I've had people sit in my ministry, if I didn't have a negative in the sermon, I was going soft on sin. And they'd let me know. If I went a couple of weeks and didn't have a strong negative, well, Pastor, you know, people can get very careless with it. They just like to be whacked.

23:16 They just like the negative, the thou shalt nots. And when you're articulating God's thou shalt nots, not, not, not, they're all on board, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, they feel very much at home. But you start giving the yes yes's and state it positively, and they don't feel comfortable with it. And there could be any number of reasons, but they don't.

23:38 On the other hand, there are a lot of people, maybe they had a dad, that whenever he said anything negative, he said it with curses and a frown on his face. They can't hack the negatives. They measure the integrity of ministry in terms of how many pounds of comfort it gives every time it's exercised. Oh, it was a comforting word.

23:58 Oh, it was such a consoling, it was an encouraging word. Now, do you think it was very encouraging if you had some elders who were grudgingly doing their work and they hear someone read Peter's letter, shepherd the flock, exercise in the oversight, not under compulsion. Boom, he's that. Oh, but that's negative.

24:20 I don't want that. You better want it. That's Christ speaking through his under-shepherd, Peter the apostle. And when he says not for base gain, if someone was contemplating the eldership, thinking, well, I can get a nice nest egg and I can have this, he should have been stung into an awareness of his wickedness.

24:42 If there were an elder sitting there who was using his office and name and title and influence as an elder to be a bully and to lord it down upon people and not persuade from the word of God, but intimidate by an overpowering personality, he should have been stung to the depths of his being. But then there is the positive. It's not enough that you don't do the work out of constraint or for base gain or in a manner that could be legitimately described as lording it over. Peter says the negative is not enough.

25:19 You need the positive. Not of constraint, but willingly. Not for base gain, but of a ready mind. Not lording it, but being examples.

25:29 If the negative were enough, the Holy Ghost wouldn't have given us the positive. And if the positive were enough, the Holy Ghost wouldn't give us the negative. Now, who's wiser? You or God?

25:43 Who knows better what you need and I need than God does? You see why we have to stop and pause over this? This principle will meet you wherever you read your Bible. Some of you find yourself really nibbling, chewing, spiritually regurgitating the cud and chew.

26:03 When you get in Ephesians 1 to 3, you could park there for six weeks. You get to chapters 4 to 6 and you're through them in a day. Hmm? Oh, I love the indicative.

26:15 This is what I have in Christ. Then there are imperatives denied. We don't get along so well. Strive to keep the unity of the Spirit.

26:23 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor. You skip right through Ephesians 4 to 6. Some of you, you get through chapters 1 to 3 in one day and you park for six weeks in 4 to 6. That's imbalance.

26:35 And you need to know what your predisposition is. Am I making sense or am I talking to myself? I don't know whether it's just a new thought to some of you. I can't read you this morning.

26:45 Are you awake and are you grasping what I'm saying? It's critical, dear people. And it's critical in your evaluation of any pulpit ministry. I'll never forget old Dr. Tozer saying, he said, people come to me all the time and say, now Dr. Tozer, you're too negative. He said negative with a Western Pennsylvania twang. And you got to go positive, Dr. Tozer.

27:11 And Tozer would say in his inimitable way, he said, look, if you're going to live, you got to breathe. And if you breathe, you got to inhale the oxygen and exhale the poison. You can't be all positive if you just inhale, you're dead. If you just exhale, you're dead.

27:28 Got to inhale, got to exhale. He said, if you're going to love with any meaning to the word love, you've got to have the capacity to hate. If you can't hate, you can't love. You're dead.

27:39 You're just neutered. That part of our God image bearing capacity that both loves and hates. So as we go through these, there's the couplets, negative, positive, negative, passive, and ask yourself honestly in the presence of God, whether you've got an internal defense system when we come to the negatives, or whether you've got an internal all openness when we come to the positives. Only you and God know, but God have mercy on you if you willfully kid you.

28:10 God have mercy on yourself. God have mercy on me if I willfully kid myself. But then there's a third introductory observation that's critical, and it's this. These words highlight the principle that obedience to God involves not only what we do, but why and how we do it.

28:30 Do you see that in the passage? These words in which the disposition of elders, God the elders is described, these words highlight the principle that obedience to God involves not only what we do, but how or why and how we do it. What are these elders to do? He's already told them.

28:54 Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising the oversight. Thank you, Peter. You know what we're to do now. Let's get on with it.

29:01 He said, no, no, stop. As you do what you're instructed to do, be sure you do it with the right motives and in the right manner. Not of constraint, that's motive. But willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, that's motive.

29:19 Not lording it over, that's manner, but making yourself examples to the flock. Two motives, one manner, all attached to the duty. In other words, God's saying to these elders, it's not enough that you do what I tell you to do. You've got to do it for the reasons that I tell you and in the way that I tell you.

29:38 And dear people, if we don't understand that principle, in the whole spectrum of the ethics of the Christian life, we are in principle nothing but Pharisees. As long as the Pharisee was in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing, he assumed that what he did was right when it was all wrong. I say unto you, Jesus said, don't delight those hypocrites. They fast, they give, they pray, but they do it for the wrong motives.

30:11 And therefore, their good works are nothing but dressed up grievous sin in the sight of God. You see, Peter is not importing something foreign to the biblical ethic. He's simply reflecting what is essential to the biblical ethic. For example, the very familiar words, Colossians 3.23, whatever your hand finds to do, do with all of your might, literally from the soul, as unto God and not as unto men. Whatever you do, whatever you're persuaded is the will of God in your legitimate calling. You're not only to do it, that's the action, but notice the motive and the manner. You're to do it with all of your heart, that's the manner and the motive, as unto the Lord and not as unto men.

30:59 In that simple little injunction, all three strands of the biblical ethic are brought together. What you do, why you do it, and how you do it. You see, kids, that's why if you've got discerning parents, they're never content simply to control your external behavior. I can still hear my mother saying, Dad, give him some more, he's not sweet yet.

31:22 She didn't say, give him some more, he's not subdued yet. I was subdued but not sweet. My subjugation was still reluctant. And until they sensed that the will was cheerfully compliant, the discipline had not accomplished its end.

31:41 Peter is sensitive to that whole framework of biblical ethics, that we are not only under obligation to do what God commands, avoid what He forbids, but to do it for the right motives and in the right manner. All right, with those three introductory perspectives, let's attack, albeit briefly, the disposition of godly elders described. In commenting on the three negatives, John Calvin, the pastor of Geneva said, in exhorting pastors to their duty, Peter points out three vices especially, which are often to be found among pastors, namely sloth, desire for gain, and lust for power. And he was right. And those are the three that Peter identifies. Let's look at them.

Disposition in Taking Up the Task: Not of Constraint, But Willingly According to God

32:36 First of all, the elder's disposition in what I'm calling in taking up the task. Then we'll look at the elder's disposition with respect to any remuneration that may come to him in performing the task. And then thirdly, the disposition toward the people of God among whom they function as shepherds. First of all then, the elder's disposition in taking up the task.

33:00 Look at the negative. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising the oversight not of constraint. And here we have an adverb from the verbal root, which means to force or to compel. Remember the Lord Jesus in the parable, Luke 14, of the feast and the servants who go out to fill the banquet house, and people don't come, and then a bunch do come.

33:24 And then in Luke 14, 23, we have these words, go out into the highways and hedges and not merely invite them, but compel them to come in that my house may be full. That's the verbal form of this adverb. It means to constrain with force. It means to compel.

33:44 Galatians 2, 14, Paul speaks of the Judaizers who are compelling people to be circumcised in order to be saved. So what Peter is saying is this. You elders, hear me carefully. Do the work of shepherding and of overseeing, but you must never take up that work or continue in it, primarily because of external pressure placed upon you.

34:13 It must not be by the pressure, the constraining influence of others, of circumstances. For example, there are people who take up the task because mom and dad, quote, dedicated their son to the ministry when he was still in mama's womb. And they raised that child thinking that his essential identity was bound up in being a pastor. And he goes into the ministry under the compelling influence, not of the spirit of God, or the consensus of the church of God, validating his internal sense of call, but because he dare not break mom and daddy's heart by doing anything else.

34:57 Not of constraint, if that constraint is parental ambition, albeit maybe noble, ecclesiastical pressure, people saying you ought to be an elder, you ought to be in the ministry, you ought to be a pastor. Not of constraint from parents, ecclesiastical pressure, nor simply from need. Some men see tremendous need, such a need for shepherds to shepherd and oversee, and they're constrained by need. That's an external compulsion.

35:27 Some stay in the work of the eldership because they've come to that time in life when they know it's too late to learn the skills to do well in another career, and they stay on by the compulsion of the economic needs of their family. Whatever the external constraint is, it is not to be. The foundational motive for entering in or continuing in the work of an elder. Do you see that from the passage?

35:53 Shepherd the flock of God, exercising the oversight, not of constraint. Sometimes the constraint is to save face. How can I admit after being an elder for 10 years, being in the ministry for 15 years, that God never put me in it? And people will stay on under the constraint of saving face.

36:17 You can make up your own list. But look at the positive. What's the opposite of doing this work out of constraint? It is this.

36:26 But willingly, literally, according to God.

36:32 I forgot which it is, whether it's the genitive or the accusative. In other words, the opposite of being under external constraint is willingly according to God. This adverb means doing something deliberately, intelligently from the heart as the free choice of one's own will. Choosing as freely as though no one existed but you and God and the task of being an elder.

37:06 Peter says, this doing it willingly should be according to God. You'll notice in your Bibles if you have the phrase according to the will of God, the words the will of are in italics. They're not in the text. Literally, and there is substantial textual evidence that these words were penned by Peter, it is to be willingly according to God.

37:29 Now, what do those words mean? Well, they can mean one of two things. And here I quote one of my patron saint commentators, Hebert. He writes, some can mean according to the will of God or as God would have it, the New English Bible, but more probably the preposition kata is to be given its familiar force of indicating a standard or a model.

37:51 This is how Peter used it in chapter 1 in verse 15, again in chapter 4 in verse 6, where kata is according to the model or the standard or the measuring stick of something. Therefore, we are to take up the task willingly according to God, Hebert writes, just as God shepherds his flock. The meaning is best illustrated in the wholeheartedness of the chief shepherd himself who could say my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to accomplish or finish his work. That is to be the motive with respect to taking up and continuing in the task, never based upon external pressure, constraint, but willingly according to God. And I want to say that God has been very good to us in many ways as a congregation. Some of us who have been in this work from the beginning, we are so grateful that God placed in our midst a man who has nobly manifested this principle, who for more than 30 years out of that constraint of God willingly did the task of shepherding and overseeing. And when circumstances in his own life and his stage in life were such that no longer

39:17 there was the desire to do the work, he graciously laid down the office. I thank God for your example, Don. It's there as a beacon light to me. The day I cease to be persuaded that it is God's will for me to shepherd this people, I'm out of here.

39:43 Pastor Lamar's out of here. Pastor Jeff's out of here. Pastor Barker's out of here. The day the Spirit of God no longer sustains in our hearts the desire to shepherd you, we ought to be out of here.

40:00 I'm not talking about the Blue Monday or the Juniper Tree experience, but I'm talking about a settled disposition of the heart. Peter says none should take up nor continue in this task by constraint, but willingly according to God. Now look at the second couplet. Here we have not the elder's disposition in taking up the task, but the elder's disposition with respect to any compensation that may accompany the task of shepherding and of overseeing.

Disposition Toward Compensation: Not for Shameful Gain, But of a Ready Mind

40:33 Look at the negative. The second negative, not yet the old 1901 filthy lucre. Sounds good, but it says little to us in our day. What's filthy lucre?

40:43 I don't know what lucre is, let alone filthy lucre. Is there clean lucre? Is there dirty lucre? Clean lucre?

40:50 Probably the best contemporary rendering is not for shameful gain. Not for shameful gain. Only place this adverb is found in the New Testament, but the noun is found in 1 Timothy 3, 8, not greedy of filthy lucre. The old rendering is Titus 1, 7 in the requirement for elders.

41:13 And then in 1 Timothy 3, 3 you have a different word that speaks of not lusting for money, no lover of money. In other words, Peter says when a man undertakes the care of the sheep with his primary goal to reap the benefits of the fleece that's on the sheep, he'd unbelong in the task. That's what he's saying. The motive for entering in and sustaining involvement in the work of shepherding and overseeing must never be for the gain that may accrue to me in the path of performing that task.

41:54 When a man undertakes the care of the sheep primarily for the fleece on the sheep's back, he becomes a shepherd for base gain. And he runs into the wall of Peter's prohibition. But now what's the opposite of that? Look at the text.

42:14 But of a ready mind. Again, the only time this adverb is found in the New Testament, but the noun and the adjective are used eight times elsewhere and we get a real sense of the flavor of the word. We often quote Acts 17.11 here.

42:33 These at Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with readiness of mind. That's the family of words. How did they receive it? With great eagerness.

42:46 They were all ears and eyes and heart and spirit going out to the word brought by the apostle. It's the family of words found in our Lord's well-known words. Matthew 26.41.

42:59 Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The Spirit indeed is, here's our word, willing. The Spirit is predisposed to avoid sin and to engage in the disciplines that will help in the hour of temptation. The Spirit is willing, predisposing us in that direction.

43:19 Paul could say in Romans 1.15, I am ready. I am eager to come and preach the gospel. And preach the gospel to you who are at Rome.

43:27 So do you see what is prohibited? The motive is not to be that I may get whatever monetary or social prestige, whatever personal advantage may come in the work of shepherding and overseeing. If we take up the work and continue in the work for what accrues to us from the work, it becomes base gain. Whether it's money, prestige, admiration, whatever it is that comes in the way of compensation.

43:58 If the compensation becomes the motive, it is base. It is base. It is base. It is shameful gain.

44:08 So what is set before us is the shepherd overseeing man doing this not for selfish gain, but out of selfless love to Christ and to the people purchased by his own blood. Do you remember how clearly the Lord underscored this for Peter? He didn't say, now look Peter, the first question I want to ask you, John 21 is, do you love me more than these? Now that we've settled that you love me and I tell you to feed my sheep, feed my lambs.

44:38 Now Peter, let's go on to another. No, he kept coming back to that one central issue. Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me?

44:47 The third time Peter was grieved. He was getting under his skin. Lord, you already asked me. I already answered.

44:54 It's like the Lord is saying, Peter, you don't move on from this. This is where you park. Anything you're going to do with respect to my lambs and my sheep has got to grow out of this central driving motivation. You love me.

45:09 And because you love me, you love the sheep for whom I laid down my life. That's got to be your primary motive. Not what you get from the sheep or what may accrue to you as you shepherd the sheep and feed the lambs. But Peter, love for me must be central.

45:29 It must be peripheral. It must fill up everything in between. Peter learned his lesson well. He says, you elders there in the various congregations in Asia Minor, I exhort you, shepherd the flock of God, exercise oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.

Disposition Toward the People: Not Lording It Over, But Being Examples

45:54 And then the third element is this. The elder's disposition toward the people of God among whom they function as shepherds and overseers. The elder's disposition toward the people of God among whom they function as shepherds and overseers. And at this point, Peter drops using just adverbs and he uses two participles.

46:23 But you'll notice, that the not-but construction is very strict, follows right down through, so that the grammarians who know much more of the Greek language than I do say that these two participles put in that structure have all the force of the adverbial causes that have preceded. In other words, it is describing how they are to shepherd and oversee. And here we have, first of all, the negative. Not, Lord, lording it over God's heritage.

46:58 Neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you. Now, what is this word, lording it over? Well, let's look at two examples of it. And here I want you to turn, because it's critical that we grasp the mind of the Spirit in using this word, kata kuriuo.

47:17 Kuriuo means to lord, to rule. Kata means against or down upon. So it's a compound word. Kata kuriuo.

47:27 Now, what does it mean? Well, look at our Lord's words, first of all, in Matthew chapter 20. In Matthew chapter 20, verse 24. And when the ten heard it, that is, heard two of their number, discussing who's going to be the hotshot in the kingdom and have first place, they were moved with indignation concerning the two brethren.

47:51 But Jesus called them unto him and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles, here's our verb, lord it over them, lord down upon them, and their great ones, kata, and then the word exousiazo, which means to exercise authority. So the preposition kata in front of the two verbs gives the flavor that among the carnal big shots, the prime movers in the Gentile world, they get where they get and they stay where they are by doing what? They lord it over their underlings and they oppress them with their authority. They hold them under by the force of their position, their arms, their money, their influence. But the Lord says, it will not be that way among you. Not so shall it be among you.

48:51 The movers and the shakers are the ones ready. The ones ready to ride over the belly of any to get where they want to go and then to stay on the bellies of any who would rival them. You kids know what it's like when you're playing King of the Hill. Do you still play that?

49:07 So many innocent games in my childhood, they're gone. Do you still play that? You get to a place in the park and it's a high point or it's the top of some object that's there and you work your way through and shove the other guys off and you're King of the Hill and then everyone tries to come after you. Well, the King of the Hill mentality is how the world operates.

49:25 Shove and push and kick and get anything out of the way to get. This is what these guys were talking about. This is what precipitated the statement of our Lord. The mother comes with her sons and says, command my two sons may sit one on the right and one on the left.

49:41 Two kings of the hill in the kingdom. You in the middle, Jesus. That's fine. Well, what's your first place?

49:46 The second and third, my sons. And the others got ripping mad. Not because it was carnival, but they got to ask before they did. There was a little King of the Hill going on here.

49:57 The Lord says, no, no, no King of the Hill mentality in my kingdom. Not so shall it be among you when you come into that position. It is never to be used to exercise a heavy handed use of authority for personal ends that manifest itself in the desire to dominate accompanied by a haughty demand for compliance. You see, Peter assumes that there is real authority in the office of an elder.

50:28 Otherwise, it could not be abused authority. And he says, you who are shepherding with the authority conferred upon you by Christ and recognized by those whom you shepherd and you who exercise oversight, it must not be in a manner of lording it over, lording it down upon that part of God's heritage committed to your trust. It must not be. You must not use your title in your office as a club and as a bully pulpit where you throw your weight around.

51:07 You must not lord it over God's heritage. Rather than stand before the people of God in public or private and direct the minds to the will of Christ as revealed in the word of Christ and in the graciousness of Christ to seek to secure their obedience to the person of Christ. That's what true shepherds do. They seek publicly and privately to direct the minds of the sheep to the will of Christ as revealed in the word of Christ and in the graciousness of Christ seek to secure the obedience of the sheep to the person of Christ.

51:50 Rather than do that, the ones that Peter is condemning are the elders who bully by coercion intimidation and carnal pressure. They become the sons of diatrophies who not only govern by his own will but would brook no rivals. You read about him in 3 John verses 9 and 10. You want an example of what it is to lord it over God's heritage?

52:18 Here is a very graphic negative example. I wrote unto you somewhat but diatrophies who loves to have the preeminence. Doesn't say he loves to serve. He loves to shepherd to guide into green pastures to protect and guard and seek out the sick and the weak and the straying.

52:37 No. He loves the preeminence. King of the hill. That was diatrophies.

52:42 He would not receive us. Therefore if I come I'll bring to remembrance his works which he does prating against us with wicked words and not content therewith neither does he himself receive the brethren and them that would he forbids and casts them out of the church. Think of it. Someone unilaterally excommunicating people.

53:01 That's diatrophies. Lording it. Throwing his weight around. Even refusing the authority of an apostle.

53:11 And that's the mark of one who lords it over others. He himself shows he has no lord but his own will. It is not lording it over God's people when a man full of the spirit responsibly handles the word and calls you publicly or privately. To be obedient to Jesus Christ.

53:29 That's being a true shepherd. And frankly I have to laugh at how the diatrophies syndrome is thrown around in some of us who do believe in authoritative preaching and responsible gracious but authoritative leadership are so quickly labeled as diatrophies as though we're suddenly supposed to wilt under the accusation. It's like some of my dear pedo-baptist friends they say the word covenant and I'm supposed to just drop dead as a baptist. No.

53:57 I believe in the doctrine of the covenants and that's one of the reasons I'm a baptist and not a pedo-baptist. And I do believe that a diatrophies spirit is a wicked wretched horrible and tragic misrepresentation of Christ the chief shepherd. And Peter condemns it not lording it down. But what's the positive?

54:18 Very quickly he says and this is where the spirit of God often surprises us. What would you think is the opposite of lording it down? You'd think you'd say maybe serving with humility wouldn't you? Or governing with humility?

54:33 But what is the antithesis of lording it down upon? Lording it over? It's making yourselves examples to the flock. The verb points to a conscious activity in which every elder is to consciously think as he thinks of his work shepherding oversees.

54:55 Not lording it over God's heritage apportioned to him. Not over that part of the world of God's heritage assigned to him. But he's to think in this term I am to be an example to the flock. I am to represent in my life and in my character and in my demeanor in the place of God's appointment all of the graces that I trust my shepherding overseeing ministry will produce with the blessing of the spirit of God in all the sheep whom I'm shepherding and overseeing.

55:29 That's what he says. Do you shepherd and oversee by example? No. You shepherd and oversee in a context in which you are an example of what you're shepherding and overseeing should produce in your people.

55:46 You say wow that's a high standard. Yes it is. But it's biblical. First Timothy 4.12 Timothy was a relatively young man. He had great responsibilities in several mature churches. And yet Paul says to Timothy be an example of the believer in word in conversation in love in faith in purity Timothy be what you're seeking to have your people become through your labors. Says the same to Titus in all things showing thyself a cupos same word in the original a type a pattern of good works.

56:25 It's the great responsibility of elders not to rule by force of title and name in a coercive oppressive way but by the opening up of the word of God to mark out the path in which the people of God should go and like a true shepherd Jesus says when he puts forth his own he goes where before them he goes before them and my dear fellow elders what an awesome responsibility is upon us to be continually growing in grace before God and before our people. That's our task in terms of the manner in which we accomplish it that while we cannot say look at me I'm perfect we can say be a follower of me as I am of Christ. I had someone tell me once well if you accept that standard for the eldership you'll have no elders then I said have none. When elders cease to hold you in the area of your conscience by their exemplary not perfect but by their exemplary lives they can no longer shepherd and oversee by a biblical standard. They can't.

The High Standard of Godly Character for Elders

57:44 It's impossible. This explains why in 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1 what is the primary requisite for those who would be elders. It's not gifts it's not personality it is not charisma it is proven balanced godliness of character. If you doubt it read 1st Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 to 7.

58:11 Verse 1 read Titus 1 5 to 9. In 1st Timothy 3 one word apt to teach focuses upon giftedness for public ministry of some kind. There is one allusion to ruling if a man rule not well his own house how shall he take care of the church of God some proven ability to govern and take care of something wider than the circle of his own personal life but all the rest is moral and ethical. There is one woman man no lover of money discreet sober minded why?

58:51 Because the word of God speaks with one voice that elders are to shepherd and govern not by lording it down upon but by being examples to the flock. The same is true in the parallel passage in Titus chapter 1. So then we have the task shepherd exercising the oversight then what disposition is to mark godly elders the disposition in undertaking and in continuing the task negative not of constraint positive willingly according to God the disposition toward any compensation that will come negative not for base gain positive a ready mind the disposition toward the people among whom they shepherd and oversee not lording it over but making themselves examples to the flock. I say to you my fellow elders and those of you who have some embers of holy sanctified desire that someday you may be elders in this place what a solemn obligation is upon us to internalize what we've studied this morning. Not to internalize it once but to come back to it again and again and again. We must have distinct scriptural views of what the king says to us his inferior magistrates.

Call to Internalize and Apply These Truths

60:19 And I say this honestly and earnestly to you the people of God at any time where you see anything present in any of us that contradicts this book not only do we welcome you to come you have a solemn obligation to come because if your perception is accurate we can't minister to your soul if we don't hold your conscience we can't show that we ourselves are submissive to this book. You see why the devil works to try to destroy people's confidence in the integrity of their spiritual leaders? Because we cannot lead by force we're forbidden to do it. We have to lead by the power of the grip on your conscience. That's why we pastor one another. I doubt there are few of you that would enjoy the judgment day that we had and evaluated one another in the light of the word of God with judgment day on us. This is serious business.

61:37 You aspire to be an elder and you soak your soul in this passage and ask God to so search you that you never never contemplate that task by any constraint but Paul's constraint necessity he says is laid upon me the right kind of motive that could be labeled base gain and pray that he would teach you in your present sphere of influence as a husband and a father and an ordinary church member to give you those characteristics of one who would lead not by an oppressive pulling of your rank but by the power and the accompaniment of a godly example. Then to you God's people I say in closing I ask you if you are willing to be a shepherd to the chief shepherd who will shepherd you taking their orders from the chief shepherd not from you do you love your soul enough that you want shepherds that will shepherd you in the way Jesus said you need to be shepherded to get safely to heaven or do you want shepherds who will shepherd you in a way that will make

63:06 you gospel never crunchy no spirit being tempted to take or conduct harm and to Dios i said we're not shepherds we're not liars we are suddenly tenged we are baptized in god and you needn't know too well when we go away to enter heaven that kind of world card now. They make you get it. Even they don't want it. You dear younger ones, is this what you want? May God help you to say yes and we'll be satisfied with nothing less. So help us God. So help us God. And then pray for us. After Paul writes to the Thessalonians,

64:07 he says, brethren, pray for us. It's an awesome thing to have marching orders like this. Shepherd, exercise oversight. Not but, not but, not but. Thank God for the wonderful promise we're going to look at, God willing, tonight. On which we fasten our eyes and when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive the crown of glory that fades not away. Let's pray. Our Father, how we thank you for your word in a day when we see so much that passes off itself in the name of Christianity.

64:49 That has very little resemblance to your word. We thank you that you have yet gathered together a people who want to know what you have said. And we who are in leadership thank you that it has been our joy for some of us for decades to be shepherds of true sheep who hear the voice of their heavenly shepherd in the scriptures and leap to obey, delight to obey. Father, we thank you. Oh, how we praise you.

65:19 We ask that you would give us in leadership more and more of the spirit of the great shepherd. That we will more and more be conformed to the patterns that we've examined today. And you would give to your people in this place more and more of the disposition of those sheep of Christ who hear his voice and follow him cheerfully. Oh, God, have mercy upon those people that sit in congregations today and have clowns and entertainers.

65:49 As we're sitting in this place, we have a number of people who are standing before them, psychologists and and crowd manipulators, but who are not giving your people your word. Oh, father, have mercy upon them, we pray. And we would be bold to ask that should you delay the coming of your son, that in this place until he returns, there would be true shepherds after your own heart who will feed your people with knowledge and with understanding. Go.

66:18 Be. before them in godly examples rule and govern in the graciousness of christ by the word of christ and in the power of the spirit of christ oh our god we ask largely of you this morning but surely these things we do not ask to consume upon our lusts but we ask it for the glory of your name and for the advancement of your kingdom hear us then in this our prayer and seal your word to every heart we ask in jesus name amen