Shepherding Directives, Part 3

is where we’ll find ourselves.
The passage is there in its entirety in your bulletin with additional
places for notes. You see, when I don’t alliterate,
you have no idea what point four is. So you have to pay attention,
at least today. First Peter, chapter four. We’ve
been in the passage now three weeks already. Peter is addressing
the leaders of the church. We’ve seen that in this particular
letter, he refers to the leaders in the church as elders, but
they can be denominated by any one of a number of titles. Not
only elder, but shepherd, we saw. Overseer, another possible
option. There is a Clearly, a God-given
leadership model in Scripture, as we have seen in weeks past.
This leadership model is God-given, as I’ve already said. It consists
of a multiple number of godly men who are referred to in Scripture
as elders, overseers, and pastors or shepherds. Ultimately, they
are recognized by the local church as being appointed by God. They
have no jurisdiction beyond their local church. And as a function,
they jointly and humbly shepherd their loving and obedient flock.
If you would, I want to go back and we’ll review just briefly
the passage as we’ve already tasted it, and then we’ll delve
into some new thoughts this morning. 1 Peter 5, verse 1 and following. where Peter writes, therefore,
I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder and witness
of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker also of the glory
that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising
oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily according to
the will of God and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness Nor
yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but
proving to be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd
appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. There is a well-defined leadership
structure in the church. We’ve made that point now for
several weeks running. But when Peter wants to address
the leadership of the churches to whom he was writing, he calls
on the elders. And so we saw that the office
of leadership is that of elders. It’s plain. It’s evident. We made it clear that Peter here
isn’t just referring to those of aged status, not merely older
men, but those who are spiritually mature, who have been recognized
by the church as shepherds in their midst. Looking again at the passage,
if you would, look at verse 1. We saw there that Peter uses
the term elder. And it’s interesting that of
all things, Peter puts himself among them. Peter calls himself
a fellow elder. There were a lot of titles that
Peter could have used. Some have suggested that Peter
was the first pope. And so why he didn’t use, you
know, his eminence, Peter, is pretty telling. He could have
even used the great title Apostle, but he didn’t. He sees himself
as one of them. He sees himself humbly as one
who is put in charge of tending Christ’s flock. And he reaches
out to those humbly on those terms. We’ll come back to this
thought in a moment regarding how Peter viewed himself But
we saw there that Peter, when he wanted to reach out and speak
to those leaders of the church, he calls on the elders. Secondly, the exhortation to them is equally
clear. He really only gives them in
this entire four verse passage one command. And it is the same
identical command that Christ gave to him when He put him back
in ministry there in John 21. Shepherd the flock. Tend My sheep. Look at verse 2. Shepherd the
flock. King James has it simply feed
or tend. Feed My sheep. But there’s a
whole lot involved in this shepherding, as we’ve seen over the past several
weeks. It involves everything that pertains
to caring for people proclaiming Christ. That is the flock. It isn’t the broader community
in which we live. It’s not everybody here. We make
it very clear that we are in no way obligated to counsel those
outside of the church. We are in no way obligated to
financially assist everyone in the church because that would
wipe out the church. But we are absolutely obligated
as elders of the flock to pray for the flock, to care for the
flock, to protect Christ’s sheep, to lead them and guide them and
admonish them and counsel. Shepherding is a huge role. It’s not simple work as we saw
in our consideration of Acts 20. It is the very work of God. It is spiritual work. It is protecting
the flock even from the unseen forces of evil. as Paul makes so clear there
at the end of that great passage in Acts. So, the office of spiritual
leadership is that of elders. The work of spiritual leadership
is that of shepherdly oversight. The attitude we began last week,
the attitude of spiritual leadership, we saw, first of all, involves
a yieldedness. a yieldedness. Look again at
verse 2. We are to shepherd the flock
of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion,
but voluntarily, according to the will of God. First of all, this compulsion
speaks of almost a doing it against your will. And I mentioned that
in several places in which I’ve attended or served, there was
this rotating elder board in which men were voted on, you
know, and people didn’t ask them beforehand and they were essentially
forced to serve. It’s your turn, you know, that
kind of a mentality. And I will just tell you, having
served with men of that mentality, that’s not shepherding. That’s
not shepherding as Paul lays it out in Acts chapter 17. And that’s not shepherding as
Peter makes it very clear here. That serving under compulsion
is not shepherding as Christ would have it. And that’s why
he says, but voluntarily. And he adds, according to the
will of God, it’s not like the eldership is a volunteer organization
where merely you just, if you have the desire, you just show
up You must have the desire to serve, but it must be recognized.
Ultimately, it must be of God. Voluntarily, according to the
will of God. One pastor writing said that
these elders are to perform their duty not under an impulse from
without. That’s how we do most things,
isn’t it? We’re not acting as little children. The impulse,
rather, has to come from within. It’s got to be an inner desire,
a passionate desire to serve Christ. And it must be rendered
willingly. Another said it this way, the
elder is to accept the office not under coercion, but willingly. Any Christian will have a certain
reluctance to accept a high office. I think that’s part of the humility
that endears a man to this office, is a woefulness of the task that
he’s about to undertake, the care of souls. because he only knows too well
his unworthiness and his own inadequacy. But there is a way
of accepting office and a way of rendering service as if it
was a grim and unpleasant duty, as if it is a weariness, a burden
to be resented. Men, brothers, I’ll tell you,
if that’s what is compelling you into the service of Christ,
don’t do it. Sit down. Stay home. but it’s quite possible also
for a man to be asked to do something for him to do it, but to do it
in such an ungracious way that the whole action is spoiled.
If you’re wanting to do it only for the recognition, if you’re
wanting to do it only for some kind of construction project
on your own ego, stay away. Stay away from the shepherding
of Christ’s flock because that’s not what it’s about. Isaac Watts. Again, by way of
reminder, set the tone. When he said, apply yourself
to your work with a pious delight. What a beautiful thought. That
what a glorious thing it is to be called to shepherd Christ’s
flock. And not as a toil or task which
you wish were done and ended, but as a matter of inward pleasure
to your own soul. What a novel way. of approaching
service. And you have many people that
approach even the most basic task as if they were doing God
a favor. Who is favoring whom? Who’s blessing
whom? Secondly, we saw the second aspect
of this attitude for spiritual leadership. Not only are we called
to be yielded, we’re called to be zealous. Look again at verse
2. And not for sordid gain, but
with eagerness. And he isn’t talking, as we hinted
last week, he isn’t talking about remuneration or pay in the ministry. He isn’t saying that any money
ever exchanged in the course of ministry is evil. That’s not
what he’s saying. You have ministries that purposely
do not pay any of those in their midst because of this very verse. The King James calls it here,
filthy lucre. In other words, all money is
evil. And we’ve got to necessarily
deal with money on the outside of the church. But inside the
church, there shouldn’t be any dealing with it. And therefore,
we don’t pay people for ministry. Well, and there are certainly
ministries that have abused this. Sadly, laughing about some of
the greater abusers of those that, you know, demand that you
send in your money for a prayer cloth. There are abusers of this. And there are clear warnings
throughout Scripture of those who are only in it for the money. What he urges us to is to avoid
the temptation of doing what we do to be motivated by money
and for money. I think I shared that I can’t
remember if I shared this last week or not, but I’ve been in
meetings before where, you know, somebody says, oh, well, so-and-so
is a big giver. We better be careful how we decide
on this issue. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know down to
the penny who gives what. I don’t want to be motivated
by that because Paul in Titus, when he gives that list of qualifications
for the elder, says that a man, first of all, must be just. And
it’s so easy to read past that. I did it for years, not even
trying to understand what does it mean to be just. It means
you do what you do because of what’s right. Not because of
what the political winds are telling you to do. You do what
you do because of what’s right, and you take the consequences
as they come. You don’t try to avoid the consequences by going
with the popular flow of the church. You do what you do because
it’s right. Paul uses this word a number
of times to speak of unjust gain. 1 Timothy 3.3, right there in
the qualifications for an elder. Titus 1.7, right there in the
qualifications for an elder. Unjust gain. Making money discreditably. And as I said, there are plenty,
plenty of warnings in Scripture about the charlatans, the false
teachers that use this tactic even to this day. Turn on, I don’t even know what
the channel number is anymore, of those charlatan TV programs
that are absolutely built on this mentality. They teach you
nothing profitable, but they want all of your money. 2 Peter
2.3, in their greed they will exploit you with false words.
They’re going to tell you what you want to hear. They’re going
to tickle your ears with false teaching. All designed to line
their pockets with your money. In Titus 1.7 Titus 1.7, remember
when we studied Titus, those of you who studied it with me,
you look at Titus, you stand back and you look at it, and
first Paul gives his calling card, as it were, his resume,
right there in the opening verses, and then immediately he tells
Titus to get about what he left in there to do. Set in order
what remains and appoint elders in all the churches. And there’s
a good reason that he did that because immediately following
after those qualifications, Paul says, there’s a problem in the
church and the problem is false teachers. And in verse 111 of
Titus, he says they must be silenced because they are upsetting whole
families. You see, the whole family doesn’t
need to take in and digest what the false teacher is saying.
It just takes one person. That’s why we tell you to be
so careful what you read. Be careful what you give at the
Super Bible Store, which is the greatest misnomer in Fort Collins. Be careful what you get there.
Be careful what you eat, because all it takes is one person in
the family to take this in. And now they have upset whole
families because not everybody is going to imbibe what they’ve
devoured. They’re upsetting whole families,
teaching things they should not teach. Why? For the sake of sordid
gain. Unjust gain. They’re giving out
a message that isn’t of God’s so that they can make money.
That’s simply what it is. These elders, these shepherds
of Christ’s flock, it’s clear from what Paul lays out We are
not to be characterized as if we are some kind of salesman charlatans, as if we’re subcontractors just
waiting for the highest bidder to kind of steer us through ministry
and life in the church. We can’t be preoccupied with
money and materialism. And all the while, that doesn’t
mean that as some churches falsely have done, it doesn’t mean that
shepherds, pastors, elders cannot be compensated. It’s exactly
what Paul is talking about. It was I didn’t plan it this
way. But even my brother Alan, as he read the scripture today,
he introduces us to that very thought in that passage in 1
Corinthians 9. Don’t I have a right to take
along a believing wife?” And the rhetorical answer is, absolutely
you do. And what Paul begins to lay out
there is the case for paying your elder. Or elders, if it’s
possible. Turn to 1 Corinthians, if you
would. And as you’re turning there,
I just remind you of what Isaac Watts says. He’s not talking
about not paying your pastors. He’s not talking about, you know,
that money is inherently evil. And he isn’t even just exclusively
talking about money, as Isaac Watts points out. Be vigilant,
be temperate in all things. Don’t be one of these greedy
people that’s only in it for yourself. Be temperate in all
things, not only as a soldier of Christ, but as an underleader
of part of his army. Be temperate. Abstain even sometimes
from lawful delights.” Rather an unpopular message in
our self-indulgent society, wouldn’t you say? Now, Paul here has just
introduced the subject. Skip down to verse 7. When he
says, who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense?
I mean, the thought’s absurd. You’re going to go serve your
country. You’re going to be remunerated. Who plants a vineyard and does
not eat the fruit of it? Do you see the drift, the direction
that Paul is going here? Who tends a flock and does not
use the milk of the flock? Am I speaking these things according
to I am not speaking these things according to human judgment,
am I? In other words, he says, read through the illustration.
Read between the lines. Am I talking about soldiers?
Am I talking about vineyards? Am I talking about sheep? Of
course not. He’s saying those things for
a purpose. And he basically says, ultimately, that the law even
says those things. Look at verse 9. For it is written
in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle the ox while he’s
threshing. God is not concerned about oxen, is he? Now, people,
pause. He’s not saying that God is unconcerned
about oxen, because remember, God is the one that feeds all
creatures. He’s just saying, what is my
illustration really about? Is that am I talking about oxen
now? Have I switched gears from talking about sheep to talking
about oxen? No, he’s talking about the ministry. Verse 10, or is he speaking altogether
for our sake? Yes. For our sake, it was written,
because the plowman ought to plow in hope, the thresher ought
to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. If we sowed spiritual
things in you, is it too much we reap material things from
you? If others share this right over you, do not we more?” In
other words, he says, if you pay your taxes, if you render
to Caesar what is Caesar’s, don’t we far more have a right to those
things? And so, all that to say, Paul
here, is dealing with bad hearts in the Corinthian church, and
he undergirds this concept of remuneration in the ministry.
Same exact thought in 1 Timothy 5. We’re not going to take the
time to go there. Peter here is concerned about
the sinful acquisition of wealth, not about wealth as inherently
evil, not about this concept of neglecting or refusing to
remunerate any in ministry. That’s not what he’s saying. The contrast there is simple. He says, not for assorted gain,
but with eagerness. You shouldn’t need money to motivate
you to serve the Lord Jesus. And that’s why he says, with
eagerness. We should be zealous about what we do. It should wake
us up in the morning. The desire to serve Christ by
serving others should motivate us. Remember, we started this
passage several weeks ago that spoke of the attitude that some
people have as if they have a thousand lifetimes and they can defer
for months and months and years on end before they ever serve
a single soul. It can’t be the case. It ought not
be the case with any of us. It can’t ever be the case with
the shepherds. True shepherds, real pastors,
are going to eagerly serve Christ. They’re going to count it a privilege
to be placed in service and to serve at any cost. Charles Bridges said it this
way, And it is difficult at times. Ministry is a challenge constantly.
Bridges acknowledges that when he says to bring the heart to
the work and to keep it there, to exchange the indulgence of
ease for labor and self-denial, the esteem of the world for the
reproach of Christ and his cross. to endure the prospect of successive
disappointment and discouragement. This is that which raises within
the evil spirit of despondency, which can come forth by nothing
but prayer and fasting.” In other words, he says all of those things
are going to come and they’re going to attack your eagerness,
your zeal for Christ. And unless you pray, And unless
you fast, unless you give all to Christ, you can never serve as Christ
has called you to serve. There’s a third component of
this attitude for spiritual leadership. And we pick up fresh here. Look
at verse to once again, just so you can pick up the flow.
“…shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight,
not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God,
and not for assorted gain, but with eagerness, nor yet as lording
it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples
to the flock.” Now, mind you, There is a very
real sense, and I’m not going to cash it in here, there’s a
very real sense in which elders, shepherds are over the flock,
but we are not to lord it over the flock. We are the leaders
of the church, but we are not your gods. We are called to be
an authority over you, but we’re not to act as your tyrants in
your midst. Jesus, dealing with the Pharisees,
characterized them quite simply in Matthew 20. He said this. Listen to this. Verse 25 of Matthew
20, Jesus called them to Himself and said, you know that the rulers
of the Gentiles lorded over them. Same word. And their great men
exercised authority over them. He said, look at how the world
Exercises, quote-unquote, leadership. They’re brutes. They’re tyrants. And then he said, it is not this
way among you. But whoever wishes to become
great among you shall become your servant. And whoever wishes
to be first among you shall be your slave. Just as the Son of
Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His
life as a ransom for many. Do you want to be in the ministry?
Be a servant. The most poignant moment in all
of the Gospels, to me, is John 13. When Jesus gets up from the
supper, puts on a towel, grabs a bowl of water, and goes around
and washes the disciples’ dirty feet. That’s ministry. Jesus said this is the apex of
ministry. Too many men get into the ministry
to see what they can get out of it, to kind of experience
the glories of ministry and power and all of those sick things
that so often come with it. This word here, essentially speaks
of a domineering spirit over people that always is talking
about my way or the highway. It speaks of any kind of oppression,
autocratic mentality, this heavy handed, overbearing leadership,
which really is more manipulation than leadership. Those things all are characteristic
of ungodly, unbiblical, worldly leadership, aren’t they? That’s how the unregenerate lead. John Newton, speaking of this
kind of leadership, challenged his readers with this. He said, you are now to be placed
in the forefront of the battle. And to stand, as it were, for
His mark, so far as He can prevail against you now, not yourselves
only, but many others will be affected. In other words, He
says, the devil has a target on your back. And if he prevails
against you, all kinds of people are going to be affected. Many
eyes will be upon you. And if you take a wrong step
or are ensnared by a wrong spirit, you will open the mouths of the
adversaries wider and grieve the hearts of believers more
sensibly than if the same things had happened to you while you
were a layman.” If you don’t care how you live, if you don’t
care what other people are looking at and seeing, if you don’t care
that you’re a tyrant In the clothes of a shepherd, you’re in trouble. That’s not the attitude of a
shepherd. Peter says, nor yet as lording
it over those allotted to your charge. And again, he reminds
that it’s not your flock. And you better not treat it as
your flock. These are Christ’s sheep. Because of that, Peter says that
we are to be proving to be examples to the flock. I have a heritage, a family member, now
gone, who used to tell me all the time, sit me on his knee,
don’t do as I do, do as I say. It’s a strange thing, isn’t it? Oh, some of you had grandparents
like that, I can see. Don’t do as I do, do as I say.
In other words, my example is terrible, my life is not to be
emulated, but I’ve learned all kinds of great things to pass
on to you. Let me tell you about them.” Well, Peter here says that that’s
not really the best way to go about teaching. He says the best
way is to be an example. to show them a pattern of life,
to call them to a standard by the way that you live. Peter
uses a number of different terms for this idea of a pattern or
a model. Oftentimes, these words were
used to leave an impression by a stroke, whether it was wax
that you were pounding into or clay material. It was used of
the stamp on a coin, the impression on an engraving, of a carving
of a work, perhaps a statue of some kind. Peter basically says here, you
are to be an impression. You are to leave an impression
that others may emulate. You are to be the pattern. And
I know what most of us say. That leaves us a little bit uncomfortable,
doesn’t it? It leaves me a little bit uncomfortable.
In fact, there’s nothing to me more frightening as a pastor
than to know that everybody is watching me and is going to live
like me. I have a son and it’s already
frightening to see that he has already adopted some of my habits,
good and bad. Paul said, do as I do. Peter
here says, do as I do. There are those in the sports
world who said, don’t look at me as a role model. Don’t do
as I do. Do as I say. But the truth is,
as Jesus set forth this ministry, remember in Acts 1.8, you shall
be my witnesses. He didn’t even tell them what
kind of witnesses they would be. He just says that everybody
who names the name of Christ and marches out into the world
is going to be looked upon and perceived as a witness. Their
life is now on display. Great Puritan commentator said
it this way. He said, great is the force of
godly example, both to the believer to provoke him to further obedience
and to the unbeliever, either to bring him to liking for religion
or to condemn him. Great is the force of godly example. And I know that we’re uncomfortable
with that. I sense it. We don’t like the fact of following
other earthly people. No matter how godly they are,
we want to follow Christ. Except that Christ endorsed this
very practice. In Philippians, Paul, writing
by the Spirit, said this, Brethren, join in following my example. And not just mine. He goes on
and says, and observe those who walk according to the pattern
you have in us. not only follow me, follow those
who follow like me, and follow those who are following those
who follow like me.” That’s what he says. Same book. Later on, 4.9 of Philippians,
he says, the things you have learned and received and heard
and seen in me, practice these things. Writing to the Corinthians. As
my brother said earlier, troubled church, almost in every aspect
of their lives. He said it in the strongest terms
possible. I exhort you, therefore, be imitators
of me. Do as I do. 1 Corinthians 11,
verse 1. Be imitators of me, just as I
also am of Christ. And Paul wasn’t done with the
Corinthians. And when he wrote them again, he repeated these
thoughts. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. In 2 Corinthians 4. He said,
by the manifestation of truth, we commend ourselves to every
man’s conscience in the sight of God. What does that mean?
We walk before people who are looking as if they are looking.
We’re not just putting on a show. We’re living out Christ as Christ
has designed it to be. Are you going to see Trey and
I perfect? Nope. Nope. But I hope when you see us in
our imperfection that we own it and that we seek to rectify
and reform our life in that particular area. We too are Christ’s Word. We’re not perfect yet. It’ll be some time. Paul writing to the Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians 3.7 For you yourselves
know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not
act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s
bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we
kept working night and day so that we might not be a burden
to any of you, not because we did not have the right to this,
but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, that you
might follow Our example, 1 Timothy 4.12. Paul here writes
to young Timothy in the ministry, who was probably very reluctant
to put himself forward as someone to be emulated. Paul said, forget
about it. Let no one look down on your
youthfulness. but rather in speech, conduct,
love, faith, purity. Show yourself to be an example
of those who believe. That’s what people need. They
need to see a concrete example of how we’re to function in this
world, this fallen, evil world. They need to see Christianity
lived out. 1 Thessalonians 1.7 Paul began to see fruits of his
ministry. Because now all of these people,
he says, have become an example to all the believers in Macedonia
and Achaia. Enough said. We are. We are to be examples. Parents,
you are to be an example to your children. Husbands, to your wives.
Wives, to your husbands. Elders to the church. We are
to exemplify what it is to be a Christian. And you, to your
lost neighbors, to your boss, you are to exemplify Christ. There’s nothing wrong with this
concept of being an example. There’s a fourth element of spiritual
leadership that we close with this morning. In this great section
on shepherding directives, Peter closes with this. Been looking at these four truths,
four important truths for spiritual leaders. The office is that of
elders. The work is that of shepherdly
oversight. The attitude is that of yielded,
eager examples. And the reward is a crown of
glory. And of all the things in Scripture,
This is the hardest for me to gulp down. That after it’s
all said and done, if we faithfully shepherd Christ’s church, there’s
something in it for me. But to begin with, if you look
at the passage very carefully, look at verse 4. And when the
chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of
glory. You have another warning here of pride in leadership.
Peter’s already said in verse one that elders are among you.
They’re not over you in some foreboding sense with some heavy
handed superiority. He’s already reminded them in
verse two that the flock that they tend is God’s and not their
own. He’s already provided them with proper motives that they
are to be yielded eager examples. And here again, he urges humility
upon the shepherds when he tells them that the chief shepherd
is returning. We’re not the chief shepherds.
That’s one of the reasons I tell you all the time I don’t like
particularly senior pastor, or the very right reverend, or all
the rest of those foo-raw titles. Elders in the church are underlings.
It’s a glorious privilege. It’s a grand place to serve Christ. But we’re underlings and we’re
under the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s who we’re under. What he basically makes the case
for here is that elders are accountable to God. When the chief shepherd appears,
we have an accounting to do. It’s exactly what Hebrews 13
says. They keep watch. These elders do as those who
will give an account. When the chief shepherd appears,
you know, it almost has in Peter’s tone almost this party mentality. I would tell you that when the
chief shepherd appears, there are some that are going to scurry
for cover and they ought. There is this recurring thought
in Scripture that God’s workers will be paid and somehow they’re
remunerated for their work. First Corinthians three, we are
God’s fellow workers, you’re God’s field. And he launches
into this. It’s as if the ministry is a
field, a work under construction. Now, he says this in verse 12,
Now, if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident,
for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire,
and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.
If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall
receive a reward. We’ll talk more about that passage
another day. God is the judge. That’s that’s what Peter makes
clear here. The chief shepherd is coming back and he’s coming
back as a judge. Second Corinthians five, we have
as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to
him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that
each one may be recompensed according to his deeds in the body, according
to what he has done, whether good or bad. That’s true for
all of us, but it’s especially true of the elders. It’s especially
true of the shepherds. And he says, when the chief shepherd
appears, you will receive a crown. The crown motif is, I mean, woven
throughout Scripture. Paul said it in 2 Timothy 4.8,
in the future, there is laid up the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that
day. And not only to me, but to all who have loved his appearance.
So we all get a crown. And that’s good. So is it a literal
crown? Because I tell you, if it’s a
literal crown, you’re going to need a bigger head. because there’s
all kinds of crowns. James 1.12 said, Blessed is the
man who perseveres under a trial for once he’s been approved.
He will receive the crown of life. So you’ve got the crown
of life. 2 Timothy 4.8 talks about the crown of righteousness,
as we just heard. 1 Peter 1.4 spoke of a crown that
is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved
in heaven for you. First Corinthians 9, everyone
who competes in the games, exercises self-control in all things, they
do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
And so we’ve got this imperishable wreath. We’ve got this crown
of righteousness. We’ve got this crown of life.
Is it a literal crown that we receive from God for serving
Him in the capacity of elder? I don’t think so. I don’t think
that’s at all what’s in view. Essentially, it’s a repetition
of what Peter has already said in verse 1. Look at this. When
Peter said, I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder,
humbly, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker
also of the glory that is to be revealed. You know what he
says? After you’ve served Christ with
all that you’ve got, You’re going to receive the crown of glory. You’re going to be glorified
just like the rest of them. Do we get some special prize
for serving Christ? I don’t think that’s at all what’s
in view here. You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me
of Luke 17. The apostle said to the Lord, Lord, increase our
faith. The Lord said, if you had faith like a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted
in the sea and it would obey you. But which of you having
a slave plowing or tending a sheep will say to him who has come
in from the field, come and immediately sit down to eat. But will he
not say to him, prepare something for me to eat? In other words,
he begins to check their motives for why they’re in ministry. Are we in it for ourselves? Are
we in it to serve the Lord Jesus Christ? He does not thank the
slave because he did these things that he was commanded. Does He?
So you too, when you have done all the things which are commanded,
you say, we are unworthy slaves. We have only done that which
we ought to have done. And all of us would say the same
thing. When it’s all said and done,
we’ve only done what we should have done to begin with. To shepherd
the flock, We don’t stand downstream of some great prize as if we’re
holding out, no, don’t worry about me here and now. God will
take care of me in the end. It’s not a literal crown. It’s
a crown of glory. It’s the crown of eternal glory,
just like the crown that you will own one day. The point in Peter’s mind is
that these earthly crowns that they so often would hand out
at some military conquest or a wedding day, perhaps some athletic
games, were often woven of flowers and leaves, garlands if you will.
And you better get them home to the cooler quick because in
the heat, they would fade quickly. But the crown that the elders
have their sights on, much like what our brother led us in in
the consideration of heaven today. That’s the crown that’s in view.
It’s the crown of glory. Because realistically, which
one of us couldn’t honestly say, if we’ve come to Christ, isn’t
the motive this? More love to Thee, O Christ. More love to Thee. That’s why
we serve Christ, isn’t it? Shouldn’t it be? Which one of
us couldn’t say in our hearts with sincerity, oh, to grace,
how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be. We’ve already
been given the crown of glory. It’s there in heaven for us.
That’s why we serve. Let’s pray. Our merciful God,
we thank You for reminding us of the calling, the work, The
attitude and the blessing of leadership. Lord God, we do ask
for your clarifying grace at work in our lives, examine us
and show us where we are deficient and how you would have us to
correct and be corrected. Lord, the most humbling thing
of all is that others follow in our footsteps. Lord God, we
pray. that you would purify the leadership
of this church and make us to be what you would have us to
be. Father, we pray that you would
raise up many others behind us and that together we would not
have our sights set on earthly things, financial remuneration
and some trinket of a crown, but that we would serve Christ
heartily with glory and view. We thank you and we praise you
in Jesus’ name, Amen.