Faithful Elders are Essential

• View transcript

  Elders are Essential

  Download transcript

  1 Peter chapter 5. We're going to look at verses 1-4. It's a joy for me to get a chance to bring the Word of God to bear to a flock that I love, and so it's a wonderful privilege that I have here, and I'm grateful for the opportunity. But this message is truly about elders. It's about eldering. A duty task that I love, and all the men of this church who serve alongside. We love to do this work that is described here in 1 Peter 5:1-4. And really the message today is faithful elders are essential. Yes, faithful elders are essential. You know, this term essential has been used in our society, especially back in 2020, was trying to determine what exactly was essential. Anything and everything can be called essential. But surely when it comes down to faithful elders of a local church, they are absolutely essential. You know, you think about this text. It shows really the greatest command there in verse 2, which is shepherd the flock of God. And since shepherds and sheep are so foreign to us, I thought I'd give you some information from Charles E Jefferson in his book, The Minister as a Shepherd, as he gives a good depiction of sheep. He writes this about sheep. He says sheep are not independent travelers. They must have a human conductor. They cannot go predetermined places by themselves. They cannot start out in the morning in search of pasture, and then come home at evening on their own. They have apparently no sense of direction, and the greenest pasture may only be a few miles away. But sheep, if left to themselves, won't even be able to find it, and they'll starve to death. What animal is more incapable than a sheep? He says he realizes its own impotence. And no animal is more docile. Sheep must be led to fresh water. It can't be stale. It must be new pasture, and they must be relieved from the summer heat and protected from ravenous predators. And therefore, where the shepherd leads, the sheep will go. And it knows that the shepherd is a guide, and that it is safe to follow him. Wow. Great parallels in the local church when it comes to Christians. But I would commend to you today. Some of you can already see those similarities that shepherds are essential to sheep. They'll die without a shepherd. They won't be able to groom themselves as some animals can. They don't protect themselves as some animals can. It's very difficult for them to feed on their own. They have to be led by a shepherd. And just as shepherds are essential to sheep. Elders are essential to the local church. AndGod designed it that way. Christians are in need of guidance, feeding, leading, protecting. And that's exactly what God has called faithful men to this task to do. You add that and you couple it with the reality that we see in the church today, where some elders out there are nothing more than entrepreneurs trying to run the church like a business. And that can be a recipe for disaster. And you've seen it because people follow what's offered. So if the elders look like businessmen, the people will act like business people, especially in some business meetings where you've seen in the life of churches, sadly. Jeremy Wren in his book Church Elders, he gives a depiction of churches who have the wrong idea and they treat churches like a business. I'll show you by this slide here. This is the business model of the church. The elders are really just the board of trustees. They have usually a pastor, and he's the president, CEO, calls the shots. Then the staff are vice presidents and the members of the church are merely shareholders and loyal customers. And then you look at the visitors. What are they?  Awh, they're potential customers. So you got to buy in, use gimmicks and tricks to get them. That's the business model that you see in some of the churches, and some of them have grown by the thousands. People don't even realize what's taking place, but that is not how God designed his church. God designed that the elders are pastors. Pastors are elders. There's no one above the other. And they're not called to be businessmen. They're called to be shepherds tending the flock of God. Walking with the sheep.Guiding them. Helping them, equipping them. Encouraging them, counseling them, protecting them. That's God's desire for elders. And that's why faithful elders are essential. With that in our minds, let's read this text. I'm going to pray and elucidate it in your hearing. 1 Peter 5:1-4 says this. 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 voluntary, according to the will of God, and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness. Nor yet is 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. Lord, we come before you now, thanking you for this precious word. We ask that you would open our eyes and help us to behold wondrous things from your law. I pray that you would grant grace to the preacher, and help us all to have undistracted minds, so that you might use your word to work in our thinking, that it may be carried out in our lives. But I pray that this text will give you ultimate glory as it's proclaimed and as it's demonstrated in the life of this local church. We ask this in Jesus' name...and all God's people said Amen.
  Well, this image of elders being shepherds, it really goes back to the Old Testament. This wasn't uncommon for God to use the imagery of a shepherd to describe his leaders, and in fact, that imagery was paramount in the picture of leadership for those in God's household. You know, God Himself was the shepherd of Israel. You know Psalm 23. It's a familiar psalm. The Lord is my what?...shepherd I shall not want. He lies me down in green pastures and lead me beside still waters. It can't be stale waters. It's got to be still. Got to be calm or it will scare the sheep. That's how the Lord was with his people over and over again. You think about those that were great shepherds in the Old Testament. Moses, David, both of them shepherds before they led God's people. That's how that task was. And as you have there, there were just as though there were good shepherds in the Old Testament. There were also poor shepherds,  faithlessshepherds, wicked shepherds.  And Ezekiel chapter 34 is filled with all kinds of descriptions of what these poor shepherds were. And the prophet Ezekiel, he had to rebuke them, saying, woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves instead of feeding God's people. They were feeding themselves. They were caring for themselves. They were basically abusing God's people, charging them more for the sacrifices and sellingthem for exorbitant prices so that they could pocket their accounts and really store up for themselves. Even under their leadership God said, my flock have become prey. He said, the very people that you're called to protect, you're actually using to be a predator towards. And when Jesus approached his own city there and he saw how spiritually malnourished they were, he wept. In Matthew 9:36, he says, seeing the people, he felt compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited, like sheep without a shepherd. And even Peter, in this epistle he's writing to Christians who have received persecution. I mean, here it is. They have said yes to Jesus Christ, and they have automatically signed up to be persecuted. The outside world didn't want to have anything to do with those who were part of the body of Christ, and therefore Peter is even challenging them to live as aliens and strangers residing here. And they were scattered throughout various places of Asia because of this persecution. And they were receiving that externally. But then they also had false teaching internally. They were being mocked by the Jews and they were being maligned by the Gentiles. And after encouraging all of this, he said, look, we must endure these sufferings of Christ. They suffer. He suffered when he was here. And if we're going to follow him, we're going to suffer as well. They'll hate you because they hated him. But as he does this now, he now turns his attention and he addresses the elders of the church. And really, the main purpose of this message today is to help us to see that faithful eldering is essential to the life of the local church. And you might be saying, man, you know, well, I'm not an elder preacher man. You know, that's probably many of you in this room, right? But that doesn't mean that you need to check out on me on this message, because what you do is it'll help you to see the importance of that role in the life of the body. And I believe it will amplify your appreciation for the task that God has called elders to do. Your prayers will be enhanced and you'll also love the church even greater as you see the significance of this role.
  But we're going to look today and see three reasons why faithful elders are essential to the life of the church. And the first reason that we see out of this text is this...because elders have been solemnly charged. Elders have been solemnly charged. Peters is here in this letter and he says there in verse one of chapter five, therefore I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed. That therefore it really points back to verse 19, when, when he's telling Christians that they will suffer for the will of God, you're going to suffer. But he says,you're to share all things in that. Don't be surprised at the fiery ordeals when they come among you, as if there were some strange things that are going to happen, and hopefully when you suffer for Christ, it'll be sharing in his suffering and understanding him more. It will increase your appreciation for what he's done before you. And he's even saying, because of all of this suffering, you have to have the task of taking care of God's children in the midst of all of that persecution. It was vital. Peter is really trying to help the elders to see man, this is monumental. You got people that are now trying to follow Jesus Christ and they're receiving persecution. You've got to dismiss your task as doing faithful eldering among God's people. And so he's charging them. He's exhorting them. He's really saying, you must do this. And when Paul said these words to Timothy as a young elder, he says, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ, and of his chosen angels. You must lead out of that ambition if you're an elder. You realize that God himself placed you there and your ministry is before him. It's not just before a group of people. It's in the presence of God himself and all of those who have called by his name. Elders have a sacred charge, a task to take care of God's people. And even as Peter tells him, he says he's doing this as a fellow elder, he says, I exhort you. You know, when you talk about the elders, it may be good to ask the question, what is an elder? Well, there are two offices in the local church, and that's the elder and the deacon. That's found in 1 Timothy 3. And the elder is distinct from the deacon in a couple of ways. One is that he must be a man. And not only that, he's a one woman man that describes his character, his eyes for only one, and that is his wife. Um, it says the deacon could be either a man or a woman...deacon and deaconesses. That's why we have that. But the elders are men. The second thing is that he must be able to teach. That's what distinguishes the elder from the deacon is having the gift of teaching because he must teach God's house. The office of elders, even described in a few words in the New Testament. Presbuteros, which refers to an older man. We'll see that in this text. We don't see that one in this text. We see episcopus, which has the full scope, careful watch, and then Poime, which is the shepherd, the one that cares and tends and feeds the sheep. Those are all interchangeable terms that describes one office, and that's elder. Pastors are elders and elders are pastors. That's what that is. You see that in Ephesians chapter 4, that they are the shepherd preacher, pastor, teacher. That's really what our role is as elders. But that's the term. And those are the people that Peter is writing to. And he's charging them to say, hey, I exhort you to do this task because it's vital and we must get after it. And he's going to give them three reasons why they have this solemn charge. And one, he says, I'm your fellow elder. I love how Peter gives an example here. He exhorts them. He means he comes alongside of them as a partner in this ministry. He could have easily said, I'm the apostle. You better get at the task of eldering. But what does he do? He says, I exhort you, I'm coming alongside of you, brother, as a fellow elder. I'm not asking you to do what I'm not willing to do myself. I'm an elder in God's household. That was how he saw himself. He urges them because he had the same obligations as they did. You think about this. Peter didn't claim to be the Pope, nor the rock of the church. He didn't say, I'm the one that's the pillar. He called himself a fellow elder, which is great. I could think of a coach, a recent track coach there for some students in a local high school, and he was challenging them and the rigors of their training and because he knew it was important. But in those practices, some of the students were just grumbling and complaining. Oh, coach makes us run too much and why we got to do this again? You can probably imagine what that's like. If you've ever been through a sport where the coach is just determined to make you better, but then once they found out that this coach had been training himself to be on the US Olympic track and field team, what do you think happened with their receptivity? All of a sudden he had their attention. They were like, you got to be kidding me. Our coach is actually training himself to be on the US track and field team. So it gave him greater receptivity to all those commands that he was giving given them out there as they were training for track each and every day. Because they knew that they were talking to someone that was doing it himself. And that's exactly what Peter is doing, is he's exhorting these elders. He says, hey, I know it's tough. I know it's difficult. I know we're experiencing massive suffering that's even caused us to be scattered abroad. But at the same time, I'm a fellow elder with you. Let's elder up and take care of God's people. That's good eldering. He was giving them a great example to follow. And notice, when he does this, he says he's exhorting the elders...plural among them. It's plural for a reason, because there is the priority of having plurality and elders, not just having one man. That really when you have the plurality, it produces more care because you have a a greater quantity that are able to share the ministry that God has given to a local church. It also prevents uniformity. You know the body of Christ has various gifts, and God raises men that are elders, and we all have various gifts. And even on this elder team, some of us have their most pronounced in evangelism, others in teaching, others in counseling and exhorting and encouraging. And we all get a chance to bring that together as a plurality. And that's God's design for a church, not just to have one person. And, you know, there are situations where there's a man that's out there and he's doing the very best he can and praise God for the work. And he's pursuing and raising and training up. And this isn't an indictment to that person at all. But it really is a desire that there be a plurality of men faithful, qualified by 1 Timothy 3 and are able to be at the task. And that's who Peter is writing to. You know, you think about this, it also having plurality of elders. It provides continuity. Someone's down or someone leaves. The church continues to flourish and grow and are edified because of plurality of elders. But he not only gives them this solemn charge as a fellow elder, he also says he's a witness to the sufferings of Christ. What he talks about here is he's saying that I've witnessed these things firsthand. Peter was an eye witness of Christ's suffering. He saw when he was unrighteouslyapprehended in the Garden of Gethsemane, wrongfully accused in the trial. And he was there when he was maliciously beaten and hung on a cross. And having said this, Peter is compelled by Christ to tell of these things. And when he says that witness that term is marturet is where we get martyr. He says, not only if I witness these things, but I'm going to die telling about these things. That's how much of a burden Peter had for this. He says, elders, you got to do this. I've witnessed the sufferings of Christ. I saw what our Lord did to give us this task so that we can helphis people. That's why you've got to be faithful at the task. It's a solemn charge. It's a sacred charge, by God, be about it. Even in just thinking about coaching and that same imagery, this would be the coach who knows what it's like to have experience, you know, and saying, look, I know that I've suffered and I've been in the trenches, but you can do this. And this is what Peter is doing. He's coming alongside of these elders that are struggling to help them to see the necessity of the task. And then he does it also as a partaker of the glory to be revealed. He says, I've observed Christ's glory. You know, really what he's talking about is the transfiguration. He was one of three that were actually able to see Christ when he had a full future glory on display, and Moses and Elijah there. And he said, I was that one that saw that. So not only...you can see how he's ratcheting up the charge here, he says, not only am I a fellow elder, but I've witnessed those sufferings. But I also saw that future glory. That future glory that's brilliant. It's beautiful, it's majestic. And we want to taste it. Like a coach who's won several championships and he comes to the team and says, look, we can do this because I know what it's like to hold up that trophy...to be there when all the hard work has paid off. And that's what Peter is doing, is he's challenging these elders. He's saying, let's do that. And that same charge needs to be true today. Eldering is difficult work. Sometimes it's sleepless nights. You have the burden of the people on your minds. You wake up with cares of the flock. But Peter is saying, man, it's worth it. It's worth it. And I pray that you would pray for elders because they have that burden, they have this task, they have this charge. But ultimately God says it's mandatory and it's essential for the life of his local church. You see, if shepherds flee, and so will the sheep. And so that's why the charge is essential. That's the first reason that faithful elders are essential in the life of the local church.  The second reason that faithful elders are essential is because elders have been significantly tasked. Not only have they been solemnly charged, they're significantly tasked here. Elders have the responsibility of doing what this task says in verse 2, and that's shepherd, the flock of God among you. You see, Peter lays out the elders task so he knows what to do, whose they are and where they at.  In what to do, he says, Shepherd the flock. This is the primary task of the elder. It's to feed the sheep. Feed the sheep. It's to teach them the Word of God. That's the primary focus. And even that was what Jesus told Peter, right? Feed my sheep. Tend the lambs. Feed the sheep, feed them. You know, we use the Word of God as written in 2 Timothy 3:16. It's to teach, to rebuke, to correct, to train in righteousness, and doing all that with great patience and instruction. Elders are required to teach, and we should be teaching the whole counsel of God. You see, now more than ever, we need Biblically informed, theologically astute men in the pulpit, feeding God's people, feeding the people. There's all kind of lies. People are redefining terms. They're deconstructing Christianity. We've got to have faithful men in the pulpit preaching and saying, this is what thus sayeth the Lord. We don't have time for games. Don't have time for gimmicks and theatrics. Elders, they need to be found faithful in the pulpit. They aren't to be finding faults with the sheep. They need to build them up and equip them. And sadly, I've been in in churches where they stand up in the pulpit and they berate the sheep, tell them how bad they are. It's as if they're taking the shepherd's rod and beating every single sheep in the church. Sadly, and even on the other end, you see some churches that they want their pastor to be anything other than a shepherd. You know, they want him to be a psychiatrist, a philanthropist, a statesman, a philosopher, a book writer, a Biblical scholar and a theologian and a community leader and a conference speaker. I want you to be wanted on the conference, but we don't want them to have you. We just want you to be wanted. I mean, you know, that's what they want for the elders. It's pressure. But God says it's not all about that. They got one task, and that's to shepherd the flock of God...Shepherd. We don't need entertainers and motivational speakers. We need shepherds building up the people from the word of life. That's the shepherds role. He has that task. And so that's what he's doing here. He's saying, Shepherd, the flock. Do that. Care for them, protect them, lead them, guide them all nurtured from the scriptures. He also tells them whose they are. He says, Shepherd the flock of God. Guess what? The significance of this responsibility for the elders is that these are God's people. You know when the elders aren't eldering they're people. These aren't my people. There's no elder that says, these are my people in this church. This is the flock of God. They belong to him. We've been entrusted with your souls. And that's the key that you must keep that in mind. I think about that often when I'm going out and and doing the ministry. You know, when I rebuke, encourage, teach, I'm thinking to myself, This is Christ's church. Did I say that, like Jesus Christ would have said that if he was here himself? That I have the same attitude, even if I did the right thing, that I have the the same attitude of Jesus Christ.Because after all, it's his flock. It's his people. You think about that. That's sobering. Do the elders of the church say what Jesus would say? Do what Jesus would do? Do we care like Jesus cares? Do we correct like Jesus corrects. Do we cry like Jesus Christ cries...weeps for his people because he sees the mess that they're in, and he wants to help them with truth. That's the posture. We don't own the people. We've been entrusted. And that's why elders must be faithful. Because they're gifts from God. He also says where the people are. He says the flock of God among you. He gives a qualifier there. Thank the Lord that it ain't all the saints in the world. That would be tough for every one of us to shepherd all the saints in the world at all time. He says, no. The flock of God is universal...all the flock. But he says, your responsibility as an elder is the flock of God among you. That speaks to the believers that have submitted to the elders in the context of the local body, the local church. You can even see that underscored in verse 3 where he says, those that are allotted to your charge. He's not thinking of every Christian, and it's not just every Christian that is around. It's those who have committed to this church by way of membership. It's those that say that they're submitted to the elders and committed to the body. Those are the ones that we'll stand and give an account for, not the one that may come one Sunday and leave for three come two Sundays. Gone for two. It's hard for us. We wouldn't be able to stand before the Lord and give an account for that person. But if they say I am going to submit to the elders here and commit to the body utilizing my gift. Those are the ones that God will hold us accountable. And even Hebrews 13:17 says, those who will keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. All of the elders here at this church realize that we're going to stand one day before the Lord Jesus Christ, and we're going to have to give an account for those he entrusted into our care. You see how significant that task is? That's significant. The elders don't have the authority. It's borrowed from Christ, but it's done in the context of the local church. And that's why we have a premium for members. We want to care for them. Our elders have a care list we divided our body up and we check on them all throughout the year at various times, and making sure that all those who are under our watch are tended to and they're being edified and equipped and having an opportunity to serve faithfully in the local church. You see, those are responsibilities, but they also have the requirements. And look at what he says even after that, He says they're exercising oversight, that exercising oversight, that term, episcopus, is really the episcope is to look at something with great scrutiny. That Greek term, it really came from the military commander, when a visiting general would come to the troops to see if they were battle worthy. He had the big picture, and he understood the people, and he could see exactly who needed to go where. And that's what the elder does. He has the episcope. He's looking at the direction of the church. Not only is he concerned about the doctrine, he's looking at the direction. He's thinking about those things. That's the difference in the elder and the deacon. The deacon can be serving. He leads by serving, and the elder he serves by leading. It's different. The deacon can kind of be plugging the holes in the wall, whereas the elder is on top of the wall, giving oversight. That's kind of the imagery here. And he lays out really the contrasting statements that goes along with these requirements. If you look there, he says, when you're exercising oversight and shepherding the flock, you're to do that voluntarily. The elder he must discharge these tasks voluntarily. He says, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God. You see, the elder is not to be able to do this being forced on the outside, but he should be compelled on the inside to shepherd God's people. He ought to have a fire in his bosom that says, I must preach and teach the Word. It's like Paul said, woe is me if I don't preach the gospel, 1 Corinthians 9:16. He couldn't sit down and be still and not teach God's church. And that's what the elder must do. It can't be people coming up and saying, you must do this task. You've seen it in churches, possibly where the elder is come in because they said, oh, well, we need more help. Oh, you know, we need more men. Oh, we got more people now. And they just get guilted into this task. And some people do it just because they don't have enough older men. They say, hey, you old, you look like an elder. Let's come and elder our church. God says that they must be elder. They don't have to be elderly. By the way, just to let you know, because the kid wouldn't fit that category. Because, you know, I'm young, young guy over here. I'm young, I'm young, I'm young, I'm young. Don't let these little, little gray hairs fool you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry I detoured a little bit. But all that being said, some people, they put him in just because they need men. But he says, no, you shouldn't be compelled for this. You should do it because you desire it on the inside. And some people, they see men that they'd have good business skills or great leadership ability in the world. And they say, ah, you're a good fit for an elder. Well, those don't automatically translate because a man must be saved, he must be sanctified. He must have those qualifications that are listed in 1 Timothy 3. But then he must be able to teach these scriptures to be able to proclaim truth. That'sexactly what he does. Not under compulsion to do it, but he must do it eagerly. Even you see there, he says, it's not for sordid gain, but with eagerness. We don't use sordid gain, but it means you're in it for money...filthy lucre. You know, some men, they see eldering as an opportunity to have a lucrative opportunity to make money and gain materials and really build their kingdom on earth, as opposed to advancing God's kingdom through the church. They say, man, I got an enterprise now, people following me. I'm getting more likes on my social media. I'm able to kind of have these people following. I can write books, I can make money, I can advance, I can do podcasts, I can do these things. And it's for selfish gain. It's not all of them, but there's some that that's what they do. And he says it shouldn't be done out of sordid gain, but with eagerness. It's eagerness. You see, you can't stop a good elder from shepherding God's people. It doesn't matter what I make, I'm going to tend to God's people because Ilove to do it, because I'm serving the King. There are people that ask...they say, man, Kurtis, you was in a corporate environment. Why would you give that up? I say it's because of God's people. It's because I love God's people. Sunday morning is one of the sweetest times to see the church, to see families that are still together because the Word has impacted their life. Couples still married because they're listening to truth. Students coming alongside of their parents submitting to them because they've been impacted by the Word.  I love God's church. It's a sweet thing and every elder feels the same way. Love, love the people. We could do it and get paid peanuts and would do it with joy and gladness because of our joy for the Lord and His church. It's a joy, and it's sad to see men out there that are abusing this office, using it for selfish ambition, berating the people, taking advantage of them financially. When God says it's not sordid gain it's eagerness. It should come from the heart. And I love to do it because it's not only a duty, it's a delight. And that should be the case for every elder worth his salt. And that's the kind of elders, praise the Lord, that I believe you have in this local church. Walked alongside of all of them. We're not in it for reputation. We're in it to represent the name that is above all names, and that is Jesus Christ the King. And we're to do it not only out of eagerness, but he says also we are to do it exemplary. He says, you're to be an example to the flock. It means that we're modeling versus commanding. You see, the Gentiles, they have it that way. They lorded their leadership over the people. It was a top down approach. They say, hey, I'm going to exercise and wield my weight on a person to accomplish the things that I want. But even Jesus in Mark 10:42-45, he says it shouldn't be that way among you. That's how the Gentiles do it. He says, but whoever is to be first among you and great, he ought to be the servant. You must wish to be a slave of all he says, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life a ransom for many. That's the example that Jesus gave us. And that's the example that elders are to be among the flock, not lording it over them like the Gentiles. You think about the example that it also means that you've got to be among the people to be an example to the people. It can't be in some ivory tower, you know, making decisions, being businessmen, you've got to be among the flock. And that's what God would have the elder to do. You must look at their own lives as well. You've got to do it with scrutiny. They're looking at and examining our spiritual walk and seeing if it's a walk that honors Christ, because people are going to follow our every move. That's why Paul would even say to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16, pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching. He says, watch your life, because if you do this, you're going to ensure salvation, both for yourself and for those who hear. He says, pay attention to your life. Pay attention to your life. The same would be true for all of us. We've got to do that. Not only should we be scrutinizing our life, but our life should be among the body. You know, even as we look for potential elders, or the question that we commonly ask at the elder table is who in the church smells like sheep? The men that are among the people, they're caring, they're counseling, they're meeting them in the hospital. They're coming alongside to give them a word. They're doing the work that an elder does, because the elder is to be an example and be among the sheep among the flock. Well, those are the two reasons that faithful elders are essential. They've been solemnly charged. They've been significantly tasked.  
  The third and final reason that faithful elders are essential to the life of the church is that the elders will be substantially rewarded. What is it they ought to get for all this hard work? Christ himself will grant him an eternal reward. Verse 4 says, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. I love how Peter says...when he appears. It's not if, it's not if it might happen. Or in Hickory you say it might can happen, that Jesus Christ might come. It ain'tgoing to be a might can scenario. He says, when the chief Shepherd appears, because Jesus Christ is coming. He says, when that happens, when that happens, the chief or as John 10:11 calls him the good Shepherd, the one who lays his life down for the sheep or the great Shepherd, is what Hebrews writes, the great shepherd of the sheep, or even Peter earlier in this epistle in chapter 2:25, calls him the shepherd and guardian of your soul when he comes, the one who died for the church, the one who loves the church more than any other elder when he comes. Guess what? He's going to bring the reward that's commensurate with the elder who's been doing the faithful work in the church. He says you're going to receive an unfading crown of glory. You see, this crown is guaranteed for those he says you will receive it. It doesn't matter how big the congregation he led or how small it was. It doesn't matter how many books he wrote or how many books he read, he was faithful to the task, and Christ will himself reward that faithful elder. It says this crown is an unfading crown. You know, the Greco-Roman era. They had, you know, they would after enduring a long period of sacrifice, these athletes and their diet and exhausting themselves, they would receive a crown. And a lot of times this crown was a laurel wreath is made with branches and leaves, and sometimes they would have certain flowers that would last anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks. And they thought that was something that was like, man, that was the eternal flower because it never faded. Until about eight weeks later. But guess what? When Jesus Christ comes and that elder has been faithful at that task, he is going to give them an unfading crown throughout all eternity because of the work that he did to minister to his sheep. At the end of the day this is not what the elder is aiming for, but you can see how Peter could use this because of the enormity of the task and all that was at stake. He's saying, look at the future glory that you get a chance to share in with Jesus Christ Himself in eternity. It's worth it. Shepherd God's people. But in the end, as good as elders are, they're mere men. As good as they are, they're sheep, just like you are. One theologian said it this way. He said, elders are not Jesus. Jesus Christ is the chief shepherd, and the elders are merely his temporary helpers. His under-shepherds is what we are. You see, elders, he says, relies on Jesus just like everyone else. And even though they're shepherds, they're very much still sheep. At their best, elders model Jesus's character. They teach Jesus's word, and they lead the church by pointing them towards Jesus and His mission. Good elders never lose the awareness that they themselves are still sheep and utterly dependent upon the grace of the Good Shepherd. Isn't that sweet? That's sweet. That the chief Shepherd would still give strength to those who are tending to his flock in the local church. Well, you might be thinking, how can a man fulfill a task like this? Well, just think about the one who wrote this letter, Peter. He was the very disciple that disowned Jesus. He denied him. He denied the Lord of glory three times before the crow of the rooster. He said that the moment of failure could have caused him really to run away. Could have caused him to say, I'm done because of how bad he was in that moment. But when Jesus Christ came, he extended forgiveness, and he gave Peter this task. He said, feed my sheep, tend my lambs, feed my sheep. There might be somebody out here today saying, you don't know me, preacher man. I'm a failure. There's no way that God would want me in his household. There's no way that that I could be a shepherd, let alone a sheep in God's house. The arms of Christ are still open wide, just as he was for Peter. His arms are open for you. If you look to him, repent, you can trust in Jesus Christ today and be saved from your sin. And that chief Shepherd can be your shepherd. The good shepherd can be your shepherd and give you the things that you need to matriculate through this life, ultimately for his glory. You might be sitting here thinking this whole sermon, man, I it may have been really just for you to understand the depths of God's grace in the glories of the gospel, because like Isaiah 53:6, it says, all of us, like sheep have gone astray, you know. But each of us have turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of all of us to fall on him. Jesus Christ paid that debt. You could turn to him today and be saved. He'll forgive you, and you can seek his face. But for those of you that are in Christ and you're here in this church and you're not an elder, I figured I'd need to give you some practical takeaways for this sermon. One of them is this become a member of your church. Become a member of your church. That really is something that you want. You want this type of commitment over your soul, this care, this watch. You need to be committed to being under their care. Be a member. It means it's saying that you're going to submit to the elders and commit to the body use your gifts and you're doing that all in love because we're one. Another thing you can do is, is pray for your elders. Now you see the significance of that task. Pray, pray, pray. Solicit your prayers. Pray for them as you know what is at stake. Even the scrutiny that we'll have more strict judgment for those who teach as James 3 says, pray for your elders. Also submit to your elders. You see, you submit to the Lord who you cannot see by submitting to the elders that you can see. That's how you do that. That's how you exercise your submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. And as you do that, you'll bless the elders. The writer of Hebrews, he says in Hebrews 13:17 he says, if you submit, then your elders can serve with with joy and gladness and not misery and sadness. All right. That was the Kurtis standard version. But you know what I'm trying to say? The elders are like. Amen. Amen. That will preach. That will preach. But submit to your elders. Also get to know your elders. Get to know them. I love how 1 Thessalonians 5:12 says, appreciate those who have charge over you in the Lord. Appreciate them. It means to understand them enough that you get a chance to appreciate their work. Come alongside them, help them do things with them. I mean, spend time, you know, come and serve them. I mean, I know an elder that lives on 436 17th Avenue Drive that has a whole bunch of leaves. I mean he would love to have you come and spend time with him as he as he does his leaves. I'm just saying, I'm just saying. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's that would be true. Tend his leaves as he tends sheep. I'm just saying, I'm just saying. But get to know him. Honestly, that was not really intentional. It was just a joke. But spend some time with him. Get to know them. I've heard people say the more they're around, they get to know their elders, the more they are like man. Praise God for giving me such faithful men and we need that encouragement in a day like this. People accusing us of hate speech. We're up against pressures in society and sometimes internally within the house. Get to know your elders. And then imitate your elders. As Paul said, be imitators of me, as I also am Christ. Imitate their ways. God has put us in an exemplary role so that you can follow our example.  And then if you're a man here, consider becoming an elder, even if you've never had the aspiration, at least pursue the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3. Want your life to be exemplified by that, so that God can continue to do faithful work in this church. I heard one writer say that there are two rivals that refuse to allow men to raise up as elders, and one of them is the presence of leisure and the absence of love. Don't let that be true of you. If God has put that in your heart and you're leading faithfully and love that task, aspire to that office so that God can continue to do his work. Well, God gives elders as shepherds to his sheep so that we might grow spiritually his flock and then reproduce other healthy sheep. The elders are at the highest level of leadership used by God to sanctify his people from one generation down to the next, throughout the plan of redemptive history. And that's why faithful elders are essential. Let's pray that God would allow the elders of this church to be the men he's called them to be.
  Gracious Father, we thank you for your truth. I ask that you would use it to instruct us, guide us, and help us to understand what it is that is expected of those who are in this office of elder. I pray, Lord, that you would continue to raise up faithful men in this task, and also help them to display their gifts and employ what they should do, all for your glory and honor, in Jesus' name. Amen.