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1 Peter 5:1-5
5:1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,1 not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;2 not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
[1] 5:2
[2] 5:2
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
If you have your bibles, I invite you to open them to 1st Peter chapter 5. And then working our way through first Peter. We are entering the last chapter, first Peter chapter 5. We'll begin reading in verse 1. So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.
Jeffrey Heine:Shepherd the flock of God that is among you. Exercising oversight. Not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you. Not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Jeffrey Heine:Likewise, you who are younger be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves all of you with humility towards one another. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Pray with me. Our father, we ask that in this moment you would send your spirit and he would come and make things clear to us.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus, we would hear you calling. Well, we need to hear from you. It's the reason we've gathered. It's great seeing friends. It can be fun singing songs, but the reason we have gathered is to worship you and to hear from you, Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:And so in this moment, I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and be remembered no more. The Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. I could see it in your eyes as I read the text, and it dawned on you that tonight we're gonna talk church government, and and how excited you were for this.
Jeffrey Heine:You're getting out your journals, ready to mark the day, mark the calendar when your life changed, and you heard that sermon on church government. You'll be telling your kids about this day, grandchildren, all about this text. I'll I'll give you this. It's not John 3 16. Alright?
Jeffrey Heine:It's not John 3 16. It's not the Sermon on the Mount, but it is in here. It's in here. God thought this important to give to us. He found it necessary to give these words about instructions for the elders.
Jeffrey Heine:In order to to let the church, to move the church in the direction where the church can be everything that God wants the church to be. Peter isn't just filling up space as we get to the end of the letter here. You know, like you used to do in college. You had a a 6 page paper, you're 5 and a half in, and you just you're just typing it. It really doesn't even make sense.
Jeffrey Heine:You're you're just you're just filling it up to the end. That's not what Peter is doing here. What's this is extremely important for the life of the church, and for the whole message that he's been preaching up to this point. In God's wisdom, he decided not only to establish the church, but to give the church leaders whom he calls elders or pastors. Pastors, elders, the two words are used interchangeably throughout scripture.
Jeffrey Heine:These are the spiritual leaders of the church. One of our elders, Thomas Ritchie, preached on that about a year ago. I'd encourage you to listen on eldership. I don't want to repeat some of the things that he said. I want us more particularly to look what first Peter has for us and maybe just highlight a couple of new things.
Jeffrey Heine:It's a timely message for us. Many of you spent some time this week fasting and praying for our elders because we got away yesterday for the entire day. We had a, I think, 12 or 13 hour meeting, with the elders and the staff and the wives, a time to pray together, seek the Lord's heart for our church. We really appreciate you praying for us as we met, and and God was very good, to meet us there and to give us direction for where we think he calls us is calling us to be. Let me read to you some words from Titus.
Jeffrey Heine:Titus 1:5. Paul is writing to Titus and he says, this is why I left you in Crete so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. Now as an apostle and as a herald of the gospel, Paul has just established multiple churches all throughout the area of Crete. And now he was moving on to plant even more churches in other areas. However, when he left these Christians, these churches in Crete, he didn't just leave them alone.
Jeffrey Heine:He left behind his trusted friend, his colleague, Titus, and he gave Titus one task. Titus, I need you to appoint elders in every town, every church, and every town there where I have planted. So Paul sees his work as incomplete until elders were established. To put what he had started into order, to give it a structure and a system in which it can move forward. I just want you to let that sink in for a moment.
Jeffrey Heine:I I know it sounds like a boring statement, but just just let that sink in. Paul has established a church. He has left behind spirit filled, Bible believing, born again Christians, who are gathering together. And he says, that's not enough. These Christians need more for for for this work that I have started to flourish.
Jeffrey Heine:Titus, they need elders. And he doesn't just say, Titus, I just want you to stay and and I want you to pastor everybody there. I want you to provide leadership. I want you to provide direction for all of the churches. I don't trust anybody else.
Jeffrey Heine:So Titus, you do this. That that's not what Paul says. Says, Titus, I want you to establish elders. Elders in the plural. And when you go through the new new testament, never will you read when a church is established that just an elder was put there.
Jeffrey Heine:It is always in the plural. Elders are established at the local church. You see, the way God designed it is that there's never gonna be that one guy, that that one pastor, that one personality that dictates the direction of the church, that leads a church. That's not God's design there, but he wants the church to be led by a group of people with equal authority. And so, I am one of the elders, and so is like Ryan De Villeneuve, Thomas Ritchie, James Kling, Corey Scoggin.
Jeffrey Heine:These are all elders, and and we're all equal. Nobody has power over the other. A couple of weeks ago, my middle child, Natalie, she's 9. She asked if we could take a trip somewhere. She wanted a special daddy daughter date or something, and, but she wanted it to be for the weekend.
Jeffrey Heine:And, I told her, I'd like to do that, but I, you know, I gotta be there for Sunday. And she looks at me, she goes, daddy, aren't you the boss? It's like, I mean, can't can't you just tell people when you want to go? Can't you do what you want to do? And I said, church doesn't work that way.
Jeffrey Heine:It's like, I'm I'm not the boss of these these elders, and she just looks at me for a moment, and she goes, but you can fire them. Right? I was like, actually, no. They they could fire me. She goes, but daddy, I don't want them to fire you.
Jeffrey Heine:You know, she she gets all worked up about that. Like, I don't think they are, you know, I haven't heard anything. But the church is not to be ruled by 1 guy, one personality. No matter how great, no matter how godly that that guy must is or might be, God has designed the church to be governed, to be led by a group of men sharing power. And it's to this group that Peter now directs his attention to, as he comes towards the end of his letter.
Jeffrey Heine:In verse 1, he says, so I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder. Peter addresses them as a fellow elder. Now Peter could have said here, you know, I I address you as an apostle of God, and not just any apostle. As the rock on which the church is built, I address you. But but he doesn't.
Jeffrey Heine:He addresses them as a fellow elder. He he's saying, hey. I'm I'm like you, and hear me. Don't think for a moment that Peter is lowering himself down as if he is condescending to their level. What he is doing is he is elevating that position of elder.
Jeffrey Heine:You're saying as a fellow elder, you know fellow elder, this is a God given glorious task that you've been given. To be an elder is a high calling, and it is a calling. It's not a merit. It's not somehow earned. I find it really interesting that Peter, he calls himself a fellow elder.
Jeffrey Heine:And then the first thing he does is he links that to being a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Now read that. He says as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Now let me ask you, when did Peter exactly see Christ suffer? When when was that?
Jeffrey Heine:When Jesus was arrested in the garden, I mean, after Peter, you know, got his sword out, Peter fled. Peter wasn't there at the cross when Jesus was dying. He didn't he didn't witness that. What Peter is alluding to here is when Jesus was on trial at the temple, and he was standing before the Jewish council, and he was before the high priest. Peter got to watch what was going on.
Jeffrey Heine:He was in the courtyard, and he got to see what was happening as Jesus was being mocked, as Jesus was being beaten, as Jesus was being interrogated. He got he got to witness that. And all the while that that was happening, Peter was undergoing his own interrogation, but it wasn't really an official interrogation. It was just a, you know, few peoples. Are are you with Jesus?
Jeffrey Heine:No. No. No. I don't I don't even know what you're talking about. And he he finally denies Jesus to even a little girl.
Jeffrey Heine:And after he denied Jesus that third time, Luke 22 says that Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter. Straight at him. What do you think Peter saw in Jesus's eyes? Now I'm sure he saw the deepest love, but he was also a witness of the suffering. Suffering he had caused.
Jeffrey Heine:The pain of being betrayed by a dear friend at that moment. Peter was the cause of this suffering. So when Peter says, as a fellow elder and as a witness of the suffering, he's reminding these people of his incredible failure. I have failed horribly. Yet, god, by his favor and god's favor alone, he has raised me up, and he has he's allowed me to be a shepherd, to be an elder, to be a pastor.
Jeffrey Heine:It's not my merit. I failed him. After the resurrection, when Peter met with Jesus, 3 times, if you remember, Jesus asked Peter, do you love me? Peter says, lord, you know I love you, and he says, well, feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me?
Jeffrey Heine:Yes. Tend tend my lambs. Peter, do you love me? Yes. Feed my sheep.
Jeffrey Heine:When Jesus is restoring Peter at that moment after his immense failure, he's restoring him to a position of eldership. That's what an elder is, a shepherd who feeds sheep. At our Ella retreat yesterday is, we we were spent 2 hours just praying for one another, and, one of the things when we're going through what we could pray for, people just I just feel so inadequate for this. I just feel like I fail at this. Failure kind of became a theme for a lot of us, and it was so good to be reminded of this here.
Jeffrey Heine:Yeah. We're failures. But you don't become an elder based on your merit. But out of God's favor, he restores us, and he places you as shepherds. It's out of gratitude for what God has done that elders willingly say, yes, we'll serve, and we'll serve out of joy.
Jeffrey Heine:Peter, he he goes on here and he says, he's not only a witness of the suffering, but he's a partaker of the glory to be revealed. And we're not sure what Peter's talking about here. He might be talking about the transfiguration. He got to to witness a glimpse of the glory of Jesus, or maybe it's the resurrection of Jesus. But anyway, at some point, he got a glimpse of what one day he will bask in, and I think he is just overwhelmed with how low he was, and how high God has brought him and will bring him.
Jeffrey Heine:And he just thinks, what a privilege. And so when this in mind, Peter then says to the elders, shepherd the flock of God among you. When you think of an elder of a church, don't think of a board of directors, the board of directors for the church. You know, it's not a bunch of men sitting around this, you know, large conference table, drinking coffee, you know, talking about all the different ways you can grow a church. That that is not being an elder.
Jeffrey Heine:To be an elder is to be a shepherd. Once again, the word shepherd, the word pastor, they're the same word there. Elder pastor used interchangeably all throughout the new testament, and I would argue that shepherd is the language that we need to keep as a church when we think of the leadership of the church. There are churches out there who find the language of shepherd and sheep as archaic, outdated. And so you'll you'll find some some churches using the phrase of like team leader or the coach.
Jeffrey Heine:But but when you use those words, you lose something. Oh, when you think of an elder, don't think of a CEO. Don't think of a board of directors. Picture an exhausted man, carrying a scared, muddy sheep, who he has spent days looking for, and likely doesn't even want to be found. Picture a tired mess of a man walking with that sheep, and then picture the joy in his face of finding.
Jeffrey Heine:That's a good picture of an elder. I have sat in so many elder meetings over the years, And I can tell you, thankfully, that the vast majority of our time and the elders of this church is spent talking about shepherding. How we can be good shepherds. I remember vividly, a couple years ago, we're at Cornerstone Schools where we were meeting. It was just a normal Sunday, and we were packed.
Jeffrey Heine:We were just slam packed in there. No room for anybody. And we had an elder meeting afterwards, and so we we go up to my office, and we're sitting around the table, and the first thing I do at every elder meeting is I hand out a list of all of our members, so we have them in front of us. I say, guys, what what what are we gonna do? I mean, what what do we do?
Jeffrey Heine:We can't fit any more people. Do do we go to 2 services? Do we turn people away? Do we look for a bigger space? There's just silence there.
Jeffrey Heine:I remember it was it was it was you, Thomas. You said, I'm not saying that those issues are not important, But let's not talk about how to accommodate new people until we can faithfully shepherd the ones we have. And we went through the list of people. He held that up, and he's like, you know, our our issues of growth are gonna resolve itself, but I know that this marriage will not without our help. I know that this hurting person will not without our help, and just redirected our attention to shepherding.
Jeffrey Heine:I'm very grateful that we have men like this. Peter gives 3 instructions as to how elders can shepherd the flock well. He states them first as a negative and then a positive. We'll go through these quickly. Look at verse 2.
Jeffrey Heine:Shepherd the flock of God that is among you exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you not for shameful gain, but eagerly Not domineering over those in your charge, but examples of the flock. So first, he says an elder is never to be forced into doing this. You you don't try to guilt an elder to serve. You don't do that. This is this is something they do willingly.
Jeffrey Heine:It shouldn't be a chore that's given to them that they could then be lazy on, but this eagerly done as a act of worship. Paul or Peter, he then says that one must not be an elder for shameful gain. One should not become an elder in order to get rich. One should not become a pastor, so then they could go around, grow congregation, milk them of money, and live an extravagant lifestyle. That's not a calling of a pastor.
Jeffrey Heine:Now, Paul tells us that some pastor should get paid that a worker is worthy of their wages. He tells us that. And let me just say, just I am so thankful that you guys give and you allow me to make a living off of preaching. Thank you. I've been struck by this before, but I make a living proclaiming the death and the suffering of my savior.
Jeffrey Heine:That's that's my living. Kinda hits me at times. I make a living getting to study words from Peter, who was executed for proclaiming the gospel. I get to proclaim that. I I get to study and preach from letters from Paul, who was executed for proclaiming the gospel, then I get to make a living from it.
Jeffrey Heine:It is an incredible privilege, and I I don't take that lightly. Jeff doesn't take that lightly. It's not promised to us, but I thank you for allowing that to happen. I think it's right, and I think it's biblical to do so, but it is an incredible privilege. Peter will move on.
Jeffrey Heine:Peter says that elders are not to be domineering over those in your charge, but there to be examples. You know, there's times when shepherds need to be firm. There's times they might even have to correct or rebuke people who are unwilling to listen, but shepherds are never to be domineering. Jesus said, a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Doesn't take the life of a sheep, doesn't oppress the life of a sheep, but lays down his life for the sheep.
Jeffrey Heine:I think I think it's important for us to understand that especially as we see the movement of this letter. Chapter 5, it begins with the word so, Perhaps your Bible, it's therefore, but whether you translate it as so or therefore, what is what Peter's doing is connecting eldership to everything that's come before, what Jeff preached on last week, which is about the fiery trials, which is about suffering that's coming our way. Alright. Considering the suffering coming our way, I need to address you elders. I need to address you.
Jeffrey Heine:I need I need to exhort you about some things. And the reason he is doing this is because if you are a leader of the church, you've got a giant bull's eye on you as suffering comes. You are likely you likely will be the first people to undergo persecution, the first people to suffer. So elders, I need to address you on this. When suffering comes, an elder is to endure this while continuing to live a life of godliness.
Jeffrey Heine:And this should be an example to the flock. Jesus said that if you're a hireling, when suffering comes, first thing you do is you leave. But if you're a shepherd, you stay, even if it means laying down your life for the sheep. That's the calling of an elder. Let me just say a couple of other things about what it means to to be an example here.
Jeffrey Heine:This might be obvious, but sometimes I feel like I need to state the obvious because we we might miss this. But someone can only be an example to you if they are around you. The pope, I'm sure is a great guy, but he can't be an example to you. John Piper, Tim Keller, They can't be an example to you, because you don't rub shoulders with them, and and they have a unique position in calling. But but you can look in an elder, and you can follow their lead.
Jeffrey Heine:They can be an example to you as well because they're not different from you. If you look at the qualifications for elders in Titus and in first Timothy, if you look at their qualifications, it's what's required of every Christian. Be hospitable. Be kind. Be a good spouse.
Jeffrey Heine:The only difference is elders are also required to teach, but what's required of them is required of every Christian. And so they really can be examples. You can look at them, and you can see how they model hospitality. You can see how they model forgiveness, kindness. You can see how when they sin, which they will sin, and they will fail.
Jeffrey Heine:How they cling to the gospel. But they can be examples. A good book cannot be an example to you. A podcast cannot be an example to you, and and you can't subject yourselves to a podcast.
Connor Coskery:How do
Jeffrey Heine:you do that? Matt Chandler can't be your elder. John Piper can't be your elder, because they are not among you. There is an implied membership here. Elders live among you and are given a very specific flock.
Jeffrey Heine:This is how God has chosen to take care of the church. How the church can reach its potential. I wanna end with both a charge to our elders, and a charge to our church. To the elders. I want to read to you these words from Acts 20.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul is traveling to Jerusalem. He makes a pit stop in Ephesus. Doesn't even have time to really go into the city, but he says, bring the elders out. I I got to address them. These are his last words to the elders.
Jeffrey Heine:He says this, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. Elders, hear me. The church of God was obtained by the blood of Jesus. There is no greater cost. That means the church has infinite value to God.
Jeffrey Heine:I was on a mission trip to, leading a mission trip to Belize, I can't a number of years ago, and the problem with going there is you can't trust banks, anything like that, so you have to bring all your cash with you. And I remember I was on the trip, and I had in my right pocket $12,000 that I had to keep with me at all times. I couldn't even keep it in it's a $12,000. And the entire time, I'm like this. I mean, I'm just I'm so paranoid somebody's gonna take it.
Jeffrey Heine:I'm always watching over it, always protecting it, so scared I'm gonna lose it. And that is nothing. That is not does not compare to the value of the church, which was obtained by the blood of Jesus. It is has immeasurable value. God says, and I'm gonna put you elders as shepherds over this priceless thing.
Jeffrey Heine:Elders are gonna receive little recognition for this. You're gonna receive little thanks for this, but your reward is the unfading crown of glory. To our members, know that Jesus, who is called our great shepherd, he loved the church so much. And when he resurrected and he ascended and he went to heaven and sat on his throne, he sent not only his holy spirit, but he sent elders, shepherds. He gave the church shepherds to stand in his place to watch over and to protect, to care for his beloved church.
Jeffrey Heine:Elders are his provision for us as a church to become the church that he wants us to be. So my challenge to you is to pray for your elders. Listen to your elders. Learn from your elders, both as they fail and cling to the gospel, and as they succeed. Pray with me.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus, you are the great shepherd of the sheep. You are the one who watches over and takes care of our souls. We praise you for that, and, Lord, we we praise you you've given us a tangible expression of that by giving us a group of godly men, our elders, our pastors. And we wanna give you thanks that you care for your bride, you care for your church, you care for your flock so much that you would do that. And I pray in this moment for not just wisdom for these men, but Lord, an incredible heart for you.
Jeffrey Heine:I pray for a deepening of the gospel in their lives, where just as Peter never forgot his failure, and he never forgot the glory that awaits him, and how we saw both of those things as linked to his calling as eldership. Press that in on these men. May our church love them well, and may the elders love them well. All for your glory. In your name, Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen.