I Peter 5:1-4

Ministers of God's Grace

“Would you open your Bibles with me to...”

1Tim. 3:1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.

Pray

Into

√ Church leadership

"bishop, elder, pastor, deacon"

The Bible uses all of these titles - often interchangeably - to describe those men whom God has called and gifted to care for His people.

Note that Paul tells young Timothy…

"This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work."

A "good work"! Paul is telling us that any man who desires in his heart to serve God in this way has a good (and Godly) desire! It's good to want to serve the Lord!

Indeed it is a great privilege to serve God in a place of leadership within His Church.

Those who serve Jesus well are humbled to receive many blessings, both in this life and eternity.

Ex. The man from Ghana

"If you are a pastor, a servant of God, then you are a great man!"

Yet, with the privileged of serving God in a position of church leadership carries great responsibility.

Thus, the Bible is gives us specific qualifications for those who desire to serve God in this way.

Ex. The "pastoral epistles" & Acts 6

Tell us what to "look for" in the life of man who is called to be a leader in the church.

Faithful

Full of the Holy Spirit

Good reputation

Man of integrity

Able to handle the Word of God

√ In our study this morning however, Peter takes a different approach and calls leaders to examine their heart.

To look at "why" and "how" they serve the Lord.

Because our motivation for service, why we do what we do…

…is just as important as what we do!

While we can fool people regarding our heart motives, we can't fool Jesus.

Grace is to mark every area of our lives - how much more important that those called to oversee God's people make sure that their…

…ministries are marked by God's Grace!

Peter's qualifications to exhort (vs. 1)

1Pet. 5:1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:

√ Exhortation

Peter turns his attention from the general body of believers to now address the "elders" in the Church.

"elder" = presbuteros pres-boo'-ter-o

Literally, the elderly, or figuratively, those older in the Lord, who are called to lead the church.

To the elders Peter says…

"…you I exhort"

…means to "draw near". That is, Peter is calling the leaders in the church to draw near to him so that he might impart into their lives an important truth.

Kind of "heart to heart" talk - one elder to another.

Ap. Those are the words I live for!

Ex. Pastor's conferences - Q & A time

Such wisdom! Don't want to miss that which pastor Chuck believes is important to ministry!

√ Peter's qualifications

Before Peter shares his heart with these men he lays down a foundation for them as to why they should listen to him.

In other words, Peter is reminding them that he has the God given authority to speak into their lives regarding how they should serve the Lord.

Note his qualifications:

Fellow elder: note Peter's humility! He doesn't wave his apostleship before these men, instead he comes to them as a team member - just one of the guys! Reveals how much he had learned about the nature of Jesus.

Witness of Christ's sufferings: Peter was an eyewitness of the Crucifixion, he saw what Jesus endured for our sins.

Witness of Christ's glory: Peter was an eyewitness of Jesus after He rose from the dead and of His return to heaven!

Without boasting of his call, Peter reminds his readers that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Ex. An apostle

Historically the Church only recognized those…

Chosen by Jesus

Witnesses of His death, resurrection and ascension

Chosen by Jesus:

Luke 6:13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:

Qualifications recognized by the other apostles

Acts 1:21 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

Acts 1:22 “beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

Paul's appeal

1Cor. 9:1 Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

Peter's point is that he has the authority to speak into the lives of those called to lead the church.

Ap. Stay teachable!

So important to remain teachable in ministry. The person who can no longer be taught - or discipled - is a person whom God will not use.

Ap. Watch out for self proclaimed "apostles".

Peter's philosophy for ministry (vs. 2-3)

1Pet. 5: 2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

1Pet. 5:3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;

√ Called to be a shepherd

Boy that takes all the boasting out of it! No one boasts about taking care of sheep…

…it was the job that every family delegated to the least - or youngest member of the family!

Yet, this is the job description that Jesus gave Peter for church leadership.

Ex. "Do you love Me?"

John 21:15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

John 21:16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

John 21:17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep."

Jesus' last words of instruction to Peter were to care for His people, to care for them as a good shepherd would care for his sheep.

Feed and care for them

Note, the demonstration of Peter's love for Jesus was to be measured by how he cared for the Lord's sheep!

Ap. Today pastor's often look and act more like kings!

Seated in gold chairs on the stage at the front of the church. Teaching that they are "God's anointed" - that no one can reprimand or challenge them. Paid to live like kings!

All of that feeds the fleshly desires of men. Peter once sought after that…

…fighting with the other 11 over who would sit on Jesus' right of left hand - competing with John for Jesus' attention.

Peter reminds Christian leaders that we are called to be shepherds among God's people…not kings over God's people.

√ Called to serve with a pure heart

1Pet. 5:2 …serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

1Pet. 5:3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;

Here Peter lays his finger upon the heart motives for ministry. He reminds those who serve as overseers in the church to search their heart to make sure they're not serving for the wrong reasons.

Shepherds are called to serve…

Willingly

Eagerly

By Godly example

Not….

Out of grudging obligation

Desire for financial gain

As a spiritual dictator

The point, why a person serves the Lord is just as important as what a person does for the Lord!

True of anything we do in life!

Ex. The paramedic who shows up to save your life

"I hate a messy accident, to think that I could be at the Hogs game today - oh no - I've got be stuck out here in the cold working on some guy who's gonna die anyway…"

No way! You want that guy to be totally into his vocation - not thinking about his vacation!

Ap. Pastors and leaders

Our heart motivation must be to serve the people vs. to serve ourselves.

It is never about "us" - "me".

Peter's motivation for ministry (vs. 4)

1Pet. 5:4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

√ Motivation in ministry

To please Jesus!

Remember Jesus' question to Peter back in John 21?

"Peter, do you love Me?

Jesus communicated to Peter that if he really loved Him that he would demonstrate it by doing what Jesus gave him to do!

Feed my lambs

Tend my sheep

Feed my sheep

In short, shepherd the flock of God.

Peter had been busy doing that since Jesus returned to heaven - motivated by a desire to please his Lord and prove his love…

…because he knew that one day Jesus would return to see how well Peter had done.

Ap. All ministry must be done for Jesus

That's really Peter's point; don't serve for wrong reasons (vs. 2-3), rather, serve for the right reason - to please the Lord so that when He returns you'll hear those words from Jesus' lips…

"Well done my good and faithful servant"

Close

√ Do you desire to serve God?

That's a good desire! Check your heart first - then follow His lead.

√ Why do you do the things you do in ministry?

To be seen of men?

For personal gain?

Out of guilt or obligation?

There's only one good reason to serve the Lord - because you love Him!

If you've lost track of that and are serving for wrong reasons take this time to ask Jesus to wash away the wrong motivations and replace them with a pure love for Him.