WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.800 1 Peter chapter 5. 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:13.500 We'll be starting in verse 1 and reading through verse 5. 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:23.179 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 1. 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:29.179 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, 00:00:29.179 --> 00:00:33.340 as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:38.079 Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:42.519 not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you. 00:00:43.179 --> 00:00:45.760 Not for a shameful gain, but eagerly. 00:00:46.239 --> 00:00:51.579 Not dominioning over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:57.859 And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 00:00:57.859 --> 00:01:02.340 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. 00:01:03.140 --> 00:01:06.280 Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:10.180 For God opposes the proud, but give grace to the humble. 00:01:10.900 --> 00:01:11.900 Word of the Lord. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:13.299 Thanks be to God. 00:01:13.299 --> 00:01:42.019 In 1911, there were two separate groups of people that embarked on what, at that point, was an incredible mission. 00:01:42.019 --> 00:01:47.579 And that was to reach the South Pole for the first time. 00:01:49.019 --> 00:01:51.340 And there were two groups that I mentioned. 00:01:51.459 --> 00:01:55.060 The first group was led by the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen. 00:01:55.699 --> 00:02:02.340 And that group was spectacularly successful, mainly due to the leadership of the Norwegian explorer. 00:02:02.340 --> 00:02:06.799 And he had planned meticulously for the trip. 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:17.980 So he researched the habits of Eskimos and learned that they use dogs for pulling the sleds in the cold climate. 00:02:17.980 --> 00:02:21.159 Because the dogs don't have sweat glands and they're very resilient in the cold. 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:28.819 So they used dogs to, and so using, looking at that idea, he said, okay, we're going to have sleds that are going to be pulled by dogs. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:38.599 And we're going to have these foods and supplies deployed at appropriate junctures throughout the journey so that they don't have to carry everything themselves. 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:41.819 And so all of that, you know, went flawlessly. 00:02:42.299 --> 00:02:48.939 And the biggest problem that they ran into was one man who had an infected tooth and had to have his tooth extracted. 00:02:49.219 --> 00:02:50.699 That was the biggest problem they had on their trip. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:56.400 The second group was led by Robert Scott, a British naval officer. 00:02:57.099 --> 00:03:00.219 They, however, was an example in contrast. 00:03:00.219 --> 00:03:08.400 Instead of using sleds that are pulled by dogs, they decided they were going to use mortared sleds. 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:15.520 And then they were going to have ponies pull the sleds instead, help the motors, get the motors some rest and have the ponies pull. 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:17.560 Ponies don't do very well in the cold. 00:03:18.060 --> 00:03:21.639 So all of them ended up dying, having to be, the rest of them having to be killed. 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:24.360 And the mortars also don't do very well in the cold. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:26.860 So they stopped working five days into the trip. 00:03:27.300 --> 00:03:29.400 In addition to that, they didn't have good equipment. 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:32.060 So a lot of people got frostbites. 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:37.840 And people started, you know, having gangrenous feet. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.060 They can't, it took hours to just put the shoes on and things like that. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:42.780 So a lot of things were going wrong. 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:45.640 And finally, this group also made it to the South Pole. 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:48.860 But month, over a month after, this first group got there. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:52.560 And the people, five people that got there didn't even make it back. 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:54.540 They all died on their way back. 00:03:54.539 --> 00:04:00.459 Because, and we only know about them because they left, they were writing in their diaries in their final hours. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:07.239 So this study, in contrast, shows the importance of leadership, especially when the journey is perilous. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.099 Because the more perilous the journey, good leadership is essential. 00:04:11.099 --> 00:04:17.560 And that's exactly why, after talking last week, Peter telling us that we are now in the judgment of God. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:21.240 God's people are being, in the, experiencing the judgment of God. 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:27.279 Being separated from unbelievers by means of the persecution and suffering that they endure at the hands of unbelievers. 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:32.199 And for this reason, it's going to be difficult for Christians to make it to the end of their journey. 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:35.439 It's going to be difficult for Christians to persevere to the end. 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:41.379 It's with difficulty, it says, scarcely believers will be saved, it said in that passage in 1 Peter. 00:04:42.419 --> 00:04:46.099 But that's why Peter continues with so, in verse 1 here. 00:04:46.100 --> 00:05:08.180 In order to ensure that the church perseveres to the end, Peter's giving here specific instructions on the way the church is going to get there. 00:05:08.280 --> 00:05:09.580 How the church is going to persevere. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.600 And the relationship between the elders and the church members is an essential part of that. 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:24.360 Namely, I think he teaches us this, that the elders humbly shepherd and the people humbly follow the members together under the lordship of Christ. 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:27.480 I think that's what he's trying to teach us. 00:05:27.580 --> 00:05:32.720 And I'm going to first highlight the role of the shepherds and then the role of the sheep and then the chief shepherd. 00:05:32.840 --> 00:05:35.939 So that's the outline that I'm going to follow as I preach to you from this passage. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:38.760 So 1 Peter addresses the shepherds. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:40.740 Turn with me to verses 1 to 2. 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:48.980 So in the context of suffering, the shepherds have an even more imperative charge to shepherd God's people, the elders. 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:53.180 So verses 1 to 2, it begins with the exhortation to elders. 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:58.740 And you see here the three terms that are used generally to refer to the leaders of the church. 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:01.180 First, it says elders, right? 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:04.100 And then second, it tells the elders to shepherd the flock of God. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:06.879 So that's another word for pastor, a shepherd, pastor. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:10.680 And then third, it says exercise oversight, right, in verse 2. 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:14.759 And oversight is the word that sometimes gets translated as bishop, right? 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:18.620 So you see here pastor, bishop, elder, right? 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:19.540 The three terms. 00:06:19.620 --> 00:06:21.839 And they're used interchangeably throughout the New Testament. 00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:25.899 So you see that, for example, in Acts 20, 28, where Paul says, 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:30.879 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit made you overseers. 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:35.519 Now he's talking to the elders to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:43.339 So we see here and in 1 Peter, our passage, that the elders are the pastors, the shepherds, and they are the bishops. 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:51.719 And that's why in our church and in our denomination, we don't have separate offices of pastors and then elders and then bishops like some churches and denominations do. 00:06:52.299 --> 00:06:59.000 We believe that they're all interchangeable titles that highlight different aspects of a single office, of the same office. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:04.660 There is significant conceptual overlap because it's all referring to the same office. 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:10.060 But the term elder specifically highlights mature and wise teaching, right? 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:19.279 So if you look at the history of the Jews as God's people, they had men who were heads of households that gathered at the gates of the city 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:24.100 and made decisions and leadership decisions for the community, right? 00:07:24.100 --> 00:07:30.620 And the church, when it came up in the New Testament, took over this pattern. 00:07:31.140 --> 00:07:35.820 And so that they also had elders who were mature and to become leaders of the church. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:41.900 Now, it's very easy to confuse this to think that, oh, maybe then elders are just older people in the church, right? 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:44.379 Because the word can also mean that. 00:07:45.740 --> 00:07:50.500 But I don't think that that's what Peter is intending to say to us here for several reasons. 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:58.720 And first is if it's simply a matter of how old the people are, right, then it immediately raises the question of how old do you have to be, right? 00:07:59.300 --> 00:08:05.699 And Peter doesn't anywhere answer that question, nor does anybody else in the Bible, right? 00:08:05.740 --> 00:08:10.660 If that were indeed the case, if being elder just means being older, they should tell you how old they're supposed to be. 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:11.180 But they don't. 00:08:11.420 --> 00:08:12.220 They don't deal with that. 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:16.880 And the second issue is that the apostles tell people to appoint elders. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:21.740 So Paul tells Titus in chapter 1, verse 5, to appoint elders in every town. 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:29.160 And then if you're supposed to appoint elders, I mean, if you become an elder simply by virtue of being old, 00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:31.980 then you don't need to appoint them because they're already elders. 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:33.080 They're already old, right? 00:08:33.300 --> 00:08:37.700 So it's the fact that you need to be appointed points to a specific office. 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:40.300 It's a recognized official office, right? 00:08:40.299 --> 00:08:45.240 And then lastly, Paul and others give qualifications for elders, right? 00:08:45.500 --> 00:08:51.719 Once again, if being an elder means being an older person in the church, then there doesn't need to be qualifications, right? 00:08:51.979 --> 00:08:54.799 Age itself is the sole qualification, right? 00:08:54.859 --> 00:09:01.459 So all of these, I think, point to the fact that Peter is here referring to people who were generally older in age, 00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:05.479 but those who more specifically were mature and wise in their faith. 00:09:05.819 --> 00:09:09.479 And because of that, were recognized and appointed to serve in the church as leaders. 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:11.159 So those are the elders. 00:09:12.139 --> 00:09:18.279 And I grew up in a Korean church, and my dad is also a pastor of a Korean church. 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:21.800 So I kind of saw some of the abuses of this. 00:09:22.060 --> 00:09:26.700 And the reason why is this is because when Christianity first went into Korea, 00:09:26.860 --> 00:09:29.440 they didn't contextualize this idea of elders very well. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:37.020 So instead of following the biblical qualifications for elders, they simply followed their confusion practice of just respecting elders 00:09:37.020 --> 00:09:39.520 and letting them make decisions and rule the community. 00:09:40.400 --> 00:09:43.980 So simply by being older, they became elders of the church. 00:09:44.580 --> 00:09:49.980 And because of that, a lot of Korean churches, you find a lot of posturing and bickering, power grabbing, 00:09:50.540 --> 00:09:54.080 because not all the elders are actually mature and wise believers, right? 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:57.460 And so that's the importance of this. 00:09:57.560 --> 00:10:00.540 And this is not to deny that, generally speaking, maturity comes with age. 00:10:00.560 --> 00:10:01.879 It does, right? 00:10:02.180 --> 00:10:03.080 Generally speaking. 00:10:03.300 --> 00:10:07.600 But the truth is there are foolish old people as there are wise young people. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:12.720 And that's why I think God gives qualifications and tells people and appoints elders in this way. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:19.600 So it's notable, I think, in verse 1 that Peter identifies himself also as a fellow elder, right? 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:20.700 If you look at verse 1 again. 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:28.180 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. 00:10:29.680 --> 00:10:32.899 Now this is significant, especially if you think about the history of the church 00:10:32.899 --> 00:10:39.000 and some people who teach that Peter is the first, really, leader of the whole church 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:43.879 and that there was a succession of apostolic succession where there's one, supposed to be one leader over the whole church. 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:49.460 Now if that's the case, then Peter certainly doesn't give any clue or hint of that in this passage. 00:10:49.899 --> 00:10:54.379 Rather than emphasizing his superiority or his special place in the household of God, 00:10:54.659 --> 00:10:57.279 he emphasized rather the shared responsibility. 00:10:57.480 --> 00:10:59.559 He says, I'm a fellow elder, right? 00:10:59.980 --> 00:11:05.340 In fact, in the Greek itself, the two nouns, the elder and the witness, are governed by the same article 00:11:05.340 --> 00:11:12.360 and they're joined by a conjunction that really puts the idea of fellow to govern not just the elder but also the witness. 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:16.980 So he's saying, I'm a fellow elder, I'm a fellow witness along with you, 00:11:17.060 --> 00:11:21.700 and I'm a partaker along with you in the glory that is going to be revealed, right? 00:11:22.060 --> 00:11:24.060 So Peter's highlighting, no, we're in this together. 00:11:24.220 --> 00:11:25.540 I'm an elder with you. 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:27.040 I'm serving with you. 00:11:27.040 --> 00:11:31.600 I'm a believer along with you and I'm going to partake in the glory that will be revealed when Christ returns. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:39.040 So he's not speaking from a place of superior authority, but rather from shared authority, responsibility that they share. 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:42.220 And that highlights another important aspect of eldership, right? 00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:49.200 And that's that elders, when used in the Bible to refer to the office in the church, it always appears in the plural, right? 00:11:50.019 --> 00:11:51.680 There's always more than one elder. 00:11:51.940 --> 00:11:56.300 And that's for the sake of accountability and mutuality and partnership. 00:11:56.299 --> 00:12:01.539 And that's why in our church as well, we're working hard toward plurality of elders. 00:12:01.859 --> 00:12:07.019 So, in fact, I'm the only ordained elder at this point, pastor at this point. 00:12:07.219 --> 00:12:12.159 But Taron, I believe, in the next week or two is going to be ordained by Hope Fellowship Church, 00:12:12.519 --> 00:12:16.219 which is the church in North Cambridge that's sending him and his family out to join us. 00:12:16.220 --> 00:12:23.759 And we also have other gifted men like Steve and Matt Hawkins who feel that God has called them to pastoral ministry 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:26.500 and are working toward being ordained, right? 00:12:27.019 --> 00:12:30.800 And so we're working toward that as a church. 00:12:32.060 --> 00:12:39.620 And so in verse 2, Peter tells these elders of the church to shepherd the flock of God that is among you. 00:12:39.660 --> 00:12:40.700 So now that's the second term. 00:12:40.779 --> 00:12:42.940 So the elder refers to mature and wise teaching. 00:12:42.940 --> 00:12:45.460 And secondly, the elders are supposed to shepherd, right? 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:47.100 They're supposed to be shepherds or pastors. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:57.120 And shepherding, the idea of pastoring the flock, highlights specifically provision, provident care, and protection, right? 00:12:57.160 --> 00:13:02.340 So you provide for and you probably care for and you protect the sheep, right? 00:13:02.620 --> 00:13:06.480 So to put it another way, the shepherds are supposed to graze the flock. 00:13:06.660 --> 00:13:08.340 They feed the flock with God's word. 00:13:08.760 --> 00:13:12.880 They're supposed to guide the sheep, especially if they bring the lost stray sheep back 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:16.200 and they guide the ones that are in the flock, herd them in the right direction. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:21.100 They also guard the sheep from predators, from those who would seek to attack and harm the flock, right? 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:26.039 And it's not surprising that Peter himself is drawn to this metaphor of a shepherd 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:31.700 because after he betrayed Christ, after he denied Christ three times at his crucifixion, 00:13:31.700 --> 00:13:36.240 later when Christ rises from the dead and comes to Peter to reinstate him, 00:13:36.680 --> 00:13:38.920 he uses the metaphor of the shepherd. 00:13:39.020 --> 00:13:43.200 He tells him to feed his lambs, tend his sheep, and feed his sheep. 00:13:43.259 --> 00:13:45.700 So I'm sure this was a very poignant metaphor for him. 00:13:46.060 --> 00:13:48.240 So he turns to this metaphor. 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:53.860 There was a Scottish theologian named George Adam Smith 00:13:53.860 --> 00:13:57.700 who traveled to what was then Palestine in the 19th century. 00:13:57.700 --> 00:14:01.900 And he published a book called The Atlas of the Historical Geography of the Holy Land, 00:14:01.980 --> 00:14:05.480 which is still used to this day in some places as a standard reference book. 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:10.120 And in it he writes about the shepherd because it's such a prominent image 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:12.700 throughout the Bible and throughout the history of Palestine and Israel. 00:14:13.020 --> 00:14:13.980 And this is what he says. 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:19.680 On some high moor, across which at night the hyannis howl, 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:24.539 when you meet him, sleepless, farsighted, weather-beaten, 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:28.240 leaning on his staff and looking out over his scattered sheep, 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:30.500 every one of them on his heart, 00:14:31.019 --> 00:14:35.940 you understand why the shepherd of Judea sprang to the front in his people's history, 00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:40.980 why they gave his name to their king and made him the symbol of providence, 00:14:40.980 --> 00:14:44.600 why Christ took him as a type of self-sacrifice. 00:14:45.259 --> 00:14:47.539 That's what this image of a shepherd conveys. 00:14:47.779 --> 00:14:49.399 The elder, the mature and wise citizen, 00:14:49.500 --> 00:14:51.000 the shepherd provides for, 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:53.080 privately cares for and protects the sheep 00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:54.840 even at the cost of his own life. 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:56.379 That's what it means to shepherd. 00:14:57.539 --> 00:14:58.980 And the third, the term overseer, 00:14:59.779 --> 00:15:01.820 that's the term that comes, exercising oversight, 00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:04.580 highlights leadership and authority of the elders. 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:07.820 They're supposed to have authority over the church, 00:15:07.820 --> 00:15:10.940 have oversight and responsibility ultimately for the church. 00:15:11.899 --> 00:15:14.639 And Peter gives three specific directions in verses 2 to 3 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:17.560 about how exactly the elders have to exercise oversight. 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:18.019 He says, 00:15:18.700 --> 00:15:18.720 first, 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:20.600 not under compulsion, 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:23.120 but willingly as God would have you. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:25.399 See, the elders are, 00:15:26.220 --> 00:15:29.700 the reason why they might sometimes be served under compulsion 00:15:29.700 --> 00:15:32.200 is because they're not volunteers necessarily. 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:34.379 They're called and they're appointed, right? 00:15:34.659 --> 00:15:36.000 So not everybody that just says, 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:37.639 I want to be a pastor can become a pastor 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:40.379 because the church has to affirm them and ordain them 00:15:40.379 --> 00:15:42.259 and recognize their call. 00:15:42.939 --> 00:15:43.860 And because of that, 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:46.639 sometimes there are pastors who might serve 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:49.779 reluctantly or under compulsion. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:50.500 But he says, 00:15:50.580 --> 00:15:52.059 no, don't serve under compulsion, 00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:53.720 but willingly as God would have you. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:55.200 And it doesn't mean that, 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:56.600 the fact that they serve willingly 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:58.460 doesn't mean that they serve according to their will, 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:00.740 but they're supposed to serve according to God's will. 00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:01.419 Because it says, 00:16:01.539 --> 00:16:02.860 as God would have you. 00:16:02.860 --> 00:16:07.200 They exercise authority as those who themselves are also under authority. 00:16:07.379 --> 00:16:08.960 They have oversight in the church 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:11.879 only insofar as they are servants of God himself, right? 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:13.480 That's what it means to have oversight. 00:16:14.060 --> 00:16:15.060 That's the first thing. 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:15.940 And the second, 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:19.259 Peter qualifies what it's supposed to look like 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:20.620 for elders to exercise oversight. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:22.639 Not for shameful gain, 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:23.820 but eagerly. 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:28.519 So the church started compensating their elders really early on. 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:30.159 You see this even in the Bible itself. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:32.799 1 Timothy 5, 17 to 18 says, 00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:36.219 let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:38.699 especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:40.079 For the scripture says, 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:42.620 you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain, 00:16:42.779 --> 00:16:45.240 and the laborer deserves his wages, right? 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.219 So already there's practice of compensating the elders 00:16:48.219 --> 00:16:51.899 through the money the people gave and pulled in together. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:53.399 And consequently, 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:56.779 there were some people who abused that privilege, right? 00:16:56.819 --> 00:16:58.299 Some elders who abused that privilege 00:16:58.299 --> 00:17:00.699 used the gospel for shameful gain, right? 00:17:01.139 --> 00:17:04.419 And that's why in chapter 2, verse 3 of his second epistle, 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:07.519 Peter, he warns about those who in their greed 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:10.019 exploit you with false words, right? 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:12.200 Paul also warns of people who, 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:13.480 in 1 Timothy 6, 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:16.980 those who imagine that godliness is a means of gain, right? 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:20.159 And then he stipulates in the qualifications for elders 00:17:20.159 --> 00:17:22.319 that an elder must not be a lover of money. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:24.139 And this might, 00:17:24.639 --> 00:17:27.720 you might not have experienced this yourself personally, 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:29.439 but this happens in a lot of churches. 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:31.819 And God forbid that it happens in our church. 00:17:31.939 --> 00:17:34.799 But be wary of pastors who enrich themselves 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:36.619 through the ministry, right? 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.000 Because there are pastors who preach from their pulpits 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:40.220 week in and week out 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:42.059 that the gospel promises, 00:17:42.439 --> 00:17:44.299 not hope in the midst of suffering, 00:17:44.439 --> 00:17:45.359 in the midst of hardship, 00:17:45.659 --> 00:17:47.960 but that the gospel promises health, wealth, 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:49.259 and prosperity, right? 00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:53.220 And they twist verses like 2 Corinthians 8, 9, 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:53.579 which says, 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:55.579 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:17:55.900 --> 00:17:57.019 that though he was rich, 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.000 yet for your sake he became poor, 00:17:59.100 --> 00:18:01.340 so that you by his poverty might become rich. 00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:03.180 They twist that to mean that, 00:18:03.220 --> 00:18:05.100 oh, Christ died so that you could be rich. 00:18:05.819 --> 00:18:06.539 When Christ, 00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:08.340 when the verse is not talking about that at all, 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:11.240 but rather talking about being sacrificially generous 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:13.519 as Christ was toward us, right? 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:17.920 Even if that means hurting our own financial prospects. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:22.100 And they twist verses like Mark 10, 29 to 30, 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:24.340 where Christ promises to his disciples 00:18:24.340 --> 00:18:26.220 who leave their family and household and wealth 00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:27.420 to serve him and follow him, 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:30.180 that God promises even greater riches and more family. 00:18:30.620 --> 00:18:31.340 And here again, 00:18:31.420 --> 00:18:33.079 Christ is referring to the spiritual family 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:34.900 and the abundance that God promises us, 00:18:35.140 --> 00:18:37.720 but rather these bridges will twist that 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:38.960 to mean that no, 00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:40.100 if you give to God, 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:41.640 then he's gonna give you more and more money. 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:43.620 Therefore give more and more money to the church, 00:18:43.860 --> 00:18:45.240 give more and more money to me, 00:18:45.539 --> 00:18:47.940 and then God will reward you and give you more. 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:50.840 And they say these things. 00:18:51.059 --> 00:18:52.059 This is a real quote. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:52.460 He says, 00:18:52.860 --> 00:18:54.160 Jesus had a nice house, 00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:55.019 a big house. 00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:56.940 Jesus was handling big money. 00:18:57.400 --> 00:18:58.920 He even wore designer clothes. 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:00.759 This is a quote from a real sermon. 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:03.840 Another person says in her book, 00:19:03.940 --> 00:19:04.819 this is another pastor, 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:07.660 give $10 and receive $1,000. 00:19:08.120 --> 00:19:10.340 Give $1,000 and receive $100,000. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:11.140 In short, 00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:13.120 Mark 10, 30 is a very good deal, 00:19:13.299 --> 00:19:14.360 she writes in her book. 00:19:14.359 --> 00:19:19.139 So people give and give and give to these pastors 00:19:19.139 --> 00:19:22.879 and discover that while their financial lot hasn't improved, 00:19:22.979 --> 00:19:25.679 all of a sudden these pastors have personal jets and mansions. 00:19:26.399 --> 00:19:28.740 And that's an example of fleecing the flock. 00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:30.559 That's not an example of feeding the flock. 00:19:31.259 --> 00:19:34.159 And that's something that we need to be wary of pastors. 00:19:34.399 --> 00:19:35.339 That's manipulation, 00:19:35.699 --> 00:19:36.979 not exhortation to give. 00:19:37.819 --> 00:19:40.139 That's shameful gain that Peter is talking about. 00:19:40.199 --> 00:19:41.839 That's not honorable compensation. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:45.359 And they will face God's great judgment in the end. 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:47.699 So the elders are to exercise oversight, 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:49.259 not for shameful gain, 00:19:49.459 --> 00:19:50.339 but eagerly. 00:19:51.259 --> 00:19:53.059 And I think that's why it's kind of funny, 00:19:53.159 --> 00:19:55.799 but there's kind of an unspoken rule among pastors. 00:19:55.939 --> 00:19:58.039 I think it's kind of a code of conduct somewhat. 00:19:58.199 --> 00:19:59.159 No one talks about it. 00:19:59.179 --> 00:19:59.939 No one taught me this. 00:20:00.379 --> 00:20:01.359 But when you go to preach, 00:20:01.539 --> 00:20:02.659 guest preach at another church, 00:20:02.899 --> 00:20:06.199 you never ask whether there's going to be an honorarium. 00:20:06.919 --> 00:20:08.419 So I've never asked. 00:20:08.500 --> 00:20:09.299 I just go and preach. 00:20:09.379 --> 00:20:09.980 And if there is one, 00:20:10.019 --> 00:20:11.019 I'm like, oh, hey, that's great. 00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:13.420 And that's kind of the same with anybody who came to churches. 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:14.000 I serve that. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:15.319 No one asked about that. 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:17.779 And I think that's in order to cultivate the sense that, 00:20:17.859 --> 00:20:19.059 no, this is not an entitlement. 00:20:19.420 --> 00:20:20.900 Rather, we do it willingly. 00:20:21.180 --> 00:20:22.660 We serve not for shameful gain. 00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:26.420 And when God gives, 00:20:26.639 --> 00:20:27.879 there's gratitude. 00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:30.019 It's a privilege and honor, 00:20:30.139 --> 00:20:31.660 not something that we're entitled to, 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:35.079 even though Paul does teach that we should give to the elders, 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:36.480 provide for the elders who work hard. 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:38.720 So that's the second thing. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:40.400 And so the elders are to exercise oversight, 00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:41.480 not under compulsion, 00:20:41.600 --> 00:20:42.180 but willingly, 00:20:42.660 --> 00:20:43.759 not for shameful gain, 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:44.579 but eagerly. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:45.339 And then finally, 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:46.440 as verse three says, 00:20:46.579 --> 00:20:48.160 the elders are to exercise oversight, 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:50.880 not domineering over those in their, 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:51.799 in their charge, 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:53.680 but being examples to the flock. 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:55.220 So not domineering, 00:20:55.360 --> 00:20:56.720 but being examples to the flock. 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:57.960 Because Peter knows, 00:20:58.080 --> 00:20:58.680 as well as anybody, 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:01.560 that all forms of authority come with the risk of abuse. 00:21:02.019 --> 00:21:02.340 And therefore, 00:21:02.440 --> 00:21:02.980 Peter says, 00:21:03.080 --> 00:21:04.420 it's careful to add that qualification. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:06.940 The pastoral oversight means, 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:08.759 it means leading by example, 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:10.080 rather than domineering, 00:21:10.220 --> 00:21:10.400 right? 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:13.140 And the word that's used here to be, 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:14.299 those in their charge, 00:21:14.340 --> 00:21:16.140 those in the charge of the elders, 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:18.360 the word charge here refers, 00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:19.460 in throughout the Bible, 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:21.700 to a particular share or portion 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:23.400 that God sovereignly distributes 00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:24.720 or gives to people. 00:21:25.120 --> 00:21:25.579 So it, 00:21:25.600 --> 00:21:26.720 it has in the background, 00:21:26.980 --> 00:21:28.500 God's sovereign election, 00:21:28.660 --> 00:21:28.840 his, 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:30.340 his choosing of, 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:31.100 of these people. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:32.920 So the idea behind that then, 00:21:32.980 --> 00:21:35.000 is that this particular group of people 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:36.019 that Peter is speaking to, 00:21:36.299 --> 00:21:37.640 has been entrusted to, 00:21:37.740 --> 00:21:38.840 put in the charge of, 00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:40.500 this specific group of elders. 00:21:41.380 --> 00:21:42.200 That means, 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:44.259 this specific group of people, 00:21:44.579 --> 00:21:45.420 Trinity Cambridge Church, 00:21:45.700 --> 00:21:46.880 has been entrusted to, 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:48.059 got places in the charge of, 00:21:48.059 --> 00:21:49.059 this specific group of elders, 00:21:49.460 --> 00:21:50.900 that God's provided for us. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:53.640 That's a staggering thing to think about. 00:21:54.539 --> 00:21:54.799 That, 00:21:54.920 --> 00:21:56.600 that we're not here by mistake, 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:58.940 and that's such a perspective changing truth, 00:21:59.100 --> 00:22:00.720 because then none of you sitting here, 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:01.660 is here by mistake, 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:01.940 if you're, 00:22:01.980 --> 00:22:02.860 if you're a member, 00:22:02.940 --> 00:22:04.440 or seeking to be a member of Trinity Cambridge Church. 00:22:04.600 --> 00:22:05.579 But you're here rather, 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:07.000 by God's sovereign plan, 00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:07.740 his direction. 00:22:08.299 --> 00:22:09.940 And how much more than the elders, 00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:12.000 should they serve willingly and eagerly, 00:22:12.059 --> 00:22:13.120 being examples to the flock, 00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:14.259 not domineering, 00:22:14.740 --> 00:22:14.900 right? 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:17.240 It's God's sacred trust, 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:17.980 to these elders, 00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:18.880 this specific, 00:22:19.099 --> 00:22:20.900 this specific group of people. 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:22.720 So, 00:22:22.819 --> 00:22:25.120 that's how Peter addresses the shepherds, 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:26.259 but he doesn't stop there. 00:22:26.599 --> 00:22:27.860 He also turns to the sheep, 00:22:28.039 --> 00:22:28.740 because the sheep, 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:30.660 also have a corresponding responsibility, 00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:32.620 to everything that the shepherds are supposed to do. 00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:33.960 So, 00:22:34.019 --> 00:22:35.120 he says in verse 5, 00:22:35.259 --> 00:22:36.039 look with me there, 00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:36.819 likewise, 00:22:37.819 --> 00:22:39.920 just like he gave the command to the shepherds, 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:40.360 likewise, 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:41.220 you, 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:42.160 who are younger, 00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:43.599 be subject to the elders. 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:45.120 Clothe yourselves, 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:45.839 all of you, 00:22:46.099 --> 00:22:47.759 with humility toward one another. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:49.639 For God opposes the proud, 00:22:49.699 --> 00:22:51.359 but gives grace to the humble. 00:22:52.099 --> 00:22:52.659 Once again, 00:22:52.739 --> 00:22:53.839 the word younger here, 00:22:53.899 --> 00:22:55.539 could also be misunderstood, 00:22:55.819 --> 00:22:57.779 simply refer to those who are younger in age. 00:22:58.119 --> 00:22:59.579 But there's actually another Greek word, 00:22:59.699 --> 00:23:00.619 that would have been used, 00:23:00.679 --> 00:23:01.359 that should have been used, 00:23:01.419 --> 00:23:03.099 if that's simply what is in view. 00:23:03.459 --> 00:23:03.739 Rather, 00:23:03.819 --> 00:23:05.000 it's referring to a newer, 00:23:05.339 --> 00:23:05.959 or new, 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:06.339 kind of, 00:23:06.459 --> 00:23:09.159 it's referring to those who are younger in faith, 00:23:09.259 --> 00:23:11.119 rather than those who are simply younger in age, 00:23:11.259 --> 00:23:11.459 right? 00:23:11.460 --> 00:23:12.180 So, 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:14.180 that's why it corresponds to the word elder. 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:15.059 So, 00:23:15.180 --> 00:23:17.299 the younger here simply means everybody else, 00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:17.559 who, 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:18.539 for some reason, 00:23:18.779 --> 00:23:18.799 for, 00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:20.819 not, 00:23:20.940 --> 00:23:21.500 do not have, 00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:22.460 for one reason or another, 00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:23.740 the spiritual seniority, 00:23:23.860 --> 00:23:24.840 and the commensure standing, 00:23:24.940 --> 00:23:26.259 that qualifies them to be elders. 00:23:26.579 --> 00:23:26.740 So, 00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:27.019 basically, 00:23:27.259 --> 00:23:27.620 everybody, 00:23:27.860 --> 00:23:28.720 all the members of the church, 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:31.079 qualify in this category of younger. 00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:33.140 And he tells these younger, 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:34.759 he tells the members of the church, 00:23:35.120 --> 00:23:36.880 be subject to the elders. 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:39.519 That's a hard command, 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:39.920 right? 00:23:39.980 --> 00:23:41.140 Be subject to the elders, 00:23:41.800 --> 00:23:42.780 and, 00:23:42.860 --> 00:23:44.740 I feel kind of, 00:23:45.280 --> 00:23:46.380 awkward preaching about this, 00:23:46.440 --> 00:23:47.920 because I am one of the elders and pastors, 00:23:48.140 --> 00:23:50.240 but I'm just simply trying to be faithful to what God's, 00:23:50.380 --> 00:23:51.440 word has here. 00:23:51.860 --> 00:23:52.420 And actually, 00:23:52.580 --> 00:23:54.040 this is a helpful illustration. 00:23:54.320 --> 00:23:54.820 There's a book, 00:23:55.120 --> 00:23:56.320 there's a New York Times bestseller, 00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:57.180 leadership book, 00:23:57.220 --> 00:23:59.100 called 21 Laws of Irrefutable Leadership. 00:23:59.600 --> 00:24:00.960 All of you guys have probably heard of it, 00:24:00.980 --> 00:24:03.500 if you've read anything in leadership literature. 00:24:04.040 --> 00:24:04.500 And in it, 00:24:04.540 --> 00:24:04.920 the author, 00:24:05.040 --> 00:24:05.720 John Maxwell, 00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:10.600 says that the church is probably the most leadership intensive enterprise in all of society. 00:24:11.140 --> 00:24:14.660 And that's because there is no positional leadership in the church, 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:15.040 right? 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:15.780 So, 00:24:15.980 --> 00:24:16.900 the elders and pastors, 00:24:17.180 --> 00:24:18.380 they have authority, 00:24:18.580 --> 00:24:22.040 but they don't have any positional leverage over the people that they serve, 00:24:22.220 --> 00:24:22.400 right? 00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:23.080 So, 00:24:23.480 --> 00:24:23.900 for example, 00:24:23.980 --> 00:24:25.220 an employer could simply say, 00:24:25.220 --> 00:24:25.400 well, 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:26.019 if you don't do that, 00:24:26.059 --> 00:24:26.819 I'm going to fire you. 00:24:27.100 --> 00:24:27.360 Or, 00:24:27.480 --> 00:24:28.240 if you don't do this, 00:24:28.299 --> 00:24:28.759 listen to me, 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:29.860 then you're going to get paid less, 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:30.180 right? 00:24:30.680 --> 00:24:33.680 The pastors don't have any kind of positional leverage like that, 00:24:33.779 --> 00:24:33.960 right? 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:36.759 Because it's because it's a volunteer society. 00:24:36.900 --> 00:24:39.279 It's a volunteer community. 00:24:40.140 --> 00:24:41.019 And because of that, 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:41.319 he says, 00:24:41.360 --> 00:24:44.079 it's the most leadership intensive enterprise in society. 00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:46.759 And if that's the case, 00:24:46.859 --> 00:24:50.759 then it's all the more important that as the elders try to lead willingly, 00:24:50.879 --> 00:24:52.619 as they try to exercise oversight, 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:54.139 that the sheep, 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:56.500 the flock that God has entrusted to them, 00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:58.319 they have to be subject to the elders. 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:01.720 If there's no willing participation and following from them, 00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:03.639 there can be no effective leadership, 00:25:04.220 --> 00:25:04.379 right? 00:25:04.380 --> 00:25:09.780 Because if in the church can grow and the church elders can effectively lead, 00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:12.000 only insofar as all of you, 00:25:12.080 --> 00:25:16.040 all the members of the church are going to serve and follow Christ under the 00:25:16.040 --> 00:25:16.860 leadership of the elders, 00:25:17.040 --> 00:25:17.260 right? 00:25:17.620 --> 00:25:18.400 So that's the right. 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:21.420 It's the call to the sheep is just as important as a call to the shepherd. 00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:23.220 There's a way to responsibility on, 00:25:23.300 --> 00:25:25.560 on all of us as God's people. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:26.920 And, 00:25:27.040 --> 00:25:30.080 and this kind of mutuality and interdependence, 00:25:30.120 --> 00:25:30.360 right? 00:25:30.360 --> 00:25:31.720 It can't happen, 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:32.160 however, 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:35.340 apart from a really important Christian virtue, 00:25:35.840 --> 00:25:37.840 what people might describe as the most important, 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:39.240 even of Christian virtue, 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:40.640 and that is humility. 00:25:40.820 --> 00:25:41.620 So in verse five, 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:42.100 Peter says, 00:25:42.220 --> 00:25:42.960 clothe yourselves, 00:25:43.100 --> 00:25:45.800 all of you with humility toward one another. 00:25:46.220 --> 00:25:47.600 For God opposes the proud, 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:49.200 but gives grace to the humble, 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:49.620 right? 00:25:50.840 --> 00:25:54.880 Because Greco-Roman culture denigrated humility as a lowly mentality of a 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:55.360 slave. 00:25:55.800 --> 00:25:56.160 In fact, 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:59.660 I think our culture increasingly agrees with that assessment because we see in 00:25:59.660 --> 00:26:00.080 society, 00:26:00.259 --> 00:26:01.460 at least those who are aggressive, 00:26:01.460 --> 00:26:02.860 those who are prideful, 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:04.240 those who will defend for themselves, 00:26:04.420 --> 00:26:05.900 those who promote themselves. 00:26:05.900 --> 00:26:07.620 They're the ones that advance in society. 00:26:07.840 --> 00:26:08.200 That's what, 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:08.819 and that's, 00:26:08.819 --> 00:26:09.480 that's why we think, 00:26:09.579 --> 00:26:09.680 okay, 00:26:09.740 --> 00:26:11.079 humility is for the losers. 00:26:11.340 --> 00:26:13.759 It's for the people who are disposed to the will of others. 00:26:13.799 --> 00:26:15.779 That's why we are tempted to think in a society, 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:19.019 but rather the church is not supposed to follow in the ways of the world, 00:26:19.079 --> 00:26:20.799 but we're to be in an alternate society. 00:26:21.100 --> 00:26:21.840 And here, 00:26:21.980 --> 00:26:23.120 humility is the rule, 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:23.480 right? 00:26:23.539 --> 00:26:23.759 It's, 00:26:23.819 --> 00:26:24.840 it's not the exception. 00:26:24.839 --> 00:26:29.379 And there's a particularly illuminating passage about humility in a C. 00:26:29.379 --> 00:26:29.480 S. 00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:30.079 Lewis's book, 00:26:30.179 --> 00:26:30.779 mirror Christianity. 00:26:31.179 --> 00:26:33.240 And usually I don't quote passages this long, 00:26:33.299 --> 00:26:34.919 but this one's worth reading in full. 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:36.919 So if you want to pay attention closely, 00:26:37.319 --> 00:26:38.079 I'll read it. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:38.740 He says, 00:26:39.339 --> 00:26:40.000 today, 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.199 I come to that part of Christian morals where they differ most sharply from all 00:26:44.199 --> 00:26:44.779 other morals. 00:26:45.379 --> 00:26:48.099 There is one vice of which no man in the world is free, 00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:51.299 which everyone loathes when he sees it in someone else. 00:26:51.679 --> 00:26:55.379 And of which hardly any people except Christians ever imagined that they are 00:26:55.379 --> 00:26:56.279 guilty of themselves. 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:01.519 I have heard people admit that they are bad tempered or that they cannot keep 00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:03.159 their heads about girls or drink, 00:27:03.339 --> 00:27:04.720 or even that they are cowards. 00:27:05.099 --> 00:27:07.879 But I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian, 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:09.540 accused himself of this vice. 00:27:10.260 --> 00:27:11.080 And at the same time, 00:27:11.140 --> 00:27:14.380 I very seldom met anyone who was not a Christian who showed the slightest mercy 00:27:14.380 --> 00:27:15.220 to it in others. 00:27:15.900 --> 00:27:19.080 There's no fault that makes a man more unpopular and no fault, 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:21.240 which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. 00:27:21.580 --> 00:27:22.780 And the more we have it ourselves, 00:27:22.860 --> 00:27:24.320 the more we dislike it in others. 00:27:24.860 --> 00:27:27.980 The vice I am talking of is pride or self-conceit. 00:27:28.740 --> 00:27:31.900 And the virtue opposite to it in Christian morals is called humility. 00:27:32.740 --> 00:27:33.920 According to Christian teachers, 00:27:34.060 --> 00:27:35.020 the essential vice, 00:27:35.120 --> 00:27:36.740 the utmost evil is pride. 00:27:36.740 --> 00:27:38.019 Unchastity, 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:38.539 anger, 00:27:38.819 --> 00:27:39.099 greed, 00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:39.839 drunkenness, 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.220 and all that are mere flea bites in comparison. 00:27:42.859 --> 00:27:45.160 It was through pride that the devil became the devil. 00:27:45.319 --> 00:27:47.359 Pride leads to every other vice. 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:50.079 It is the complete anti-God state of mind. 00:27:50.859 --> 00:27:52.480 Does this seem to you exaggerated? 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:53.660 Because if so, 00:27:53.740 --> 00:27:54.180 think it over. 00:27:54.599 --> 00:27:57.140 I pointed out a moment ago that the more pride one had, 00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:59.079 the more one disliked pride in others. 00:27:59.539 --> 00:27:59.900 In fact, 00:27:59.940 --> 00:28:02.059 if you want to find out how proud you are, 00:28:02.059 --> 00:28:03.599 the easiest way is to ask yourself, 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:06.399 how much do I dislike you when other people snub me, 00:28:06.639 --> 00:28:08.579 or refuse to take any notice of me, 00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:10.039 or shove their oar in, 00:28:10.099 --> 00:28:10.960 or patronize me, 00:28:11.019 --> 00:28:11.659 or show off? 00:28:12.579 --> 00:28:16.779 The point is that each person's pride is in competition with everyone else's pride. 00:28:17.339 --> 00:28:19.599 It is because I want it to be the big noise at the party, 00:28:19.659 --> 00:28:21.879 that I am so annoyed at someone else being the big noise. 00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:26.100 Now what you want to get clear is that pride is essentially competitive. 00:28:26.500 --> 00:28:28.160 It's competitive by its very nature, 00:28:28.420 --> 00:28:30.380 while the other vices are competitive only, 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:31.140 so to speak, 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:31.840 by accident. 00:28:32.580 --> 00:28:34.980 Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, 00:28:35.220 --> 00:28:37.480 only out of having more of it than the next man. 00:28:38.060 --> 00:28:39.920 We say that people are proud of being rich, 00:28:40.020 --> 00:28:40.460 or clever, 00:28:40.560 --> 00:28:41.160 or good-looking, 00:28:41.280 --> 00:28:42.020 but they are not. 00:28:42.620 --> 00:28:44.160 They are proud of being richer, 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:45.440 or cleverer, 00:28:45.520 --> 00:28:46.960 or better-looking than others. 00:28:47.620 --> 00:28:49.700 If everyone else became equally rich, 00:28:49.760 --> 00:28:50.160 or clever, 00:28:50.260 --> 00:28:50.740 or good-looking, 00:28:50.740 --> 00:28:52.259 there would be nothing to be proud about. 00:28:52.819 --> 00:28:54.740 It is the comparison that makes you proud. 00:28:55.079 --> 00:28:56.700 The pleasure of being above the rest, 00:28:56.839 --> 00:28:58.579 once the element of competition has gone, 00:28:58.700 --> 00:28:59.319 pride has gone. 00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:02.539 This is why I say that pride is essentially competitive 00:29:02.539 --> 00:29:04.160 in a way that other vices are not. 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:06.480 Greed may drive men into competition 00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:07.900 if there is not enough to go around, 00:29:08.220 --> 00:29:09.160 but the proud man, 00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:11.880 even when he has got more than he can possibly want, 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:13.319 will try to get still more, 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:14.819 just to assert his power. 00:29:15.660 --> 00:29:17.579 Nearly all those evils in the world 00:29:17.579 --> 00:29:19.779 that people put down to greed or selfishness 00:29:19.779 --> 00:29:22.940 are really far more the result of pride. 00:29:25.299 --> 00:29:29.440 This is why humility is so frequently enjoined in the Bible, 00:29:29.559 --> 00:29:33.399 because humility is vital to the church's survival and thriving. 00:29:33.859 --> 00:29:36.480 Because pride, by its essential nature, 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:37.299 is competitive. 00:29:37.779 --> 00:29:39.440 It destroys community. 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:41.240 It destroys interdependence 00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:43.440 that was supposed to be brought into the functioning of the church. 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:45.279 And in the same way, 00:29:45.720 --> 00:29:47.160 and that's why Peter tells us, 00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:50.039 clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. 00:29:50.100 --> 00:29:51.680 It's supposed to be an intimate part of who we are, 00:29:51.740 --> 00:29:53.059 something that we never take off, 00:29:53.380 --> 00:29:54.779 something that we always put on 00:29:54.779 --> 00:29:56.480 in our interaction dealing with others. 00:29:57.340 --> 00:30:01.640 And because pride is also the complete anti-God state of mind, 00:30:02.019 --> 00:30:05.080 it fundamentally undermines our relationship with God. 00:30:05.079 --> 00:30:05.779 And that's why it says, 00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:07.519 God opposes the proud, 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:09.659 but gives grace to the humble. 00:30:10.279 --> 00:30:11.480 It's the fearful thought, 00:30:11.539 --> 00:30:11.740 I think, 00:30:11.819 --> 00:30:13.519 God opposing us himself. 00:30:13.899 --> 00:30:14.599 And that's because, 00:30:14.740 --> 00:30:14.939 really, 00:30:15.159 --> 00:30:16.099 to become a Christian, 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:17.019 in essence, 00:30:17.139 --> 00:30:18.159 is to humble ourselves, 00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:18.460 right? 00:30:19.099 --> 00:30:20.099 It's to say that, 00:30:20.179 --> 00:30:20.279 no, 00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:21.699 I can't save myself. 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:22.419 No, 00:30:22.460 --> 00:30:25.399 I'm not good enough to be in the presence of God. 00:30:25.679 --> 00:30:26.039 But no, 00:30:26.139 --> 00:30:27.619 I humble myself and say that, 00:30:27.659 --> 00:30:27.759 no, 00:30:27.819 --> 00:30:30.939 it is Christ that makes the way for me to be with God. 00:30:31.179 --> 00:30:32.519 It's Christ that makes the way, 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:33.500 even though I'm unworthy, 00:30:33.579 --> 00:30:34.879 so that I can be in the presence of God. 00:30:35.079 --> 00:30:37.819 The very essence of Christianity is humility. 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:41.039 It's a declaration of faith. 00:30:41.159 --> 00:30:42.539 It's a declaration of dependence. 00:30:43.019 --> 00:30:44.259 That's what it means to become a Christian, 00:30:44.339 --> 00:30:45.179 is to say in faith, 00:30:45.259 --> 00:30:45.419 that no, 00:30:45.500 --> 00:30:46.419 I can't save myself. 00:30:46.619 --> 00:30:48.059 I need Christ to save me, 00:30:48.339 --> 00:30:48.539 right? 00:30:49.439 --> 00:30:51.159 And that's why this, 00:30:51.339 --> 00:30:53.419 this Peter enjoys humility, 00:30:53.419 --> 00:30:54.119 in particular, 00:30:54.119 --> 00:30:57.579 as he has a relationship between the elders exercising oversight, 00:30:57.859 --> 00:31:00.939 and the sheep subjecting themselves willingly to the church, 00:31:00.939 --> 00:31:01.439 right? 00:31:01.539 --> 00:31:02.740 Humility must, 00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:04.939 must permeate all of those interactions, 00:31:05.079 --> 00:31:06.339 and relationship, 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:08.559 or this community will fall apart. 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:10.819 But if you think about it, 00:31:10.819 --> 00:31:12.799 isn't that such a wonderful picture of humility, 00:31:13.159 --> 00:31:14.679 a wonderful picture of community, 00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:15.240 right? 00:31:15.539 --> 00:31:17.439 The elders humbly shepherd, 00:31:17.939 --> 00:31:20.500 and the people humbly follow. 00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:28.099 But if you are of this skeptical nature, 00:31:28.099 --> 00:31:29.200 you might say at this point, 00:31:29.339 --> 00:31:29.500 well, 00:31:29.579 --> 00:31:30.680 that's very idealistic, 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:33.240 but I don't think that's very feasible. 00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:33.640 In fact, 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:34.380 I've never seen it. 00:31:35.660 --> 00:31:35.859 Well, 00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:36.740 if you are, 00:31:36.740 --> 00:31:38.079 I want to say that, 00:31:38.180 --> 00:31:41.119 I would like to assure you that Scripture teaches us, 00:31:41.180 --> 00:31:43.019 not only that this community is possible, 00:31:43.240 --> 00:31:43.779 but in fact, 00:31:43.900 --> 00:31:45.980 the Scripture commands us to have this kind of community, 00:31:46.299 --> 00:31:46.519 right? 00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:50.700 And the reason why this kind of community is possible, 00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:52.799 when it's not possible anywhere else, 00:31:52.879 --> 00:31:54.720 not possible anywhere else in society, 00:31:54.779 --> 00:31:55.079 in the world, 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:56.759 but it's possible in the church, 00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:58.579 it's because of the chief shepherd, 00:31:59.059 --> 00:31:59.240 right? 00:31:59.259 --> 00:32:01.559 Who has called both the sheep and the shepherd into, 00:32:01.700 --> 00:32:02.700 into this relationship. 00:32:03.139 --> 00:32:04.119 And that's why in verse four, 00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:04.539 it says, 00:32:04.539 --> 00:32:06.460 And when the chief shepherd appears, 00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:09.259 you will receive the unfading crown of glory, 00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:09.659 right? 00:32:09.940 --> 00:32:11.299 So the chief shepherd really, 00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:13.379 the word literally means the chief shepherd. 00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:15.960 So if the flock is too large to be cared for by one shepherd, 00:32:16.159 --> 00:32:17.980 you have a shepherd over all the shepherds. 00:32:18.099 --> 00:32:19.440 That's what the chief shepherd is. 00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:21.159 And that chief shepherd is Christ. 00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:24.159 And because the chief shepherd, 00:32:24.500 --> 00:32:27.399 the elders cannot shepherd God's people and exercise oversight, 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:28.980 not under compulsion, 00:32:29.119 --> 00:32:29.639 but willingly, 00:32:29.859 --> 00:32:30.920 not for shameful gain, 00:32:30.980 --> 00:32:31.599 but eagerly, 00:32:31.859 --> 00:32:32.879 not domineering, 00:32:33.019 --> 00:32:33.960 but being examples, 00:32:33.960 --> 00:32:37.500 because if the elders are under shepherds, 00:32:37.600 --> 00:32:37.740 right? 00:32:37.740 --> 00:32:39.720 If they're shepherds who are under the chief shepherd, 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:41.860 then ultimately they're not masters, 00:32:41.980 --> 00:32:42.740 but they're servants, 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:43.200 right? 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:44.700 They're servants of Christ. 00:32:44.740 --> 00:32:47.120 And that's why they can serve without being domineering, 00:32:47.299 --> 00:32:48.319 but they can be examples, 00:32:48.500 --> 00:32:52.000 because they recognize that ultimately they're also just sheep to God, 00:32:52.180 --> 00:32:52.340 right? 00:32:52.420 --> 00:32:53.120 God's the ultimate, 00:32:53.340 --> 00:32:54.380 Christ is the ultimate shepherd. 00:32:55.140 --> 00:32:56.059 In the same way, 00:32:56.120 --> 00:32:58.900 they also recognize that all their authority is not inherent, 00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:00.420 not intrinsic to who they are, 00:33:00.519 --> 00:33:02.220 but it's derived from Christ. 00:33:02.220 --> 00:33:07.640 They have authority only insofar as they're obeying Christ and preaching Christ and following Christ. 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:09.839 That's the right authority of the elders. 00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:13.100 And the goal ultimately of the under shepherds, 00:33:13.140 --> 00:33:13.279 right? 00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:15.500 Is not to build the church to themselves, 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:17.759 not to make the sheep follow them, 00:33:17.960 --> 00:33:18.160 right? 00:33:18.200 --> 00:33:19.500 Or to appreciate them, 00:33:19.500 --> 00:33:22.880 but to make the sheep follow Christ and to love Christ, 00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:24.640 because they're just under shepherds. 00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:26.259 They're not the ultimate shepherds. 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:31.559 And that's what frees the shepherds from this undue burden, 00:33:31.980 --> 00:33:32.140 right? 00:33:32.180 --> 00:33:38.839 Because sometimes pastors are under crushing burdens because they think of the sheep as belonging to them and not to Christ. 00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:41.799 And so because of that, 00:33:41.980 --> 00:33:45.659 they fall into despair or dejected when the sheep leave, 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:46.039 right? 00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:48.279 Or they leave to go to another church, 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:50.079 or it just doesn't, 00:33:50.279 --> 00:33:51.599 the church doesn't seem to grow, 00:33:51.779 --> 00:33:51.939 right? 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:56.279 And that leads to despair or discouragement because they think that they're ultimately their sheep. 00:33:56.740 --> 00:34:00.339 But Peter tells us here that the reward is not in the here and now. 00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:03.759 The sheep themselves are not the reward of the under shepherds, 00:34:03.879 --> 00:34:06.199 but rather when the chief shepherd appears, 00:34:06.459 --> 00:34:09.400 that's when they will receive the unfading crown of glory, 00:34:09.980 --> 00:34:10.199 right? 00:34:10.219 --> 00:34:13.019 The shepherds do not serve for the sake of the reward here and now, 00:34:13.059 --> 00:34:16.639 but to receive that unfading crown of glory when the chief shepherd appears, 00:34:16.759 --> 00:34:16.960 right? 00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:20.199 So the glory is not in the size of the flock in the here and now, 00:34:20.199 --> 00:34:24.239 but rather in the glory that they will receive when Christ returns and rewards them for their labor. 00:34:25.259 --> 00:34:29.440 And this is something that you guys are going to have to remind me and the other elders, 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:29.720 right? 00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:31.059 When we go into a public launch, 00:34:31.179 --> 00:34:31.360 right? 00:34:31.720 --> 00:34:33.860 Because when we go into public launch next month, 00:34:33.960 --> 00:34:34.440 who knows? 00:34:34.519 --> 00:34:38.039 God could add a lot of people quickly or God could add very few people, 00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:38.400 right? 00:34:38.460 --> 00:34:38.980 After the church. 00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:39.940 But regardless, 00:34:40.119 --> 00:34:45.099 this passage teaches us that God sovereignly puts in charge of the, 00:34:45.300 --> 00:34:45.579 puts, 00:34:45.659 --> 00:34:47.800 it puts these particular group of elders in charge, 00:34:47.800 --> 00:34:51.780 a particular group of elders that he has sovereignly elected and chosen. 00:34:52.340 --> 00:34:55.380 And that is a cause for such comfort for pastors and elders. 00:34:55.800 --> 00:34:58.940 And that's the reason why we can be not territorial, 00:34:58.940 --> 00:34:59.619 or not, 00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:00.039 you know, 00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:01.099 selfish or, 00:35:01.179 --> 00:35:03.480 or possessive of people in the church, 00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:05.800 because we know that ultimately they don't belong to us. 00:35:05.880 --> 00:35:06.760 They belong to God. 00:35:07.260 --> 00:35:08.420 We're just under shepherd, 00:35:08.679 --> 00:35:08.820 right? 00:35:09.539 --> 00:35:10.380 And similarly, 00:35:10.539 --> 00:35:11.440 the sheep also, 00:35:11.579 --> 00:35:12.119 then the people, 00:35:12.200 --> 00:35:15.059 the members of the church also ultimately recognize that they belong to the chief 00:35:15.059 --> 00:35:16.780 shepherd and not to the shepherds, 00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:18.019 not to the under shepherds. 00:35:18.900 --> 00:35:20.760 But because they understand the elders, 00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:23.320 under shepherds are doing Christ bidding ultimately, 00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:25.760 that they're trying to lead them to Christ, 00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:27.160 not to themselves, 00:35:27.460 --> 00:35:31.400 that they happily and humbly subject themselves to the leadership of the elders. 00:35:33.080 --> 00:35:34.780 And they can do this without fear, 00:35:34.900 --> 00:35:38.519 because they too know that God sovereignly put this group, 00:35:38.720 --> 00:35:41.220 particular group of people in charge, 00:35:41.660 --> 00:35:44.460 entrusted them to this particular group of elders. 00:35:44.460 --> 00:35:49.659 In Ezekiel 34, 00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:55.900 there's a pointed passage where God condemns the leaders of Israel by comparing them to false shepherds. 00:35:56.559 --> 00:35:58.860 I think this passage is in the background of this passage. 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:02.300 And this is what God says to the leaders of Israel. 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:02.659 He says, 00:36:02.659 --> 00:36:03.219 Ah, 00:36:03.460 --> 00:36:06.259 shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves, 00:36:06.779 --> 00:36:08.659 should not shepherds feed the sheep? 00:36:09.259 --> 00:36:10.519 You eat the fat, 00:36:10.659 --> 00:36:12.259 you clothe yourselves with the wool, 00:36:13.099 --> 00:36:15.019 you slaughter the fat ones, 00:36:15.559 --> 00:36:18.019 but you do not feed the sheep. 00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:20.539 The weak you have not strengthened, 00:36:20.899 --> 00:36:22.500 the sick you have not healed, 00:36:22.839 --> 00:36:24.539 the injured you have not bound up, 00:36:24.779 --> 00:36:26.460 the strayed you have not brought back, 00:36:26.539 --> 00:36:28.000 the lost you have not sought, 00:36:28.099 --> 00:36:30.239 and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 00:36:30.239 --> 00:36:32.759 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, 00:36:32.979 --> 00:36:35.399 and they became food for all the wild beasts. 00:36:36.199 --> 00:36:37.899 And then later in that same passage, 00:36:38.019 --> 00:36:38.579 God promises, 00:36:39.219 --> 00:36:39.779 Behold, 00:36:40.199 --> 00:36:40.679 I, 00:36:40.799 --> 00:36:41.939 I myself, 00:36:42.119 --> 00:36:42.679 God speaking, 00:36:42.879 --> 00:36:45.139 will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 00:36:45.399 --> 00:36:47.379 I will feed them with good pasture, 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:50.319 and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. 00:36:50.699 --> 00:36:52.679 There they shall lie down in good grazing land, 00:36:52.739 --> 00:36:55.659 and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 00:36:56.019 --> 00:36:58.399 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. 00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:00.460 I myself will make them lie down, 00:37:00.539 --> 00:37:01.619 declares the Lord God. 00:37:01.800 --> 00:37:03.059 I will seek the lost, 00:37:03.139 --> 00:37:04.539 and I will bring back the strayed, 00:37:04.619 --> 00:37:06.139 and I will bind up the injured, 00:37:06.260 --> 00:37:07.579 and I will strengthen the weak, 00:37:07.700 --> 00:37:09.980 and the fat and the strong I will destroy. 00:37:10.220 --> 00:37:12.019 I will feed them in justice. 00:37:13.019 --> 00:37:16.200 God had promised that he himself will shepherd the sheep 00:37:16.200 --> 00:37:19.039 because he saw that his sheep were not taken care of, 00:37:19.260 --> 00:37:20.139 that they were broken, 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:21.160 that they were hurting, 00:37:21.680 --> 00:37:23.900 and that they had no way to atone for their own sins 00:37:23.900 --> 00:37:25.340 than to find their way back to God. 00:37:25.340 --> 00:37:27.579 So he said he had promised that he will do it himself 00:37:27.579 --> 00:37:28.579 to shepherd his people, 00:37:28.780 --> 00:37:30.240 and that's precisely what he did 00:37:30.240 --> 00:37:32.740 when he sent his son, Jesus Christ, 00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:35.820 to be the good shepherd who lays down his life 00:37:35.820 --> 00:37:38.579 so that we, all of us, 00:37:38.900 --> 00:37:40.340 who had no way to return to God, 00:37:40.440 --> 00:37:41.079 can be saved. 00:37:41.559 --> 00:37:43.860 Christ died to break the power of sin 00:37:43.860 --> 00:37:46.240 and to pay the penalty of sin on our behalf 00:37:46.240 --> 00:37:49.539 so we can be restored to God to whom we belong. 00:37:49.539 --> 00:37:54.159 And this sheep shepherd that came to save us 00:37:54.159 --> 00:37:55.039 will return. 00:37:56.079 --> 00:37:57.079 And when he returns, 00:37:57.179 --> 00:37:58.900 he will receive all the sheep to himself, 00:37:59.159 --> 00:38:01.559 and he will reward the under-shepherds for their labor. 00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:04.759 And that's why the elders shepherd, 00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:06.199 humbly shepherd God's people, 00:38:06.559 --> 00:38:08.559 and the people humbly follow, 00:38:09.099 --> 00:38:11.159 together under the lordship of Christ. 00:38:11.159 --> 00:38:19.859 When I was studying at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 00:38:20.179 --> 00:38:22.719 I had a favorite professor named Gary Parrott, 00:38:23.279 --> 00:38:24.199 and I'll close with this, 00:38:24.339 --> 00:38:26.079 and he shared something with me 00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:28.359 that really stuck with me through the years, 00:38:28.559 --> 00:38:30.659 and he was referring to this idea 00:38:30.659 --> 00:38:32.119 that Christ is the chief shepherd 00:38:32.119 --> 00:38:33.420 and we're just under-shepherds. 00:38:33.420 --> 00:38:36.380 And he encouraged me and the other students 00:38:36.380 --> 00:38:37.760 to think of ourselves, 00:38:38.159 --> 00:38:39.659 not simply as shepherds, 00:38:39.740 --> 00:38:41.280 but as sheepdogs, right? 00:38:42.059 --> 00:38:43.740 That the pastors of the church, 00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:45.079 you're sheepdogs, right? 00:38:46.019 --> 00:38:50.200 And that has really stuck with me 00:38:50.200 --> 00:38:51.680 because it means a lot to me. 00:38:51.720 --> 00:38:52.960 Yeah, I'm just a sheepdog, 00:38:53.200 --> 00:38:54.860 and God's trying to lead God's sheep 00:38:54.860 --> 00:38:57.300 to him, who's the chief shepherd, 00:38:57.360 --> 00:38:58.180 who's the true shepherd. 00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:02.260 And this vignette is helpful to think about 00:39:02.260 --> 00:39:04.360 because the sheepdog will firmly, 00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:06.360 though not aggressively or violently, 00:39:06.640 --> 00:39:09.080 you know, jump on and bark at, you know, 00:39:09.080 --> 00:39:11.560 sheep to make sure they don't go out of line 00:39:11.560 --> 00:39:13.700 and to stray into dangerous territory, right? 00:39:14.420 --> 00:39:17.140 And sometimes that might hurt 00:39:17.140 --> 00:39:19.240 because that could be a rebuke or an exhortation, 00:39:19.600 --> 00:39:22.120 but that's nothing compared to the dangers 00:39:22.120 --> 00:39:24.000 that lie when you leave the flock, 00:39:24.120 --> 00:39:25.220 when you leave the herd, right? 00:39:26.080 --> 00:39:29.240 And so the sheep humbly listen, right? 00:39:29.240 --> 00:39:30.240 They heed. 00:39:32.260 --> 00:39:34.200 The warnings and exhortations of the sheepdogs. 00:39:35.700 --> 00:39:36.960 And the sheepdogs, right, 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:40.060 obviously are not seeking to make the sheep follow them. 00:39:40.220 --> 00:39:41.060 They don't know where they're going. 00:39:41.420 --> 00:39:42.640 They follow the shepherd. 00:39:43.380 --> 00:39:45.040 They follow the instruction of the shepherd. 00:39:45.480 --> 00:39:47.280 They do everything at the shepherd's bidding 00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:51.600 because he's their ultimate lord and master as well. 00:39:52.240 --> 00:39:55.480 And the sheepdogs will also fight off predators, right? 00:39:55.520 --> 00:39:58.620 They'll fight wolves or hyannas, 00:39:58.619 --> 00:40:01.920 even if it means their own death or injury, right, 00:40:02.119 --> 00:40:03.259 at the bidding of the shepherd. 00:40:03.799 --> 00:40:05.639 And knowing this, the sheep are responsive 00:40:05.639 --> 00:40:07.159 to the call of the sheepdogs 00:40:07.159 --> 00:40:08.219 because they know that ultimately 00:40:08.219 --> 00:40:11.699 they're following the commands of the sheep shepherd, right? 00:40:13.259 --> 00:40:16.079 And all of this, the sheepdogs are only able to serve. 00:40:16.359 --> 00:40:18.960 We, the pastors and undershepherds are only able to serve 00:40:18.960 --> 00:40:21.920 because we know that it's God's grace that called us 00:40:21.920 --> 00:40:23.860 and that sustained us, right? 00:40:24.440 --> 00:40:26.840 It's, it's, we, if we were, 00:40:27.340 --> 00:40:28.860 if it were ultimately up to us, 00:40:28.940 --> 00:40:31.159 if we were ultimately responsible for God's people 00:40:31.159 --> 00:40:33.780 of safely guarding them and protecting them 00:40:33.780 --> 00:40:35.840 and bringing them in safe passage to God 00:40:35.840 --> 00:40:39.880 and heaven, that would be a crushing responsibility, right? 00:40:40.180 --> 00:40:41.220 They would not be able to do it. 00:40:41.220 --> 00:40:42.119 We would not be able to do it. 00:40:42.139 --> 00:40:44.500 But we know that it is God who perseveres as people. 00:40:44.860 --> 00:40:47.519 And it's God who sovereignly chose and called us 00:40:47.519 --> 00:40:49.400 and entrusted these people to us. 00:40:49.720 --> 00:40:51.380 That's why the pastors are able to serve. 00:40:51.940 --> 00:40:54.240 And in the same way, the people of the church, right? 00:40:54.320 --> 00:40:56.559 It would be, that, that would be a crushing responsibility 00:40:56.559 --> 00:40:58.039 of the pastors, but for the people, 00:40:58.260 --> 00:40:59.960 it would be cruel to tell them, 00:41:00.019 --> 00:41:01.160 be subject to the elders. 00:41:02.340 --> 00:41:05.079 Fallible, sinful, imperfect elders. 00:41:05.539 --> 00:41:06.360 Be subject to them. 00:41:06.380 --> 00:41:09.800 That would be cruel if it was not God himself, 00:41:09.800 --> 00:41:12.599 if it were not God himself who sovereignly elected 00:41:12.599 --> 00:41:14.019 this particular group of elders, 00:41:14.360 --> 00:41:16.860 this particular group of people and members 00:41:16.860 --> 00:41:19.660 and had a promise to lead them 00:41:19.659 --> 00:41:21.440 and promised to build this church. 00:41:21.819 --> 00:41:23.639 That's why we're able to function together 00:41:23.639 --> 00:41:25.539 as a church and as a leader of the church 00:41:25.539 --> 00:41:27.039 because of what Christ has done 00:41:27.039 --> 00:41:28.399 and what Christ has promised. 00:41:30.179 --> 00:41:32.299 So take a moment now, 00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:33.719 if you would, 00:41:34.139 --> 00:41:35.299 to reflect on that, 00:41:36.379 --> 00:41:38.399 what God might be calling you to 00:41:38.399 --> 00:41:42.399 and what God might be calling us to as a church. 00:41:42.400 --> 00:42:12.380 and what God might be calling you to