Oversight by the Elders

Transcript

GR 1950
04/24/2016
Oversight by the Elders
I Peter 5:1-2
Gil Rugh

We have been studying the 1st letter of Peter and we come to the last chapter of this letter, chapter 5, so I invite your attention there in your Bibles. He has moved toward the end of this letter, written to Jewish believers scattered outside the land of Israel, going through times of trials, difficulty and suffering. Even as we were reflecting in our study of the Psalms, repeated emphasis and here these Jews who have turned to Christ as their Messiah and Savior now face the opposition of the enemy, of their own people Israel, who persist in their rejection of the Messiah.

He has talked about the conduct that is to characterize God’s people even in trials and difficulties. His enabling grace enables us to have consistency in our testimony. He has reminded them in chapter 4, verse 7 that “The end of all things in near.” So there ought to be fervency about us in our prayers, in our love for one another, in our ministry generally. God has gifted us to minister and serve together. He reminded them in verse 12 that they shouldn’t be surprised at the intensity of the persecution they are experiencing because this is just part of being identified with Christ. In that sense it becomes part of the privilege that we should bear the reproach that comes to the One that we love and serve, the One who died for us.

And so in verse 14 “If you are reviled for the name of Christ you are blessed.” What an honor to be so identified with Him that you would share in the sufferings that come with that identification. We shouldn’t be ashamed if we suffer as believers. And then the reminder, it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. Remember “The end of all things is near,” verse 7. That being the case it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. It begins with us. What will be the outcome of it for the disobedient? God’s judgment for believers is a refining judgment as we were talking about in our study in Psalms. It is a purifying judgment so we partake in a greater way of His holiness so that it manifests in our lives but the judgment that will come upon the unbeliever, it is a judgment of destructive wrath that will culminate in their eternal separation from God.

So verse 19: “Those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to the faithful Creator” and He will do what is right. Abraham asked God, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” And He does and we have that confidence and our trust is in the One who created us and now by His grace has called us to Himself.

So chapter 5 opens up: “Therefore.” Part of this proper conduct of God’s people God has provided leaders. Those leaders must conduct themselves properly and are responsible for the oversight and care of God’s people. The picture is of shepherds and sheep and God provides shepherds for His people. Those shepherds have great responsibility, great accountability to God and then the sheep that are under their care must be careful to recognize the responsibility God has given them to follow their shepherds.

So He begins chapter 5. “Therefore I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker of the glory that is to be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God among you.” And the sentence continues on. It was addressed to the elders and these Jews scattered in different places would be part of different congregations in different places and they would have elders or leaders that would be there to give oversight or care. That word translated ‘elder’ as many of you are aware, the Greek word is presbyteros and you recognize that we get the word ‘Presbyterian’ from it. Presbyterian churches have a government of elders. In a little bit we will see the word that is translated ‘bishop’ in some of the Bibles, is episkopos. In the episkopos it is the episcopal form of government, government of Bishops and then the common word ‘shepherd’ which we talk about pastors as shepherds.

He addresses this to the elders and the word simply means (it can be used in the normal sense of an older person but it is used of leaders in nations among God’s people) Israel and then among the church; this concept of leadership by the elders goes back to the Old Testament so this was not an innovative idea when you come to the church. All of a sudden we are going to talk about appointing elders. Where did that come from?

Come back to the Old Testament to the end of the book of Genesis. We are just going to look at some samplings, not extensively. Even in Egypt there were elders who had positions of responsibility in leadership so here we have what we would call a pagan nation but leaders in it is recognized in it among elders. So in verse 7 of Genesis 50: “So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt.” So obviously Joseph occupying the position next to Pharaoh and he is going to travel for this significant event, the burial of his father, key people go with him and here you see they are called elders.

We won’t go there but in numbers chapter 22, verse 7 there are elders in the land of Midian and Moab so this concept is key and often it would have been older men who have risen to those positions who have the maturity and experience are involved in the leadership and oversight, involved even in secular nations.

At the time of the exodus of Israel from Egypt they had grown from a family of 70 people into a nation about two million during the 400 years of the exodus. So turn over to Exodus, just a few pages over in your Bible to Exodus chapter 3. Moses is being instructed by God to go to the nation Israel and tell them of God’s plan to deliver them from their slavery in Egypt. And you will note the instruction in verse 16: “Go and gather the elders of Israel together.” You see what he has done. Gather these who really as the nation has grown in those centuries of captivity. There has been the recognition and development of leaders for the nation. It has maintained its identity in the nation. It has not been absorbed into Egypt. They have their own land. Part of it had to do with them being shepherds but in the plan of God it was keeping His nation separate. But elders now are the recognized leaders so when he said in verse 15 to Moses: “Go and say to the sons of Israel.” So in verse 16: “Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them,” that God has appeared to him, God plans to deliver them, He will bring them out of their affliction.” Verse 18: “They will pay heed to what you say and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him.” So you see here the elders come as the representative body of the nation Israel, joined with Moses and Aaron and speaking on God’s behalf to Pharaoh. So you have the elders there. The nation has developed this structure which seemed to be the common structure in nations of the time including the nation Egypt that had within it. Of course they had a pharaoh or a king but then they had the elders and so Israel has developed that structure.

Come over to Numbers chapter 11, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, chapter 11. The exodus has occurred and Moses is providing leadership for the nation Israel and the nation Israel it is not an easy responsibility to lead these people. They are grumblers, they are complainers and so the chapter opened up in verse 1: “Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord.” And the Lord doesn’t like to hear His people complain. So He sends fire among them and destroys a number of them.

So you come down further into the chapter and Moses is frustrated and verse 11 he says to God: “Why have you dealt with me so harshly that you put me in charge of these people?” You know it is like herding cats, it is a miserable job. In fact it is so bad that he says in verse 15: “If you are not going to help me in this situation, kill me. I would rather die than go on with this.” Verse 15: “Now if you are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once. If I have found favor in your sight do not let me see my wretchedness.” You get an idea of how difficult it was. Verse 16: “The Lord therefore said to Moses, ‘Gather for me 70 men from the elders of Israel.’” So the nation of two million, you know, the twelve tribes represented and so on there would have been a large number of elders. We are going to narrow that down to a leadership group for the nation; 70 men who you know to be the elders of the people. These are recognized for their position. They have already a recognition as leaders. They are officers. “Bring them to the tent of meeting, let them take their stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak to you. I will take of the Spirit who is upon you and with put Him upon them and they shall bear the burden of the people with you so that you don’t bear it all alone.” I am going to spread out the leadership responsibility. Moses is still going to be the leader of the leaders but now he will have 70 recognized men who have positions of leadership and authority over the nation; so all the distinctions don’t come back on Moses’ shoulders.

Come down to verse 24: “So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, stationed them around the tent.” This is the tent where the Lord met with His people. “Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again.” In other words, the same Spirit that was enabling and empowering Moses for his leadership now that Spirit was also going to give these men the wisdom and the power and their prophesying demonstrated that they had been appointed and empowered by almighty God for their position. It won’t take care of the complaining of the people. This is going to go on. We will get over to chapter 14 we have the rebellion of Korah. I mean this is just Israel, sad to say. But you see the elders here and throughout the Old Testament.

We are not going to look at these but Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 1; Ezekiel chapter 8, verse 1 and you can go through with a concordance and look. The elders have this, it is a semi-official capacity because Israel will eventually have a king but even then there are elders recognized as leaders within the nation.

So when you come to New Testament times we find elders providing leadership in the nation Israel and we find references to the elders, the chief priests and scribes. So these together form some kind of leadership unit. Not all the same authority but they are recognized as having leadership authority.

Luke chapter 20, verse 1; Acts chapter 6, verse 6 where the Apostles have to do with the chief priests and elders of Israel and their opposition to the preaching of the Gospel and the book of Acts.

So it is not surprising when we come to the establishing of the church you have elders appointed to bear the responsibility of the oversight, the leadership of God’s people. God’s plan in the world He has created is leadership. This is why we see it even in the secular nations. All the way back, remember, in the garden of Eden before the fall into sin in chapter 2 there were only two people on the face of the earth, Adam and Eve but God had established a leadership structure. Adam would be the leader demonstrated by his being created first; by the woman being created as a side part of Adam as a helper to compliment him.

So when you get to the New Testament into 1 Timothy, that is one of the reasons you have the men providing leadership because Adam was created first and then Eve. I mention that because some of you will say “Well, these kinds of structures are the result of sin.” Even in the eternal kingdom there will be leadership and order after all sin has been dealt with and we move into Revelation chapter 21 and 22 we are going to what, rule and reign with Christ. There will be authority. That is God’s plan. It’s not, now leadership gets corrupted by sin, misused and abused and Peter is going to warn about that in chapter 5 of his first letter but the fact that we need leadership is God’s plan. That is why, remember, Peter dealt with this earlier. Paul writes about it. We obey governing authorities because the governing authorities have been appointed by God even in secular realms.

Alright, so come over to the New Testament to the book of Acts, that little side trip was just an add-on. Acts chapter 11 and look at verse 30. Now pick up verse 27 so you know where we are. “At this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch and one of them named Agabus” talked about a coming famine so verse 29: “In the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.” We are in northern Antioch as you are aware with the context. “And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.” So there was recognized elders in the leadership structure at the church and remember the church at Jerusalem is still the mother church. We have ministry going on in Antioch but they recognized the responsibility to the center and where it all began and where apostolic leadership is focused and it talks about the elders there.

When you come over to Acts chapter 14 now we have Paul traveling and they come and they are preaching the Gospel. And you come down to chapter 14. What they do as they are traveling through the region and then they return and retrace their footsteps, revisiting the churches they just established and you will note what they do in verse 23: “When they had appointed elders for them in every church.” You note, it is the plurality of elders in every church, singular. So elders are connected to individual churches and the oversight of those churches and that is consistent. We talk about plurality of elders, sharing the responsibility of the oversight. “They commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed” and they move on. Now that church is an independent entity with its own leadership and they are responsible to carry on. Now obviously there is going to be varying degrees of maturity. These churches were just established a short time earlier when Paul came through. He has just turned around and is coming back on a return visit but he appoints elders in the church. Now some of these coming out of Jewish background would have had grounding in the Old Testament so when they placed their faith in Christ they came with a knowledge of Scripture that maybe some others wouldn’t but we are in Gentile areas so there will be relative maturity. We have the qualification of elders set down in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1 but within every church there will be varying degrees of maturity similar to this church. When it was a young church, new, with young people, young believers, obviously the leaders would have been younger, have less maturity than a church that had been in existence for some time and the maturity would be greater. But the elders are appointed very early. They are appointing elders in the church he had established. This is the structure there will be and that is carried over as well.

You come to chapter 15 and here you are going to have the Jerusalem council. Verse 2, Paul and Barnabas, there is a dissension with the Jews who thought that (we call them Judaizers) you have to believe in Christ but that is not enough. They are trying to wed the Old Testament and the law to the Gospel and Paul and Barnabas are opposing that so they decide to go to the center of apostolic leadership, Jerusalem and have it resolved in these early days of the church.

So “When Paul and Barnabas had great dissention and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some of the others should go with them to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders.” The apostles become that unique group with the greatest authority but joined with them in responsibility are the elders at Jerusalem; mentioned down in verse 4: “When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders.” Verse 6: “The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.” Down in verse 22 and 23, verse 23: The letter sent by this showing the decisions of this group, “The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren” in these different regions. So you see the establishing of leadership in the church and the recognition of that leadership from very early days.

Okay, let’s see, come over to chapter 20. You are well familiar with this. Paul is going to meet in verse 17 from Miletus, Acts 20:17, “He sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.” So the church that he had established in the city of Ephesus on a prior occasion he’s coming nearby at the seaport but he is not going to take the time to travel up into the city but he calls for the elders, plural, of the church, singular, the church at Ephesus and he gives them some specific instructions and tells them about the ministry that he has had and then he tells them their responsibility down in verse 28 because Paul is entrusting them to carry on the ministry that he started and the boldness and the clarity that he had with the Gospel now rests with them. “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God;” the same three words. They refer to the same individuals. In church history over time these got broken out and so you had the episcopal bishops, episcopos, who became the bishops and you develop those structures and pastors who served under the bishop but here he is using all three terminologies called them “elders,” in verse 17 for example. Then he tells them that they are to “shepherd,” down in verse 28, that is the word we get pastor from, to pastor, to shepherd. They are overseers; that is episkopos. You recognize the word. You say we are going to scope out something. You have a telescope. It comes from this word, episkopos, scope. And that would be on the front, you oversee. You look over but the responsibility of the elders, the Holy Spirit, now note this Paul doesn’t say I made you overseers. The Holy Spirit made you overseers and thus gave you the responsibility to shepherd the church of God. He didn’t say to shepherd your church. Reminded this is a solemn responsibility given to the elders. The Holy Spirit has made you oversees to shepherd the church of God, the church that belongs to Him because He purchased it with His own blood and this is of great importance because Paul says after I am gone there are going to be some terrible battles come in. “Savage wolves,” then picking up the analogy of the shepherds and the sheep and savage wolves come in and what, to tear the sheep apart. Your responsibility is great because verse 30: “From among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things.” This gets difficult. It’s not just we’ve got to watch those that are going to come and attack us from the outside; this is going to be so clever they are going to infiltrate among us. So attacks will come from within the church at Ephesus as well as from without. “Therefore be on the alert.” He reminds them he spent three years of ministry with them and he admonished them with tears. “I commend you to God, to the word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among those who are sanctified and I have coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothes.” And Peter is going to pick up on such a theme. The elders are not to be in this for personal gain even though as we will see there is provision for remuneration but that’s not what it is all about; so solemn responsibility there for the elders.

Come over to 1Timothy, I Timothy, stop at chapter 3 if I can find I Timothy. You will note that the chapter opens up: “If any man aspires to the office of overseer.” My Bible has in the margin or bishop because that was the translation made of the Greek word ‘episkopos,’ one who oversaw ended up becoming then the development of a government by bishops and pastors served under bishop and a bishop is one who had authority over pastors in an area but Biblically these are the same individuals. So “If any man aspires to the office of overseer it is a fine work.”

Then he gives qualifications of them, those men who would be recognized. So what we are doing when we have elders appointed is what Paul referred to. We are simply recognizing the men the Holy Spirit has raised up and picked out to serve in this capacity. That is why it is not a popularity contest. It’s looking for the men that God has appointed. It’s just like in this church, we look for the individuals gifted in various ways and various areas to carry out ministries in different areas. It is God’s church of which Christ is the head. We would assume that He is going to be doing the directing and leadership.

Come over to chapter 5, verse 17 of I Timothy. “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” And it talks about remuneration for elders but the responsibility. The ministry as an elder is to be hard work and it is time consuming and not all of our elders are paid. Thankfully some of the elders are speaking out of personal benefit but he uses the example. You don’t muzzle the ox while he is threshing; so if all of our elders were remunerated to one degree or another it would be consistent with Scripture, and further instructions about the elders.

You come over to Titus chapter 1. Titus was left in Crete as Timothy was left at Ephesus. Timothy was to bring further order to the church at Ephesus and deal with the false teachers who had already infiltrated among them and put a stop to their activity and be sure that qualified men are put into the position of leadership. Titus has the same responsibility at Crete.

So verse 5 says: “For this reason I left you in Crete that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.” Some have picked out from this, well then you know we have city church with city wide oversight. The fact is at this point in time there is the church at Corinth, the church at Ephesus, we haven’t grown to the multiplicity of churches that there may be. There may be a break down because of sizes they grow into different homes because we are quite a ways away from church buildings. So we find the reference to the church that meets in the house of so and so. Those with larger homes and facilities would have churches and there may be more than one meeting place in a city obviously. Just like the larger cities where it wouldn’t be possible maybe to travel and the meeting place wouldn’t hold everybody but there is only one church there under the leadership.

They appoint elders and then he gives a summary briefer than that which was given to Timothy and we usually put these qualifications mentioned in Titus chapter 1 together with those in I Timothy chapter 3 and some of them overlap and are repeated so you end up with the 21 or 22 qualifications. And they are really marks of maturity. They are not marks of a perfect man but a man who evidences godliness and maturity in his life. These have to be men, verse 9 of Titus 1 “Who are holding fast the faithful Word which is in accordance with the teaching so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.” The responsibility of the elders and this is perhaps their greatest responsibility to hold fast to God’s Word. Because there are pressures that come and even from God’s people, well I think if you did this it would be better that you do that. The elders have to sort out and determine what the Biblical thing is to do and do it. And they have to be prepared and discerning to put a stop to any error that is being promoted and taught. Timothy had the responsibility in the first letter to him. There are certain men teaching what should not be taught and they are wreaking havoc. It is happening at Crete. Whole households, whole families, verse 11: “These false teachers must be silenced. They are upsetting whole families.” You see how quickly this kind of activity takes hold in a church and then believers in the church get confused. Then you have families that are upset and then God’s families are disordered.

So come back to 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 1. Peter exhorts them as a fellow elder. “I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder.” He doesn’t say as an apostle which has greater authority but here he identifies with them as one who shares the responsibility they share. He is centered in the church in Jerusalem but apostolic doctrine has been coming out from there that has helped to anchor the church in its early days and then Paul comes on the scene and joins in that.

“He is a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker of the glory that is to be revealed.” He was an eye witness of the sufferings of Christ. He testifies to that. Back in chapter 4, verse 13: “To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ.” Peter obviously has and is and he witnessed the sufferings of Christ and he joins with them. He is also a partaker of the glory which is to be revealed, the glory that will be revealed when Christ comes.

Back in chapter 4, verse 13: “To a degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.” We are destined to share in the glory of Christ. Peter was with Christ during His earthly ministry, His earthy sufferings, His crucifixion. Now he has experienced as we can testify even by the record of his ministry in the opening chapters of the book of Acts, his imprisonments, beatings, but he is looking forward to the glory. If we suffer with Him we will reign with Him. That is the Promise.

So it is a reminder to them. Judgment is beginning at the house of God and that refining process and that final preparation but don’t lose sight of the goal – we are going to glory. Suffering is not the end for us. It is part of the process now for glory. For the unbeliever this is as good as it gets because the worst is yet to come.

So an encouragement then in verse 2, they are to “Shepherd the flock of God among you.” “Shepherd the flock of God.” Reminder, remember what Paul told the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20? They were to shepherd the church of God. You are to shepherd them. It is God’s church. It is God’s flock. You are shepherding His people. This is a command given. This is an aorist imperative. It is a sharp, strong command. “You must shepherd the flock of God among you.” Shepherds have a great responsibility. It is an obligation of the elders to shepherd the flock.

You know in the Old Testament the kings of Israel were called shepherds. Come back to Ezekiel 34. The key idea in shepherding is caring but it is as oversight. The shepherds are responsible for the condition of the sheep. They give an account for the sheep. David mentioned that. So it is serious. If a bear came in and killed a sheep he went after that bear. He is going to get whatever part of the sheep he can, bring it back and show I have been a faithful shepherd. I was not able to prevent that destruction of that sheep but I got the bear. He wasn’t slack in his responsibility.

Look at Ezekiel 34. “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel.” These are the kings, these are the rulers. These are those that have been in place to oversee and care for properly God’s people. “Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep.’” You don’t feed the flock. You don’t care for the sickly. You don’t strengthen them. You don’t heal the disease. “The broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.” This is where Peter is going. The shepherds of God’s people are not to lord it over them. “They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.” My flock scattered everywhere. “Therefore, you shepherds hear the Word of the Lord. ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and MY shepherds did not search for My flock’” but concentrated on themselves. “Hear the Word of the Lord, (verse 10) I am against you shepherds. I will demand an accounting from you.” So then verse 11: “I myself will go searching for My sheep.” So being appointed to leadership is a serious responsibility. When God says “you shepherd the flock,” you are going to be giving an account.

Back to just a little before I Peter to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17: “Obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.” The elders will give an account for the keepers of the sheep. “Let them do this with joy and not with grief for this would be unprofitable for you.” In other words there are two things going on here. Moses had a problem shepherding Israel because Israel wouldn’t follow his leadership. The other side, the kings of Israel didn’t do their job of shepherding the people so there is accountability here and when the elders give an account for the condition of this flock why are they scattered, why is there disorder? Why have they been led astray with false teaching? Why have families been upset? Well, Lord we are busy about other things and we didn’t want to have to deal with unpleasant things so we let it go. That would be bad for the shepherd. But if the shepherds have to say, “Lord, they are constantly wanting to go their own way. They wouldn’t listen.” It is like Moses “Lord, I can’t get them together. Everybody comes up with their own ideas.”

Serious business here. It is a relentless task for people to realize their responsibility is to follow the shepherds and the shepherds realize the seriousness and awesomeness. This must be done according to the Word of God. Now when that happens there is order. You know what happens when we have our problems? People decide that God has appointed them to shepherd the shepherds. They have decided, the shepherds you know, I don’t agree. Well, God’s leadership structure breaks down because now people are going their own way. This is serious business. The elders have to take it seriously. We are going to get down. That doesn’t mean they are the lords, the dictators and because I say but they are responsible for the condition of the flock and to lead it according to the Word of God. They are not free to exert their own opinions. There is going to be inconsequential things. Somebody has to set what time will we meet on Sunday morning? Will we do it at 10:00 or 10:15 or 10:30 or 11:00? Those are obviously things not addressed in Scripture and they are not issues. But issues of conduct, of doctrine, the elders are responsible to hold us to the Word of God and be very careful when you decide to overrule God’s leadership, the Holy Spirit has appointed them. It is a serious thing to try to overrule God. I am not saying the elders are God but they have been appointed by the Holy Spirit. It didn’t matter that Korah got 250 men of esteem to join with him. It doesn’t matter how many vote. God appointed.

So we want to be serious. Now if the elders depart from the truth of God’s Word then that has to be dealt with. If their conduct departs from the truth of God’s Word, the requirement – to be dealt with. Because I don’t agree with their decision means I overrule them, God has commanded them to shepherd the flock among you. And this involves verse 2: “Exercising oversight.” They are the elders, they are the shepherds, they are the overseers. They have the oversight, the shepherding responsibility to oversee the sheep. That is what he is saying, the same three words used in Acts 20, remember, elders, shepherd, oversee. Serious responsibility; that is what God has appointed them to do. This is the protection for the flock. This is so we can function Biblically. It frees up God’s people to function as they should; each person exercising their gift in the different analogy. When everybody is working against one another there is no order. Peter is going to refer to the fact, down in verse 4, there is a “Chief Shepherd.” The One to whom what we call the “under shepherds” are ultimately accountable. That is Christ. He exercises His leadership through the shepherds that He has appointed.

I don’t know how to stress this because every time we get into issues it becomes a bigger conflict than it should. It shouldn’t be that big of an issue. It is clear. There is no division among the elders. There has not been in any of the issues that have come up here in recent years. The elders are not divided. It’s not, we’ve got a problem. We have half the elders here and half the elders here. There is unanimity. What is the problem? It is when people appoint themselves as the overseers of the elders. God’s plan is clear. His command is to the elders to shepherd the flock. They cannot say “Well, if they want to lead, let them do it.” They can’t pass that off. They can’t absolve themselves. The Spirit has appointed them. None of the elders get into the conflicts and the difficulties and say, “Oh boy, I am glad that I am in this. I feel like I wish somebody else was doing this.” But God appoints us. I take it He gives the wisdom to those who He appoints.

I am always amazed at people who have the arrogance before God to think God appoints these men as the elders and gives all the wisdom to those He hasn’t appointed. It becomes a matter of self-righteousness. I know better than the elders. I have had so many wasted hours in these kinds of conversations. The elders have to do what they have to do and we are blessed to have godly elders. I am blessed to serve with them. You are blessed to have them oversee. They are not perfect men and they will give an account to God. I am not saying that every decision they make would be perfect otherwise they wouldn’t have to give an account for their activity but none the less they are those that God has appointed and to the best of their ability they are making the decisions they believe are right in light of the Word for your good, for our good together as a body. We are blessed to have a congregation where we hang together. We are bound together because by and large we are a people committed to be Biblical.

What happens in “congregational” kind of government? Everybody gets a vote, everybody gets a say, everybody is on equal authority and the church is just constantly in turmoil because whoever shouts the loudest or has the most influential friends gets his way and it is impossible because this isn’t God’s structure.

So we are all spiritually equal just like the husband and wife. Each are spiritually equal but they don’t have equal authority. Well it doesn’t seem right. It’s right because God says that is the way it is. It’s God’s church so we want to be careful that we function the way He says. We will look further into this next time.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord for Your Word. Thank You for its clarity. Thank You Lord for the simplicity of the plan that You have established. You have made provision, every provision for us to function in the way that is pleasing to You, that will provide for a healthy church, healthy sheep that we might grow and mature and be a testimony of Your work in our lives. Thank You for the elders that You have appointed for this church, godly men appointed by the Spirit to carry out the obligation of shepherding Your people. Thank You for a body of people that even under pressure follow the leadership, support the leadership so that we can function in harmony under the leadership of the One who is the Chief Shepherd so that You are honored and our testimony is strong. Thank You for the blessings of this day. Lord, we commit the week before us to You. Every day will be filled with opportunities as challenges. We pray that You will use each one of us wherever we are, whatever we are doing to be a bright light, a strong testimony we pray in Christ’s name, amen.