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Please join me in prayer as we ask the Lord to bless the preaching of his word
this evening. Our gracious Lord and Father in heaven, once again we thank you
for your word. It is a lamp unto our feet, a light into our path. We pray that
you would illuminate us, open our minds and our hearts this evening by your Holy
Spirit, that we might behold wondrous things from your word and help us Lord
to see the relevance and significance of this passage to our lives as individual
believers, to our life together as a congregation, a covenant community, and to
the church universal as well. And help us Lord to bear spiritual fruits of
obedience and renewed faith as we consider this portion of your word.
Give me the grace Lord to declare your word with clarity and power and with
the assistance of your Holy Spirit. We pray these things, O Lord, through Christ
our Lord and all of God’s people said. Amen. You may be seated.
Well friends, the title of my sermon this Lord’s Day evening is Shepherd the
Flock of God. This is part two. I addressed some aspects of this
passage on the last Lord’s Day, but we continue to consider this passage this
evening. And the key words that the young people can be listening for tonight are
Shepherd, sheep, flock, elders, and reward. Well my dear brothers and sisters in
Christ, God in his word often speaks of his people as his sheep. And he reveals
himself as the divine shepherd of his sheep. One of the best-known passages of
scripture, namely Psalm 23, begins with those unforgettable words, the Lord is my
shepherd. We sang that earlier in the service this evening. And in our passage
for this Lord’s Day evening, the Lord is referred to in verse 4 as the chief
shepherd. On the last Lord’s Day evening we began to explore the meaning and
significance of this passage as we focused especially on what passages like
this one revealed to us about the shepherd heart of our God. We also began
to consider what this passage teaches us about the identity of Christ as our
chief shepherd and the elders of his church as his under shepherds. Well this
evening we continue our consideration of this passage as I mentioned. And as we do
so, we would do well to keep in mind the situation that was faced by the original
readers of this divinely inspired letter. As believers who were facing a fiery
trial of persecution for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, these believers to
whom Peter wrote this epistle needed faithful shepherding as they faced the
dangers and the uncertainties that were before them. What a comfort to know that
Jesus Christ, our chief shepherd, protects, leads, guides, and defends our
souls, whatever may be our outward circumstances in life. And even if we have
to face a fiery trial of persecution or affliction. Well dear friends, in my sermon
this evening we’re going to consider three main points from our passage. First
of all, we’re going to consider the apostolic charge to the elders to shepherd
God’s flock. We began to consider that on the last Lord’s Day, but we’ll give
further consideration to that point this evening. Secondly, we’re going to consider
the kinds of shepherding, quote-unquote, that the church’s elders should avoid.
And finally, we’re going to consider the gracious reward promised to faithful
elders, faithful under shepherds of Christ. So let’s first of all dive in.
Let’s first of all consider the apostolic charge to elders to shepherd
God’s flock. The apostolic charge to the elders to shepherd God’s flock. Now
again, this is an exhortation as we learn in verse 1. Peter, as he’s beginning
to wrap up his epistle, he addresses his readers with these words. He says, so I
exhort the elders among you. And so he exhorts in particular the presbyterous,
the elders among them. And I did mention on the last Lord’s Day, I believe that
there’s good reason to think that the particular elders that Peter had in mind
are what we would today call pastors or teaching elders, although certainly the
principles that are applied to these under shepherds that Peter is addressing
would apply as well to those whom we would call ruling elders. And so the
principles, so I’m just going to assume that throughout as we consider this
passage, that it speaks principles that are relevant both to
pastors and to ruling elders. And you may say, well pastor, I’m never going to be a
pastor or ruling elder, what relevance does it have to me? Well it has
relevance to all of God’s people because we are all the sheep of Christ and we
need to know what the requirements are to be faithful shepherds and we need to
know what to look for in faithful under shepherds in the Church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. So he turns his attention again, as I mentioned, to exhorting the
elders. And notice he exhorts them as a fellow elder. Though he is an apostle of
the Lord Jesus Christ, an eyewitness to the resurrected Jesus, a one who was
himself personally called by Jesus to be the Lord’s official spokesman, as was the
case with all of the Apostles, the Twelve plus the Apostle Paul. But he addresses
them as their fellow elder. And under the higher
offices, if you will, are subsumed all of the duties and responsibilities of the
so-called lesser offices. And so he can do this and he’s doing this to appeal to
them. He’s putting himself, he’s saying, look we’re equal here and I am a
fellow elder and under shepherd and these are concerns that you should
have as well. I exhort you, not I order you, I command you, but I exhort you. I
exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of
Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. What
does he exhort them to do? What is his charge to them? He says very simply in
verse 2, shepherd the flock of God that is among you exercising oversight. The
concept of shepherding is a concept that brings to mind care, protection, guidance,
rescue, and so forth. And so I would have us consider what it means to exercise
spiritual shepherd care in the body of Christ. And what kind of shepherd care
should you as the people of God expect from the church’s pastors and elders? How
are the church’s elders to go about shepherding God’s people? Well we’re told
that they are to exercise oversight. Now this is, I’m preaching from the English
standard version, some of your versions may may not include this phrase
exercising oversight. And the reason for that is that this phrase is not found in
some of the older manuscripts of the New Testament, copies of the New Testament.
And so there are some textual questions regarding whether or not this was in the
original writing, the original letter that Peter wrote. But while some ancient
manuscripts omit the words exercising oversight, this phrase has early
attestation among many ancient manuscripts. And so it seems likely that these words
were in the original letter as penned by the Apostle Peter. But even if they
weren’t, the thrust of this whole passage indicates that exercising oversight is
indeed the task that under shepherds of Christ are to engage in. The rest of the
exhortation included in this passage shines the light on what Peter means by
shepherding the flock of God. And of course whatever it means, and I hope that
we have a clearer concept of that as we as we consider this passage, it’s clear
from this passage that the shepherd care of God’s people requires attentiveness,
it requires diligence, and it requires great personal care. Now with this being
the case we need to ask ourselves, and I want to challenge you, some of you
brothers, to consider, may God be calling you into the office of ruling elder. Do
you believe God might be calling you to serve as an under shepherd in Christ’s
church? Well if that is the case, what subjects should you study to equip
yourself for that shepherding task? And what are the subjects of the shepherd
study? How are shepherds to be equipped to provide this kind of shepherd care,
this kind of spiritual oversight? Well in order for pastors and ruling elders
to effectively shepherd the flock of God, they must seek as much as possible to
know their sheep. Jesus knows his sheep. Jesus the good shepherd, he knows us his
sheep, and not only that, he knows us by name, he calls us by name. And therefore I
would suggest that it is advisable for ministers and ruling elders in being
equipped in their shepherding tasks to focus on three main subjects of study,
and I will list these subjects in the order of importance. First of all, the
under shepherds of Christ must first of all be devoted to the study of God’s
Word, for they are to minister the Word of God to the people of God, and you have
the right to expect that your pastors and your elders will seek to shepherd
you in the Word and in devotion to the Word of God. So they must be devoted to
the study and exposition of God’s Word and to biblical truth that is grounded
upon and based upon God’s Word. But a close second subject of study is the
study of God’s people. Under shepherds of Christ must not only exegete the
Scriptures, they must exegete the sheep of Christ. They must seek as much as
possible to get to know the sheep of Christ and to be accessible to them and
to understand their particular life circumstances, their particular
challenges, their particular joys, and so forth. So the under shepherd of Christ
must be devoted to the study of God’s Word, must be devoted to the study of
God’s people, and also must be devoted to the study of God’s world, for the
people of God live in the context of the world that God has made. And so the
exercise of spiritual shepherd care involves exercising oversight. And what
does this exercise of oversight involve? Well it involves, among other things,
keeping watch over souls. And here I would have us consider another passage
of Scripture as we compare Scripture with Scripture, for it’s all God’s Word.
It is a unified divine revelation. And in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17, the
author of Hebrews says this about the leaders, and by the leaders here he means
the spiritual leaders of the church, elders, and so forth. Hebrews 13 17, I know
I quoted this last week, but let’s go back and look at it briefly again. The
author of Hebrews says, obey your leaders and submit to them. Again he’s
not calling for blind obedience. You are to submit to your leaders in the Lord,
and insofar as they submit themselves to and administer the Word of God. But
nonetheless, that being assumed, obey your leaders and submit to them. Why? For
they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an
account. Brothers and sisters in Christ, on the Judgment Day I will stand before
King Jesus as your pastor, and I will give an account to my Lord for how I
ministered the Word to each and every one of you. And when I think about that,
you know, when I really pause to consider that, you know, my knees shake. I
get shaken to the core of my being, and I realize, woe is me, without God’s grace,
who is sufficient for such a task. But this indeed is the task of your pastors
and your elders. They keep watch over your soul. That’s what they are called to
do, and if they neglect to do that, they will be held
accountable to the Lord for that. And then it says again in verse 17 of
Hebrews 13, obey them, submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your
souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and
not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Praise God for his
amazing grace. Praise God that the sufficiency of your under-shepherds, of
Christ’s under-shepherds over you is a sufficiency that comes from the Lord and
the Lord alone in his grace alone. So what are the responsibilities of such
shepherd care? What does this shepherding of the flock of God look like in terms
of practical outworking in the life of the church? I want to quote
from a source that many might regard as a rather boring source, but it’s
important. I want to quote from our OPC form of government, a few sections of the
government. Chapter 8, the chapter on pastors, it’s a
brief paragraph here, but let me read this and take this to heart, and I
believe that all of this is based upon and agreeable to the Word of God. It says
this in chapter 8 on pastors, Christ’s under-shepherd in a local congregation of
God’s people who joins with the ruling elders in governing the congregation is
called a pastor. It is his charge to feed and tend the flock as Christ’s minister,
which means servant, and with the other elders to lead them in all the service
of Christ. It is his task to conduct the public worship of God, to pray for and
with Christ’s flock as the mouth of the people unto God, to feed the flock by the
public reading and preaching of the Word of God according to which he is to teach,
convince, reprove, exhort, comfort, and evangelize, expounding and applying the
truth of scripture with ministerial authority, not with legislative or
domineering authority, but ministerial authority, authority that serves and
administers the truth. As a diligent workman approved by God to administer the
sacraments, to bless the people from God, to shepherd the flock and minister the
word according to the particular needs of groups, families, and individuals in
the congregation, catechizing by teaching plainly the first principles of the
oracles of God to the baptized youth and to adults who are yet babes in Christ,
visiting in their homes, in the homes of the people, instructing and
counseling individuals, and training them to be faithful servants of Christ, to
minister to the poor, the sick, the afflicted, and the dying, and to make
known the gospel to the lost. And this is why pastors only work once a week, right?
But you see, friends, this is a very active kind of shepherd care that the
pastor is called to. And the same thing with ruling elders. In chapter 10 of our
form of government in section 3, it says this about your ruling elders. It says,
ruling elders individually and jointly with the pastor in the session are to
lead the church in the service of Christ. They are to watch diligently over the
people committed to their charge to prevent corruption of doctrine or morals,
evils which they cannot correct by private admonition. They should bring to
the notice of the session. They should visit the people, especially the sick,
instruct the ignorant, comfort the mourning, and nourish and guard the
children of the covenant. They should pray with and for the people. They should
have particular concern for the doctrine and conduct of the minister of the word
and help him in his labors. In other words, your elders, one of their tasks is
to keep me accountable, to make sure that I’m walking in line with scripture and
to correct me if they see me going astray. But this is very different from
the way that many folks today view the tasks of church leaders, especially
pastors as well as elders. There are many misconceptions today among
Christians and in society in general about the roles and functions of
ministers and ruling elders. For example, when it comes to ministers who serve as
pastors, many folks tend to view pastors simply as religious functionaries, as
basically religious professionals who are assigned certain sacerdotal and
ceremonial functions. So, for example, those of a more high church mindset
often seem to view pastors and church leaders as religious masters of
ceremony whose main function is to dispense sacraments, to perform rites of
passage, and to perform other ceremonies at important stages in people’s lives.
Those who have more of a sort of a nominal approach to the Christian life,
you know, the so-called Christmas and Easter Christians, will often, in my
experience, they will often view the pastor. Well, it’s the pastor’s job to
baptize babies, officiate at wedding ceremonies, and to help oversee funeral
services, to administer or preside over funeral services as well. In other words,
the pastor’s job is to baptize, marry, and bury people, or to put it crassly, to
hatch them, match them, and dispatch them, right? But on the other end of the
theological spectrum. Another common view today, at least in the more broadly
evangelical world of mega churches and celebrity preachers, is the view that
pastors and other church leaders, namely the elders, are basically religious
businessmen. The pastor basically being the local church’s CEO. In fact, in some
of the mega churches out there, the senior pastor is sometimes given the
title executive pastor. And so he’s viewed as the one who is charged with
running the administration of the church. And so that’s his basic function, to run
the business of the local church and to deliver inspirational pep talks to the
people at Sunday services. But the pastor and the other church leaders,
like the elders in such contexts, are basically otherwise quite distant from
and uninvolved directly in the lives of the average congregant. That is the
corporate business model for how to do church. That is not the biblical
shepherding model for doing church. And you know, even in some reformed circles,
it seems that the minister or pastor is viewed almost exclusively as a preacher
with few other responsibilities. And certainly preaching is one of these
central activities. In fact, I would argue the central activity of the minister of
the word, and that’s the chief way in which the pastor at least helps to
shepherd the flock. But while all pastors are preachers, pastors don’t
merely preach, just as elders don’t merely administer the business affairs
of the church. Now, certainly activities like preaching the word and administering
the sacraments, these are some of the ways that the pastor and the
undershepherd shepherds the flock. And of course, part of what pastors and
ruling elders are called to do involves church administration. And most pastors
as well also do things like officiate at wedding ceremonies and at funerals,
even though the Bible doesn’t list that as part of the pastor’s job activity
or job description. Those are activities that are generally regarded as
proper to the shepherding role of the pastor. But friends, the point here is
that the main responsibility of ordained ministers and ruling elders in Christ’s
church is to spiritually shepherd God’s flock. And true spiritual shepherding is
much more involved than simply preaching, teaching, administering sacraments, and
administering the affairs of the local church. Although, again, all of those
activities are important aspects of shepherding God’s flock. A faithful
undershepherd of Christ will, like the divine shepherd he serves, seek to
actually know the sheep, to have at least a basic acquaintance with them and their
basic needs. He will seek to study the sheep entrusted to his care, seeking to
know their joys, their sorrows, their triumphs, and their trials. In some, my
friends, the church’s elders are not called to merely manage or manipulate
the flock. No, they are called to shepherd the flock of God. They are called to do
so as attentive, caring, loving, undershepherds of Christ. And once again,
brothers and sisters, you as God’s people have the right to expect your
pastors and your elders to provide you with this kind of shepherd care. Your
shepherds, your pastor and your elders will not do this perfectly. We all sin,
we all fall short, and we don’t fulfill our callings perfectly. But,
nevertheless, this is what you should be looking for in Christ’s faithful
undershepherds. But that leads me to my next point as we consider verses two and
three. Let’s consider next the kinds of shepherding that the church’s elders
should avoid. First of all, there is compulsory shepherding. The exhortation,
the charge is to shepherd the flock of God. And then he goes on to say in verse
three, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you. God would have us
serve willingly. God would have us fulfill our callings, our vocations
willingly and not under compulsion. The church’s overseers should desire to
serve. They should aspire to the office. Consider what the apostle Paul writes,
for example, in 1 Timothy chapter three, verse one, as he lays out the
character qualifications of those who would aspire to the office of overseer
or bishop. And by the way, in the New Testament, the bishop and the
presbyter or elder are two different terms that refer to the same office.
And Paul writes this in 1 Timothy three, verse one. He says the saying is
trustworthy if anyone aspires to the office of overseer. He does what? He
desires a noble task. Theologians talk about both the internal and the outward
call to the ministry or to service in church office. There has to be both. There
has to be the internal calling, namely an internal desire to pursue the office.
And that desire has to be confirmed by the church seeing the gifts for office in
the one who aspires to the office. But in terms of the internal calling, there has
to be a desire. Those who would serve as Christ’s under shepherd should be willing
to serve, aspiring to office, not pressured into such service. So if you’re a man and
you’re wondering, well, am I called to serve as a ruling elder in the church,
for example? Let me ask you this. Do you desire that? Do you aspire to that?
Because if there is no desire, then there is no call, at least not at this point in
life. And that’s okay. God calls us all. We all have a calling. We all have a
vocation. It may not be to church office. It might be to other things. And that’s
fine. We should recapture a robust sense of calling and vocation in the church of
Jesus Christ. And not everyone is called to church office. And that’s all right.
We are all called to the general office of believer, however. And we are all to
admonish one another and encourage one another in the Lord. But in terms of
shepherding, the true shepherd must not be so under compulsion. Another form of
shepherding that should be avoided is greedy shepherding. It goes on to say in
verse 3, nor not for shameful gain, but eagerly. Not for shameful gain, but
eagerly. The churches under shepherds are called to serve, to feed, and to lead
God’s flock into the green pastures of his grace and truth. They are not to
fleece the sheep. They are not to use them as sources of personal financial
enrichment. Of course, this does not invalidate the equally biblical truth
that those who labor in the word have a right to be paid for their services. The
apostle Paul makes it very clear in First Corinthians 9 verses 7 through 14
that that is the right of those who labor in the word to be paid for such
labor. Paul himself chose not to make use of that right, but he recognizes that the
right is there. But here’s the balance, brothers and sisters. We know that God is
greatly dishonored by church leaders who are motivated by greed. A few individuals
cause more harm to the witness of the church than those who are obviously in it
for the money. An obvious example being the charlatans out there, the prosperity
preachers out there, who if you watch them on their programs, they’re always
appealing for you to send in that seed money, to send in that gift, or to buy
this product, or that product, and so forth. And obviously, that’s an
obvious example of such a greedy shepherding. But it’s also neither honoring to
God nor a good witness for the gospel when faithful pastors are underpaid,
under supported, and underappreciated. And I thank God that that’s not the case here
at Grace OPC. Let me say very quickly, I’m very thankful to serve such a
graciously generous and supportive congregation. But over the years of my
ministry, I’ve seen colleagues in the ministry who I believe were not
appropriately appreciated or valued by their congregations. And that too is a
dishonor to the name of Christ. So again, compulsive shepherding, greedy
shepherding, these are forms of shepherding that should be avoided. Another
form of shepherding that should be avoided that is mentioned in verse three
is domineering or abusive shepherding. Again, look at verse three, not
domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. Not
domineering. Oh friends, faithful under shepherds of Christ are not to be
intrusive control freaks or heavy-handed micromanagers over God’s flock. And they
certainly are not to be bullies. Sadly, there are some who enter into the
ministry because they have a desire to control people. And that is not the
character, that is not what a man who would aspire to be an under shepherd of
Christ, that’s not the kind of character that ought to be sought. They are not to
lord it over the flock. Instead, they are to shepherd God’s flock as servant
leaders. Following the example of Christ, the chief shepherd, and what did Christ
do? He laid down his life for his sheep. He didn’t abuse his sheep, he laid down
his life for his sheep. Let me just read what our Lord teaches in Matthew 20,
beginning at verse 20. I want to read this brief passage to you. Matthew chapter
20, beginning at verse 20, we read this.
In other words, please give my sons the highest places of honor and authority in
your kingdom. And what does Jesus say?
Jesus answered,
that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise
authority over them. It shall not be so among you. That’s not how you are to
lead my sheep, in other words. But whoever would be great among you must be your
servant. And whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son
of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.
Dear ones, Christ is the good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep, his
elect church. Even though he is indeed Lord over all, he’s King of kings and
Lord of lords, he doesn’t exercise his lordship over his flock with harshness
or with cruelty or with abuse. Jesus is Lord, but he’s not a divine bully.
Instead, his yoke is easy, his burden is light. He is gentle and lowly of heart.
And though he is the royal messianic King before whom every knee shall bow and every tongue
confess him as Lord at the end of this age, nonetheless, he humbled himself to wash the
feet of his disciples. A disgusting, filthy, menial task, the lowest task of the lowest
servant. Jesus did that for his disciples. And he expects his under-shepherds, the church’s
pastors and elders to follow his example in the way they shepherd the flock of God entrusted to
their care. And you as the sheep of Christ, we as the sheep of Christ, ought to expect
such servant leadership from those whom God raises up as under-shepherds in our midst.
And dear listener, let me ask you this. Do you know Christ as your divine shepherd and Lord?
Jesus laid down his life for his sheep and he welcomes all who would come to him,
come to Jesus, trust him as your savior and your shepherd, and he will take you into his fold,
and he will lead you beside the still waters and in green pastures. But finally, and very briefly,
consider the gracious reward that is promised to faithful elders. We read of this in verse four,
where it says, and when the chief shepherd, that’s Jesus, when the chief shepherd appears, you,
you who are faithful under-shepherds, will receive the unfading crown of glory. Again,
the chief shepherd is obviously the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says when he appears, what’s that
referring to? That’s referring to his future glorious second advent. When Jesus returns in
his eschatological glory, those who are faithful in serving him will receive the unfading crown
of glory. Here, Peter uses imagery from an ancient athletic contest where the contestants
who won were rewarded with a garland crown that was woven with branches, either from an olive tree
or from some other tree. And as Dr. I. Howard Marshall points out, Peter describes the crown
as being made of amaranth flowers, and amaranth flowers did not fade away. But the same contrast
but the same contrast between perishable earthly garlands, even of amaranth, and the everlasting
imperishable divine award, that comparison is made by Paul as well in 1 Corinthians 9.
But the crown is a metaphor for the glory that the church leaders will share with Christ. But this
is not just something for church leaders to look forward to. Faithful shepherding, my friends,
indeed all forms of service to the Lord can be exacting and at times even wearying. However,
this gracious promise is meant to assure God’s servants that it will be worth it in the end.
And not only is this true for the church’s elders, as under shepherds, not only is it true for them
in their shepherding role, it is true for all of us as God’s people as we faithfully seek to serve
the Lord in our various callings and vocations. Dear Christian listener, your service to our Lord,
whatever form that service may take, is not in vain, for the Lord will graciously reward
your service even as he promises to reward his faithful under shepherds with the unfading crown
of glory. But understand that this unfading crown of glory and this language of reward
with this unfading crown of glory, this crown is not a crown that is earned or merited or deserved.
We don’t deserve this crown. We’re not worthy of it. Ultimately, it is a reward of grace,
not a reward of works or merits or worthiness.
You know, one aspect of God’s amazing grace is that God’s amazing grace is all the more
highlighted by the fact that he chooses to crown his own gifts as a reward. And that’s why on the
final day, when we have those crowns, we will cast our crowns before him. And we sang earlier in the
service today, to God be the glory. We will say on that final day, who we who by grace are in Christ,
we will say, when the Lord says to us, well done, thou good and faithful servant, we’ll say,
to God be the glory. To God be the glory. Not to me. To God be the glory. And therefore,
let our boasting always be in him and in him alone, even as our reward will be of his grace
and of his grace alone. Amen. Let us pray. Heavenly Father,
we thank you and praise you that you have chosen Jesus Christ as the good shepherd. We thank you,
Lord Jesus, who laid down your life for your sheep. And we thank you, O Lord, that you provide
under shepherds for your church, that you choose to shepherd your people through these under
shepherds. But Lord, we know that it is only by your grace that under shepherds can shepherd
faithfully. And so, Lord, we would pray that you would bless your churches with faithful under
shepherds, pastors and elders, who will shepherd your sheep, who will shepherd the flock of God
faithfully, exercising godly oversight. We pray these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people
said. Amen.