Grace Fellowship Church
How to Shepherd the Lord's Sheep
1 Peter 5:2-3
April 1, 2007
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Introduction
The Bible is replete with examples of God shepherding His people and His people behaving like sheep. The first instance of God being referred to as a shepherd is found in Genesis 48:15 when Jacob was blessing his sons before his death. He told Joseph, “"The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day…” make his name to continue.
We then find in Numbers 27:15-17 the need for men to shepherd the people of God.
15 Then Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, 16 "May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, 17 who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep which have no shepherd."
Moses was dying and Joshua was to be the shepherd of the people of
In 2 Samuel 5:2 the tribes of
And then in one of the most beautiful passages about the Lord shepherding His people we find Isaiah 40:11.
11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
This verse gives us a great jumping off point for our text today. I want you to first notice verse 2. Look at the text. Elders, we have a specific task for a specific people.
shepherd the flock of God that is among you,
There are some very specific things that Peter is reminding us of in this very short phrase. Mark and Doug, these precious people that the Lord has privileged us to serve are not our sheep. Verse 2 says that they are the “flock of God.”
I want you to get this picture. These sheep belong to the Lord of the universe. Isaiah 53:6 paints this picture for us. Listen to the verse.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way;But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
The flock of God belongs to Him because not only did He create them, He personally and completely paid for the redemption of these sheep. Verses 3-5 of Isaiah 53 tell us the price of these sheep. Listen as I read this astounding text about the price the Lord Jesus Christ paid for His sheep.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ;And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well -being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
When you know and understand that the sinless Son of God suffered, bled, and died on a Roman cross to redeem this flock that God has sovereignly placed here for you to lead, it should dramatically and completely change your entire perspective on the task of church elder.
Illustration
Imagine that you walked into a museum. The curator hands you the most expensive, most beautiful and yet fragile artifact known to man. How would you handle that artifact? Would you treat it with contempt or would you be overly careful?
Even more than being careful with the sheep as a precious, purchased by the blood of Christ, people you would also have great love for the Chief Shepherd.
Illustration
When the apostle Peter was reinstated after his denial of the Lord, the Lord asked him three times, Peter do you love me? Peter answered three times, Yes Lord you know that I love you. Then the marching orders were given. “Tend my sheep, feed my sheep, tend my lambs.” It is out of love for Christ that we can correctly shepherd His sheep. That is the only way. If we have any other motivation for shepherding we will be a hireling.
The duty of a shepherd is a dangerous business. David, the shepherd boy, was confronted by wild beasts. The shepherd must act as though he is fearless. He must rush into a dangerous situation and snatch a sheep or a lamb from the jaws of a wild beast. In the context of the church that wild beast could very well be the clutches of the Devil. The faithful shepherd who loves the Chief Shepherd must be willing to suffer on behalf of the sheep.
Illustration
Paul told Timothy, the young shepherd at
There is some great instruction for elders or shepherds in Proverbs 27:23. It says,
23 Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds;
Peter gives some very specific instructions to elders in our passage of Scripture this morning. By way of introduction I want you to look at verses 1 and 2 with me again.
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight
Specifically in verse 2 there is a command to the elders. The command is the first word in verse 2, shepherd. The KJV translates this word feed. And that is part of the task of the elder but that does not adequately summarize the task. The Lord is our ultimate example of how we the elders are to shepherd the flock. The shepherding of the flock of God basically comes down to three main duties.
Before I go on and some of you are tempted to check out and simply say that this sermon is not for you, let me give you, the folks that are not elders, some reasons why you need to hear this sermon.
1. You need to understand what the elders of Grace Fellowship are called to do. You need to know what to expect from the elders.
2. Whether you are a father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, or future parent you can benefit from these examples in family life. As parents we are called to shepherd our families in the ways of the Lord and the application for these shepherds of a congregation will carry right over into your family life.
3. The next sermon in 1 Peter will be describing the duties of the flock to the shepherd.
So now lets go back to those three main duties of a shepherd/ elder.
If you would, turn over to Acts 20 with me. Start reading in verse 17 to set the context and see how the Apostle Paul sets the example for faithful Christian service.
17 Now from
Now Paul will give instructions to the church elders. He has already set the example of faithful Christian service and now he will outline the pastoral duties of the elders.
28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the
First, the elders are to “Pay careful attention to two things. The word here in Greek for this phrase, Pay careful attention, also could mean beware, look closely. If you are walking through a minefield then you are going to pay careful attention. If you are walking through an area of a field that is known to have rattlesnakes, you are going to proceed with caution. And there are two areas that Paul warns the elders to pay careful attention to. And we all must heed this warning, not just the elders.
1. The elders are to pay careful attention to themselves.
2. They are to pay careful attention to the flock.
Why is this so important? First we have to remember who we are watching over. Look at verse 28 again.
28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care(the word is shepherd) for the
Then verses 29 and 30 tell us why we the elders are to pay careful attention to ourselves and to the flock. Paul warns…
29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
The warning is far too clear and far too frightening. Satan desires to sift the church like wheat. Here is why the church should look to and trust their shepherds. Verse 29 says that fierce wolves will come in among you and not spare you. Satan like a roaring lion wants to devour you. He wants to destroy your testimony and your faith. He wants the name of the Lord slandered in the world and not honored and he will stoop to all kinds of unfair tactics to get it done. So the elders are to be on guard, over themselves and over the flock.
I told you that the church should trust their shepherds and they should but the text also teaches that the sheep are to keep watch over the shepherds. Look at verse 30 again. Remember Paul is speaking to the elders at
We know from Revelation 2 that the Ephesian elders took these words to heart because the Lord commends them for the putting out of evil men within that congregation. Also we know that savage wolves did indeed try to infiltrate that church after this as the apostle Paul writes to Timothy who was the pastor of that Ephesian church.
So how are the elders supposed to pay careful attention? How can these God called men fulfill their duty faithfully before the Lord? Look at verse 31.
31 Therefore be alert,(in other words, stay awake. Watch out for trouble. Respond quickly)
In the town that I pastored in before I came here there was no ambulance service. The nearest hospital was 20 miles away but there was this group of men in town known as the First Responders. Let me tell you that these goes were always on alert. They had their pagers and no matter where they were, if there was an emergency they beat the ambulance there by a good twenty minutes. You would hear their cars zooming down main street and then minutes later you would hear their rescue vehicle sirens as they went to whatever event was taking place. They took pride in what they did and they also understood that in the case of a serious emergency time was the enemy. So they were always ready.
Likewise the elders are always be alert. Spiritual apathy is a deadly disease that has gripped the church in Europe and
First the elders are to be alert and second they are to remember. Look at verse 31.
remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears.
And now Paul realizing that his time was short and he would no longer be with these elders this side of Heaven does the only thing he can do and by the way it was the best thing he could do. Look at verse 32.
32 And now I commend you to God (he places these elders and the churches squarely under the authority of God) and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
The elders are to pay careful attention to themselves and to the flock. They are to always be on alert. They are to commend themselves to God. And then Paul saves the most important aspect of the ministry of the shepherd/elder to verse 32. He says, “I commend you to the word of his grace.” What word is he speaking of? He is speaking of the Word of God, the Bible. Let me tell you this morning that the elders of Grace Fellowship take this admonition, these commands, very seriously. The Word is at the center of all that we do. Apart from the Word of God we can not know God. Apart from the Word of God we can not know Christ. The Christ that we serve and love is not the Christ of our imagination or even the Christ of sentimentality. He is the Christ predicted in the Old Testament Scriptures. He is the Christ revealed in the New Testament Gospels and He is the Christ explained in the New Testament letters. Apart from the Word of God we can not be saved because the Bible tells us that, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. How shall they believe in whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher?”
We must have a deep conviction about the Word. Charles Spurgeon said that the writer John Bunyan who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress was so thoroughly saturated with Scripture that if you took a knife and cut him he would bleed Bibline.
I have made it a practice to always strive to preach the Word. There are many reasons the first being that it is the command of Scripture. The second being that if I preached myself and my experiences you would soon learn as I have that I am not worth preaching.
I had a lady in a church not understand this. She confronted me and told me that although she appreciated the fact that I was a Bible preacher, she did not feel that Sunday morning was the right time to do all that preaching and wished that I would cut back on preaching so that we could do more singing. At this church we only gathered on Sunday morning so it was my only time of congregational worship. I politely explained to her my position and what I understood the command of Scripture for me was. She did not agree. So I asked her to spend time that week reading the pastoral epistles, I and II Timothy and Titus, and if she still had the same opinion next week and could show me from Scripture that I was not doing what God called me to do then I would gladly reconsider my stance. I waited the next week and the next and do you know she never said another word about it?
Paul gives two reasons that he commended the Word of God to the people of God under the authority of the shepherds of God’s flock in verse 32. Look at it one last time.
32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.The natural tendency of human beings are to drift away from the faith. Left on our own we would simply move further and further away from Biblical Christianity. We will be carried away by every wind of doctrine and the wiles of the devil. Last week I showed you from 1 Peter 5:1 and 4 that the elders were under the authority of the Word of the Lord and the Lord of the Word. And the reason is fleshed out here because of our natural bent toward sin and apostacy. The writer of Hebrews hit on this in the first verse of chapter two after he finished explaining how God has spoken. Then he tells the Hebrew readers. For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.
So within the command of 1 Peter 5:2-3 we must understand that the leading that the elders do is to be Word centered. The are to feed, lead, and guard.
Now that I have thoroughly introduced this passage, lets look at how the elders are to shepherd the flock of God.
PNP
Today from our text I want you to see that Peter gives the elders four directives for properly shepherding the flock of God.
1. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God exercising oversight.
2. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God willingly.
3. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God eagerly.
4. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God as examples of faithful, biblical Christianity.
Purpose
My purpose in preaching this passage is to show you the elders of GFC and the flock exactly how the elders are to shepherd. I want you to understand that God’s church has those called by God to positions of authority and we all are to submit to that authority understanding that this is best for us.
Herein the Lord through the Apostle Peter has built in some safeguards for the elders to avoid serving in a way that would harm the flock and dishonor the Lord.
RPNP
So look with me at these four directives for properly shepherding the flock of God.
1. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God exercising oversight.
Look at verse 2.
2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,
Here is where we have no use for a timid shepherd. He must be bold and courageous. He must be willing to lead. Real leaders in life and in the church are those willing to take risk in leadership.
The shepherd of sheep must lead the sheep to water and food. He must protect the sheep from danger and be willing to get in the middle of an attack. The oversight here that is to be exercised is the looking over and leading of the sheep.
This morning I think I have said enough about this from Acts 20 as I mentioned Paul’s warning to pay attention to the flock and to be alert.
The shepherd elder must exercise oversight. This will be in life and ministry. If a sheep is straying the shepherd is to bring them back to the flock. If the sheep is injured he is to care for the wound. If the sheep is under attack the shepherd must intervene. This is the oversight that Peter is speaking of.
Second this morning I want you to see that:
2. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God willingly.
Look again at verse 2.
2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;
The job of a shepherd is not to be taken lightly. The supreme example of this shepherding is in John 10. Jesus calls himself the good shepherd and says that he lays down his life for the sheep. He also calls out the hireling who is not a true shepherd that flees at the first sigh of danger.
If you are shepherding out of compulsion, ie you feel like you have to do it, then you are shepherding with the wrong motivation. Peter says we are to do it willingly. And then he adds the phrase “kata thayon” To God. The proper shepherding will done willingly with a heart toward God seeking to please Him in that work.
If you are shepherding out of a sense of necessity, or the attitude that says that if I don’t do it no one else will then you have the wrong motivation and soon discover that you just might be a hireling.
We have seen that the elders are to exercise oversight and they are to serve as shepherds willingly. Third I want you to see that:
3. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God eagerly.
Look a third time at verse 2.
2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;
The term shameful gain is a very interesting phrase. The word implies “greed that satisfies itself through fraud.” In other words it is men who see godliness as a means of gain. They seek to be rewarded financially for the task and would never do it for free. This is why my translation states it as “shameful gain.”
We see quite a bit of this going on in many circles today. There are many pastors who travel around in private jets and drive Rolls Royces. They are not leading the flock they are fleecing the flock.
Beware of a man who is constantly asking for money. One of the qualifications of an elder is a man who is free from the love of money. That does not mean that an elder is not to be paid. But he is not to shepherd the flock of God simply for the money but he is to do it as Peter says willingly and eagerly. This is zeal that flows from a love for Christ and a love for His sheep. The shepherd will see the flock and deeply care for them and therefore willingly and eagerly lead them as God would have him to do.
This is the shepherd that the sheep will love. This is the type of shepherd that is not manipulating the sheep but is genuinely concerned for their well being and spiritual care. He would gladly lay down his life for the flock of God.
And finally I want you to see that:
4. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God as examples of faithful, biblical Christianity.
Look at verse 3.
3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.
First there is the negative, not domineering over those in your charge. The unbelievers lord their authority over everyone else. They let you know quickly that they are in charge and you are subservient to them. They keep you in check through force and coercion.
The shepherd of God will lead by example. His life will be an example for the flock to follow. He will do what the Word of God says and as the flock sees the life of a Christian lived out before them they will imitate that shepherd. Look at verse 3 again.
3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.
It is a much easier task to lead by domination and coercion. But when you lead by love and example the flock of God recognizes that and will gladly follow.
In the book Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders, the former consulting director for the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, he writes:
“The overriding need of the church, if it is to discharge its obligation to the rising generation, is for a leadership that is authoritative, spiritual, and sacrificial. Authoritative, because people love to be led by one who knows where he is going and who inspires confidence. They follow almost without question the man who shows himself wise and strong, who adheres to what he believes. Spiritual, because a leadership that is unspiritual, that can be fully explained in the terms of the natural, although ever so attractive and competent, will result only in sterility and moral and spiritual bankruptcy. Sacrificial, because modeled on the life of the One who gave Himself a sacrifice for the whole world, who left us an example that we should follow in His steps.
The church has always prospered most when it has been blessed with strong, spiritual leaders who expected and experienced the touch of the supernatural in their service.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have seen that the four directives for shepherding the flock of God are exercising oversight, shepherding willingly, eagerly, and being an example to the flock.
This is a tall task. This is impossible without the grace of God on our lives and ministries. We must follow the Lord as we lead others. Doug and Mark, we must be examples to the flock. If we fail in this we have failed not only the flock but also our Lord.
We can be tempted by all kind of things. We can be tempted by the pursuit of wealth and other ambitions. But our main pursuit as we lead the flock should be the pursuit of our Lord.
William Carey is often mentioned as the father of modern missions. But he himself admitted that he simply followed the pattern of a German aristocrat turned missionary, Count Zinzendorf. The count lived in the 1700’s and was the leader of the band of missionaries known as the Moravians.
Zinzendorf was converted when he saw a painting in an art gallery. The painting was titles Ecce Homo or in English “Behold the Man”. It was a painting of the soon to be crucified Lord Jesus as Pontius Pilate put him on display after he had been flogged and said to the people, “Behold the
From that moment on Count Zinzendorf gave up his life of wealth and rank and summed up his life ambition in one sentence, “I have one passion, it is He, He alone.”
He gave up ambition and became the founder of the Moravian church. His followers drank deeply from the passion of their leader for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and literally at a time when world travel was difficult encircled the world proclaiming the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So passionate was Count Zinzendorf that of the membership of the Moravian church one out of every ninety-two members of the churches became foreign missionaries.
That is authoritative, spiritual, and sacrificial leadership. May God give us leaders of this caliber.
Let’s pray.
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