SHEPHERD AND SHEEP

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you….  (1 Peter 5:2a)

Few passages of Scripture are dearer to the believer than the twenty-third Psalm.  God is identified as Shepherd.  It was a title Jesus Himself took.  This is the terminology likewise used to describe a pastor. What an awesome privilege and responsibility!  So, what does God have to say on the topic of spiritual leadership in 1 Peter 5?

First, hear A WORD TO THE SHEPHERDS: ACCOUNTABILITY (v.1-4).  As a spiritual leader in this church I will one day give an account to God for my stewardship of this sacred trust.  

Four requirements are listed here:

·        There must be the proper conviction (v.1).  That is—a conviction of the call we have received.  To be an elder in the church isn’t the result of personal ambition or popular appeal.  We lead because God has led us.  God is still calling men to shepherd His flock as elders of the church. 

·        There must be the proper direction (v.2a). “Shepherd the flock…serving as overseers….” God directs us in the work.  The shepherd is to lead, feed and be willing to bleed for the flock.

·        There must be a proper motivation (v.2b).  Worthy and unworthy motives are contrasted.  It isn’t a profession but a passion.  This is the difference between what Jesus called a shepherd and a hireling. 

·        There must be a proper demonstration (v.3).  We must model the truth we are teaching.  We aren't lords spouting edicts, but leaders showing examples. The title demands a testimony to match.

Along with the requirements comes the promise of the reward (v.4).  There is a price to pay for leadership—the hours are long, the burdens are large, and the disappointments are legion.  But, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus!  With the eternal in view we will not become consumed with the material and yield to the temptation to fleece the flock rather than feed them.  

Peter also has A WORD TO THE SHEEP: RESPONSIBILITY (v.5).  Pastors have an accountability to lead, but members have a responsibility to follow.  You can lead a sheep to pasture, but you can't make him eat.

There is to be submission in our labors.  “Likewise”—the laity have duties as well as the clergy.  All of us are ministers.  Sheep were valuable in that culture—and so are the members.  The church cannot be what it needs to be unless the saints are engaged in ministry.  It seems the few who are willing are worn down trying to carry the whole load.  Church work, done properly, is labor intensive.  Yet, it can be done with joy if each member does their share.

There is to be submission to our leaders (v.5a).  I understand that sheep can be unruly and that they are prone to wander.  That’s why they need a shepherd.  Submission isn’t a natural trait.  Have you ever considered why the shepherd carries a rod and staff?  One of the most important purposes pastors have is to prod and discipline the sheep.  In so doing, he loves them!

There is to be submission to other laity (v.5b).  Why is it so hard to submit?  Our arrogance!  We think we know it all.  It is a humbling thing to have to listen to anyone—but especially one of our peers.  Yet, this is the very thing Peter is talking about.  We have a choice to receive heaven’s resources or resistance.  Which do you prefer?  Humility paves the way for grace to operate in us.  How much we need it!

FOLLOW THE LEADER

Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.  (Hebrews 13:7)

One of the first words we learn to say is, “No!”  Now, some children are more compliant than defiant, but we all have this stubborn streak that doesn’t like anybody telling us what to do.  Since all authority flows from God—in the nation, the home, on the job, in the school, or the church—our rebellion against authority is at its core, rejection of God’s authority.  This is the essence of sin.  Isaiah said, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way.”  A mark of repentance is that we have turned from our way to God’s way—and this is evidenced in respect for authority.  Hebrews 13:7-19 focuses here on submitting to church leaders.

We are to follow THE LEADER’S WORDS (v.7-9).  If our pastor’s words line up with the Word of God, and if his conduct is consistent with his communication, then we should follow him.

This will strengthen us in faith (v.7-8).  “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom.10:17)  True faith rests on Christ and not a communicator.  You can follow your leaders as they follow Christ, but ultimately no man is good enough to be the object of faith.  We all have feet of clay.  It is Christ we worship!

Heeding the Word of God preached will also stabilize us in grace (v.9).  This has been a recurring theme throughout Hebrews—the Old Covenant ritual versus the New Covenant grace.  A storm of opposition had come to this church comprised of Messianic Jews.  All that would keep them anchored in the storm would be the grace of God.  There would be the danger of accepting the false doctrine of salvation by works in a religious system—here the false teaching is that eating kosher food was required.  Christ is enough!

We are further to follow THE LEADER’S WORSHIP (v.10-16).  We gather to hear the Word and to express our worship.

This is a sanctifying focus (v.10-14).  Under the Mosaic code, the focus was on the altar at the Temple, the Levitical priests offering bloody sacrifices, and all the ritual accompanying it.  Yet, these could never truly satisfy God’s righteous demands—that demanded the sacrifice of Jesus.  He was rejected by men, and died outside the gates of Jerusalem as an outcast—even God-forsaken as He was made sin for us!  My task is like John the Baptist’s to say, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  We take up our cross to gain the crown (v.14).  It will be worth it all!

There will be sacrificial fruit (v.15-16).  This will include the sacrifice of a grateful heart (v.15) in which we express our love for God and the sacrifice of a generous hand (v.16) that shows our love for man.  Worship is surrendering all! (Rom.12:1).

Follow also THE LEADER’S WATCHFULNESS (v.17).  The shepherd not only feeds the sheep, he leads the sheep—even willing to bleed for them.  He guides them and guards them.

Pastors have an eternal accountability (v.17a).  Only a pastor understands what a burden this is.  How much value there is in a soul!  What grave matters he deals with!

Pastors can have an earthly profitability (v.17b).  Your response to your leader will determine if he has grief or gladness!  Your choices decide if the sermon is profitable.  Follow your leader!

IF GOD SAYS, "NO"

“Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?”  (2 Samuel 7:5)

One of the first words children learn is, “No!”  I suppose that is because they hear it often.  They did not like to hear it, but there were many times I had to say it, because “no” was best for them.  Our children may not understand the denial of their desire, but we know more than they do.  So it is there are occasions when our Heavenly Father will say, “No.”  We think our prayer is a good request, and the denial brings disappointment.  How should we respond?  What is God up to?  There are some important lessons for us found in 2 Samuel 7.  God tells David, “No.”

David had been blessed by God.  On one occasion the king is in his palace—gazing around at the beautiful dwelling and responding to God’s goodness by telling the prophet Nathan that he wants to build God a house.  Nathan agreed that this was a wonderful plan. Then God interrupted with, “No.”  (v.1-7)  At this point explanation is not given.  Later, Scripture reveals that it was because of all the blood shed by David as a man of war that made it inappropriate for him to construct a temple for the God of peace.  God is God and we are not.  We cannot demand of Him an explanation—though we may ask, and at times receive an answer.  Fully comprehending the ways of God will be elusive.  It is like trying to explain calculus to a flea for Omniscience to be understood by our finite minds.  There are times we simply rest in His infinite understanding—that is the way of faith.

Is it not true that God wants us to walk by faith and not by sight?  Faith is so vital that God will stop at nothing to develop it in us.  The God who loves us perfectly will do that which is best for us.  Faith responds to His refusal by saying, “My Father knows best,” and submits in childlike trust to His will.

If God closes one door, it is only so He can open another.  If He denies one desire, it is only that He designs something better.  When God does not let David build Him a house, He encourages David by saying He will build him a “house.”  That is, God will establish a dynasty for David—a line of kings that would be unending (v.8-17).  Jesus Christ, the Eternal King, would be a descendant of David.  Ultimately, not only for David, but for each believer, the promises of God are all wrapped up in Jesus Christ.  He is everything.  Jesus is all we need.  Only He can meet the deepest desires we have.  No true fulfillment can be found apart from Him.  Is He enough for us?

David responds to God’s, “No,” with worship (v.18-29).  There is not a hint of bitterness, but only blessing offered to God.  David does not sulk, but submits.  When God denies our request, choosing to answer our prayer in an inexplicable way, it will make us bitter or better, depending on how we respond.  David did not roll on the floor in a temper tantrum, but sat down in reverent submission.  This is the attitude God is wanting.  Is that what you do when God says, “No”?

PREPARING FOR THE PROMISE

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication….  (Acts 1:14a)

Before He ascended to heaven, Jesus had spoken of the coming of the Holy Spirit as, “the Promise of the Father.”  (Acts 1:4-5)  The comprehensive promise of God is in the person of the Spirit—God with His people to indwell them and empower them (Acts 1:8).  The events described in Acts chapter one, portray a church preparing for the Promise.  In chapter two, God will send His mighty Wind from heaven.  They cannot make the Wind blow, but they can set their sails.  How can we, as the people of God today, prepare for the Promise of God to launch us into the deep waters of His mighty work?

There must be submission to God’s will (v.12).  Jesus had commanded them to wait in Jerusalem for the Promise to be experienced, and this is what they did.  Fuller blessing calls for fuller submission, “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”  (Acts 5:32)  It is God who does the work, but He does not do it apart from us.  When I yield to Him, my life becomes a channel for the power to flow.

Preparing for the Promise also requires unity in God’s love (v.13-14a).  When there is strife and division, the gentle Dove of Peace—the Holy Spirit—takes flight and withdraws His favor.  No church can be mightily used of God without unity of purpose.  There is always potential for conflict in the church because we are made up of so many different personalities and preferences.  In that upper room, you had a boisterous leader named Peter, a quiet listener named John, a struggling pessimist named Thomas, a meticulous accountant named Matthew, and a patriotic zealot named Simon, for example—all so different, but united in love.  The church is Christ’s Body, with different parts by design, so that together we are healthy and strong to impact the world in a way we can never do when divided.

Prayer is another indispensable preparation for God’s Promise to be manifested (v.14).  Prayer must be our consistent pattern.  They “continued” for ten days in prayer, then preached for ten minutes and three thousand were converted!  We pray for ten minutes, preach for ten days, and if three are saved, we declare revival has come!  We can pray too little, but can never pray too much.  Prayer must be offered in faith.  They were seeking the Promise of the Father.  They believed He would come—He did!  What might happen if we would trust God more?  This prayer was a corporate offering—a harmony of voices lifted to God.  The Lord promises where there is agreement in request, there is assurance of response (Matt.18:18-20).

The final preparation was the disciples’ attentiveness to the Word of God (v.15-26).  They moved to replace Judas Iscariot with another Apostle.  Scripture was their motivation.  They positioned themselves to hear from God and responded in obedience and faith.  Matthias was raised up into a leadership position.  When the Scriptures speak, God speaks.  The church must listen to His voice if we would know His will.  Are we positioned to receive God’s power?  This is how the church can impact the world!

OUR SACRED STEWARDSHIP

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  (Ephesians 5:17)

Typically, when we hear the word, “stewardship,” we think about money.  That is an element of stewardship, yet, it is much more than that.  In the ancient world, a steward was a household servant entrusted with the goods of another and accountable to his master for how he managed those assets.  Therefore, we believers are servants of God, given His goods to care for and invest—time, talent, treasure—all the gifts of God bestowed on earth in view of the day of accounting in eternity.

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5:15-17 that we are STEWARDS OF OUR STEPS.  We are to “walk circumspectly”—to be careful where we place our feet, setting them on the right path.  As a child, I learned this truth when taught to sing, “Be careful little feet where you go…There’s a Father up above, and He’s looking down in love, so be careful little feet where you go.”  God has a path for us to travel—a course established according to His will and purpose for us.  Yet, we walk through a spiritual minefield in this world of sin.  We must, therefore, walk in wisdom (v.15).  A wise walk is directed by our roadmap—the Word of God, and accessed through prayer (James 1:5).  In this walk, we treasure the time (v.16).  There is a destination called eternity and only a set number of hours on earth—so our pace must be swift and steady—not being detoured by the Devil! 

Then, we are to be STEWARDS OF OUR SANCTUARY (Eph.5:18).  Our body is the sanctuary of the Spirit (1 Cor.6:15-20).  Jesus has purchased us with His blood, and we will render an account of the deeds done in the body at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor.5:6-10).  Paul tells us that there is an intoxication to be refused, “do not be drunk with wine….”  Alcohol is so dangerous that avoiding it altogether is the wisest course.  Drunkenness is dissipation—a wild and wanton waste of life.  We have all witnessed the sad result of abusing alcohol—destroying family, finances and health.  Instead, we are called to an infilling to be received, “be filled with the Spirit….”  In refusing to let your body be under the control of alcohol, yield your body to the control of the Holy Spirit!  As destructive as the former is, so delightful is the latter.  The old hymn tells us how to be filled with the Spirit, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Furthermore, we are STEWARDS OF OUR SPEECH (Eph.5:19-21).  Jesus said, “for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”  (Matt.12:36)  This has implications in our singing (v.19).  If our heart is in tune with God, then the lyrics of our lips will flow from the love for Him in our heart.  This has implications for our thanksgiving (v.20).  We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.  Rather than the destructive expression of grumbling, there is the constructive exclamation of gratitude.  This has implications for our submitting (v.21).  We defer to one another when we speak words that heal rather than hurt—when we consider others as to the effects of our speech.

We have a sacred stewardship—how will we invest our time, our body, and our words?

DEPTH PERCEPTION: Seeing Things As They Truly Are

 

Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  (Mark 12:24)

We do not live in a flat world, but in 3-D.  Things have depth and proper vision recognizes that.  When we lose depth perception, it is difficult to walk without falling or grab something without failing.  Depth perception helps us see things as they truly are.  In the twelfth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, we see those with a distorted spiritual vision.  If we understand what Jesus is teaching, it is because we have spiritual depth perception—we see things as they truly are. 

For example, we see SALVATION AS IT TRULY IS (v.1-12)  The religious leaders of Jesus day, rather than receiving the Savior who had come, had decided to devise a salvation of their own religion and ritual.  God planted and provided for His vineyard, Israel, and expected fruit.  The religious leaders were to cultivate the spiritual welfare of the nation.  God sent his prophets to look for fruit and they were hated.  Then, He sent His Son and they would kill Him! This rebellion would bring retribution.  Others would receive the vineyard and become the people of God—the Gentiles who largely comprise the church.  Christ quotes from Psalm 118 (v.10-11).  Those Christ came to, evaluated Him, and decided He was unworthy to be the Messiah, but God had made Him the chief cornerstone!  In Christ alone is salvation!

Then we can see SUBMISSION AS IT TRULY IS (v.13-17)  There was the perception among the Herodians that submission to Caesar was in order—to compromise with Rome would secure their status.  The Pharisees, on the other hand, saw this as defiling and rebellion was demanded.  They sought to draw Jesus into the middle of the conflict—knowing He was bound to alienate someone.  These men were not seeking truth, but setting a trap.  They lacked depth perception.  Jesus tells us that we do have a Christian duty to the state.  As bad as we might hate to pay taxes, and may disagree with how much of it is spent, we receive benefit from the government and are responsible to fund it.  We are responsible to be good citizens by submitting to the laws of the land.  Ultimate allegiance, however, is to God—so civil disobedience may be needed if man’s laws contradict God’s!

Furthermore, we observe RESURRECTION AS IT TRULY IS (v.18-27)  The Sadducees did not understand the resurrection.  It was a doctrine they rejected.  Not believing in the resurrection is what made them “sad you see”!  They were the liberals of their day.  The argument hinges on the tense of the text and that says much about the reliability of Scripture!  Many denominations are headed for the ecclesiastical garbage dump because they have abandoned the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints.  They have turned their ears from the Word of God unto fables.  Liberal preachers have sown the seeds of error and we are reaping the bitter harvest of evil in moral relativism in America.  Such know neither the Word of God nor the power of God.

Do you have a Biblical worldview that enables you to see things as they truly are?  Open our eyes Lord, so we may have spiritual depth perception!

CONNECTED IN SERVICE: Expressing God's Praise in Service

speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. (Ephesians 5:19-21)

In all we do, our aim as the people of God is to glorify Him.  Service can be holy, or it can be hypocritical.  It may be that the outward manifestation appears good--in our giving, our praying, our fasting, and the like (see Matt.6:1-18)--but the inward motivation is bad: to be seen of men.  Our "service to God" becomes self-serving, and God doesn't judge by outward appearance. He looks at the heart (1 Sam.16:7).

Our singing should honor God.  Our aim is music that glorifies God.  It honors Him when it is given in a heartfelt desire to praise Him.  It is "singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord"  We stir each other to join, and we instruct one another when the lyrics are full of Scripture.  Notice, there is a variety of types of music, "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" but a united passion to glorify God--not to be impressed by a musician's talent.

Sadly, too many Christians are more concerned with style than substance--too consumed with what blesses them than how they bless God.  It misses the whole point, doesn't it?  When we demand a particular preference or we pout, it ignores our call to submit to one another.  If an older generation wants Southern Gospel and stops singing when a contemporary song is shared, what does that communicate to the young members present?  It is self-serving.  If teens and young adults scorn the traditions of an older generation, refusing to participate in worship unless there is a wailing guitar and flashing lights, that too is self-serving.  Such attitudes--and I understand these are generalizations--are wrong.

Our speaking should honor God.  The objective is messages that glorify God.  Our mouths should continually express gratitude, "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."  Complaints and criticisms are corrosive--eating away at the connection of believers to each other.  This is a self-serving attitude, that exhibits itself in our speech, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.  On the other hand, a grateful soul expresses itself in thanksgiving--irrespective of the circumstances.  It is praise that is perpetual, "always," pervasive, "for all things," and pointed, "to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Our submitting should honor God.  The goal is ministry that glorifies Him, "submitting to one another in the fear of God."  When I stoop to serve fellow believers, I am actually serving Christ (read Matt.25:31-46).  Submission is not a popular concept in our world.  We assert our rights.  God wants us instead to assume our responsibilities.  How can I know if I have a heart submissive to God?  By my willingness to serve those made in His image.  What would our church gatherings be like if we connected in service?