God Wants You Willing

Be Shepherds: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing (I Peter 5:2).

• This is for the elders. Everyone should listen in because the instruction to the elders of the church affects everyone in the church. We know he is speaking to the church because he uses the title “elders.” You can see that the word elder refers to those who are shepherds and overseers, pastors and bishops. These three words are used in the NT for the pastoral office.

• ***I have been an elder in the church of Jesus Christ ever since I was 19 years old. I was a very young, inexperienced elder. In fact, I came to seminary in part because I felt inadequate as an elder, a pastor, an overseer in Christ’s church. I knew I needed to know more, be better prepared to do this work.
• Peter was a witness of Christ’s sufferings. He also knew that he would participate in the glory to be revealed. Jesus had told them all this.
• Jesus is the Chief Shepherd (as in 2:25).
• Peter writes to the elders. Often we want to talk to the pastor. He is the Gate-Keeper in the church. If you get his attention, you may get your message to all the flock.

• Being examples (tupos) to the flock. This is the mark made by pressure. It sometimes describes the outline made by pressure from the writing instrument which a student may see and follow. We are to leave a mark as elders that others may imitate. Jesus left us an example in 2:21. The word there is hypogrammos, which describes a teacher drawing a letter of the alphabet, and a pupil tracing that letter so as to learn how to form it.

• Deacons, pastors, and those who are older in Christ: you have a role to fulfill in the body of believers. You must illustrate with your words and behavior what is of supreme value. That means that surely must practice Third Day Living.
• If you succumb to the pressure to embrace as ultimate and final what is temporary, earthly, then your example is likely to corrupt the presentation of the gospel and those who follow you.

Humble Yourselves: Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time (I Peter 5:6).

• Peter quotes Proverbs 3:34. He is illustrating the use of Scripture in the instruction given by church leaders. Seven times in his letter his Scripture quotes are sufficient to put in block text. Many other times they are just phrases or allusions to Old Testament passages. The remarks of this pastor are full of the written Word of God.

• Younger ones, be submissive to the older ones.

• In the church, the ladies your age you should treat as sisters, the men your age as brothers. Those who are older you should treat as mothers and fathers.

• Even in a world where your grandfather cannot access the internet as quickly as you—even in the Google world where you have information at your fingertips or voice command—be submissive to the older.

• You can learn many things on Google. I googled the process for installing a towing hitch on the Highlander. It was all there. I did it just as I was instructed. It worked great.

• You can find Bible quotes instantly. What you cannot learn on Google is I Peter 2:24-25. Here you see that Pastor Peter’s mind and heart are so soaked in, saturated with the Word of God, that he can construct an entire paragraph stringing together quotes from Isaiah that are used in their context, faithful to the meaning.

• Respect what years of experience alone can teach you. Most of us learn by doing. Your elders have likely done many more things, had many more experiences, than you.

• Clothe yourselves with humility, in other words. This applies to all of you.

• “The clothes make the man,” Shakespeare said. He meant that people will judge you by your clothing.

• Peter says, Clothe yourselves with humility. He wants you to be judged, not by your arrogance or pride, but by your submissive spirit, your humility.

• A person clothed in humility does not have to be first. 

Resist the Devil: Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings (I Peter 5:9).

• Pastor James wrote, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). He quotes this same verse from Proverbs. He talks about submission to God, about humility. Then, resist the devil.

• Right here, in this matter of humility and submission, lies your greatest spiritual danger. This is where the devil will win the fight for your attitude, your witness in the world.

• If he can get you to act in pride, then he has you aligned against God because “God opposes the proud.”

• You will be tempted to pride, to consider yourself better than others, above others. You will be tempted to put yourself first when you know you have been called to serve others, to wash their feet.

• This is the very temptation that more than any other pollutes the gospel, perverts the Christian witness, and prevents the church of Jesus Christ from faithfully representing her Lord in the world. This is it. We refuse to wash His feet.

• “Wash your hands, you sinners,” James wrote at this very point. He saw that the sin which plagues the members of the church is the sin of pride. It pollutes us from the inside out. He urged us right then, “Humble yourselves before God, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).

• You are most vulnerable to pride when the pain level in your life is high. You will say to yourself, “I don’t deserve this kind of treatment. I am better than this.” You will revolt against the forces that have brought you pain, even God himself.

• That is when you must remember the “family of believers” which the NIV translates “brothers in the world.”

• Remember that you are part of a worldwide effort to exalt the Savior and share the good news.

• Remember that you are not alone in your pain. Pain will make you feel alone. It will isolate you. In your pain you will be tempted to stay at home rather than going to worship. You will not answer the calls of your brothers and sisters. This is the devil’s temptation, this temptation to pull inside yourself, to cut off contact with those who are your family in faith.

• Others in the family of faith are dealing with this same kind of trouble, this same kind of sorrow and loss. They need you just as you need them.

• God will restore you. He will make you strong, firm, and steadfast. You must wait on him, trust in him. “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” (v7).