Churches are to be elder-led. The term elder refers to a position of authority and leadership, but elders should work with congregations in major decisions like a husband with his wife. Elders should be nominated by the people and appointed by the other elders. The elder takes over the roles of the apostles (except for revealing and authenticating Scripture). That involves leading the church and testifying to suffering for Christ (taking the lead in speaking out, and taking the lead in actually suffering).
1 Peter 5:1-10 Therefore to the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Shepherd God's flock that is under your care, overseeing--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. 5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 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. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Introduction
We come now, in our study of 1 Peter, to chapter 5. This begins a whole new section in the book, and this entire section revolves around one single word. It is the first word of verse 2. The NIV says “Be shepherds,” but literally it is, shepherd the flock. That is actually the only direct command in the whole passage. All the rest is about how to carry it out, why to carry it out, who is to carry it out, and the motivation for carrying it out. But it all centers on the one command - shepherd. Shepherding is probably the most comprehensive one-word summary of the job of a church leader that there is. It is our most basic function.
Context
Peter has alternated in this book from focusing on how we deal with the storm of persecution from the outside to how we are to function as a church on the inside. And once again he makes that shift, starting in verse 1 of chapter 5 the focus turns back now to the inside of the church. But it’s not like it is an unrelated line of thought. The first word in chapter 5 in the Greek is therefore. Because of all the persecution on the outside, elders need to lead well. Very rarely will any group ever rise above the level of its leadership, so the leaders of the church are a huge factor in how the church navigates through the waters of suffering. God designed us like sheep. He designed us to need shepherds to lead us and care for us. And so it is very appropriate, in a discussion about suffering for Christ, to discuss the leadership in the church.
Who? The Elders
And the first question Peter answers for us is the who question. To whom is this shepherding command given? Who has the responsibility of leading in the church? Peter answers that right off the bat.
1 Peter 5:1 Therefore to the elders among you I appeal...
Applicable for Everyone
Now before we jump in to this, let me just say this. Passages like this are hard to preach, because when I preach, I want the sermon to be applicable and helpful for every person in the congregation. But this is one of those rare times when the passage is specifically addressed to a very narrow group - just the elders. But that does not mean the sermon is irrelevant for the rest of you who are not elders.
It is good for you to eavesdrop on God’s words to your leaders for several reasons. First, because we are going to see that you have a role in the selection of leaders, and a role in keeping leaders accountable.
Second, because God wants the congregation and the leaders to have a certain kind of relationship, and knowing what that relationship is supposed to be will help you on your end of it. It is good for you to know what God has called the leaders to do and what He has not called them to do.
And third, all of you are leaders - every one of you. Leadership is a function of spiritual influence, and every one of us has a certain amount of influence over certain people around us. It might be your children, it might be a group of friends, maybe there are various family members who follow your lead, co-workers who are influenced by you, folks in church who look up to you. In many cases, you do not even know who those people are. But I promise you, there are some people in your life who see what you do, and it influences them. You are leading those people even if you don’t know who they are. You might be in the fourth grade, and you don’t feel like a leader at all. But there might be some third graders here at church who see you - they watch you during worship and they see you in Sunday school, and they want to be like you. All of us have a leadership position to one degree or another, and so the principles for biblical leadership are very much applicable for all of us.
Elder Rule
But specifically, this passage is directed to the elders. And that answers the question, “Who?” Who leads the church? The elders.
1 Timothy 5:17 The elders who rule well are worthy of double honor
Titus was told to appoint elders in every city (Tit.1:5). When James told the sick to go to the leaders of the church for prayer, he said, “Go to the elders.” And here Peter does the same thing. He wants to speak to the leaders of the church, so he addresses the elders. The church is to be led by elders.
The Authorities in the Church
From the very beginning of the formation of Israel as a nation, the term elders was used to describe leaders. The term elders is used to describe local magistrates who made decisions in political, military and judicial matters. They were the authorities over local groups. And in order for the king of Israel to have any real power, he had to have the favor of the elders, because they had the most direct influence on the people. That is why when Saul wanted to be restored he asked Samuel to reinstate him in front of the elders (1 Sam.15:30).
By the time of Jesus the term elder was used for the members of the ruling council of the synagogue. Every synagogue was run by a board of elders. And 70 of those elders were chosen to make up the ruling body over Israel.
And when God formed His church and established the leadership structure, He picked that word. That is significant because He did not pick anything else from the synagogue leadership structure. For example, in the synagogue there was one individual who was in charge of the worship service, known as the president, or ruler of the synagogue. There is no equivalent in the church. There was another man who was in charge of the readings. And again, no counterpart in the church. Both those tasks fall to the elders in the church.
And when God wanted another official position in the church (deacon), He chose a word that had never before been used to describe any kind of office or leadership position. The word deacon is just the common, everyday word for servant. The office of deacon was a new thing in the church, and so God gave it a unique name. But for the group of men who would have the authority over the congregation, God used a term that had been used that same way in Israel for hundreds of years.
Spiritual Maturity
And it is a term that points to maturity - spiritual maturity, not just age. When Peter says he is a fellow elder he is not just saying he is a fellow old man. Timothy was relatively young, but was in a position of not only being an elder, but teaching and training and correcting men who were older than him. There is a list of qualifications for the widows' list in 1 Timothy 5, and there Paul says to fit the qualifications the woman has to be over 60. So it wasn't anything unheard of for Paul to set an age limit. But in the list of qualifications for elders he does not do that. He just says not a recent convert.
Leaders in the church must be men who are seasoned, mature men that everyone else can look up to and respect. They need to be men who have been around the block a few times. When a situation comes up, you want leaders who have run into situations like that before. When you go to them for counsel, you do not want a guy who gives you mostly answers from something he just read last week in a book, or from his seminary notes. You want a guy who learned those things a long time ago, and has spent a decade or two or three or six or seven struggling through the process of putting that principle into practice.
You want the church to be led by men who have wisdom. And one of the ways you get wisdom is by living long enough to see patterns in the way things tend to go in life. You want a leader who has stumbled into enough pitfalls that he has gotten so he can see them coming. He can spot them when most people can’t.
The Bible is a huge book, and it takes a very long time to get a handle on the whole thing. No one will ever master it by any stretch, but you at least want a guy who does not have large gaps in his understanding of Scripture, because a person like that will be prone to a lot of misinterpretation.
The primary task of church leaders is teaching, and teaching is a function of maturity.
Hebrews 5:12 though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
He is telling them that they ought to be mature, but the way he says that is, “you ought to be teachers,” but they aren’t because they lack maturity.
How long does it take to get that level of maturity? Again, scripture does not give any particular age minimum, although there are a few clues that can help us. Jesus started His public ministry at age 30 - and so did John the Baptist. In the Old Testament, priests began their leadership ministry at age 30 as well. And in the Qumran community of Jesus’ time the leaders had to be men between 30 and 50. And I can tell you in my own life - I began preaching and teaching in my teens, and all through my twenties. But when I turned 30, there was a very noticeable change in the way people received my teaching and leadership. When I go back and read my sermons from when I was in my late twenties, and I read the ones from my early thirties, I don’t see any significant difference. But there was a huge difference in how they were received. A friend of mine who travelled and spoke all over the country in his twenties told me he experienced the exact same thing when he turned 30. And I don’t know if this is relevant or not, but I also remember there was a huge drop in my car insurance rates when I turned 30. It seems like even the world looks at that age as a turning point for maturity.
Does that mean we would never ordain someone younger than 30? No - if God wanted a strict age minimum He could have set one. I am just saying those indicators in Scripture can give us a ballpark idea. It is not that you have to be older than everyone else in the church (obviously - then only one person could be an elder). But spiritual maturity does require some years. And when 1 Timothy 3 requires that an elder not be a recent convert, that tells us that the clock of maturity starts at conversion. You might have a man in his 60s who is very knowledgeable and who is a CEO in his corporation and very successful in business and has everyone’s respect and he has a seminary degree, but if he has only been a believer for a short time, he is still a young man in the faith.
Church leaders are called elders so that we remember that they must be men of wisdom, experience, knowledge - men who can spot hidden pitfalls, men who have learned how things tend to go, and men who can maintain a steady hand at the helm when things get rough because they have been through this before.
The Only Valid Church Government System
So who leads the church? Elders - no one else. Peter is writing to a lot of churches - all the churches in five large Roman provinces (Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia) - all the churches in all those regions, and he gives instructions for the elders. He does not give any alternate instructions for churches that do not have elders. He does not say, “And for those of you who don’t believe in the elder-led system of church government, or for those of you who are into congregational rule, here are some instructions for you.” Just as Paul commanded that elders be appointed in every church, and just as James assumes every church will have multiple elders to pray for the sick, so Peter assumes every church is led by elders.
The Role of the Congregation
So what about the role of the congregation in decision-making in the church? Is there any biblical argument for congregational rule? The primary argument that is usually offered to support the idea of congregational rule comes not from direct statements about church leadership in the epistles, but rather from observing how decisions were made in the book of Acts. So let’s take a moment to examine that. I went through the whole book of Acts and found every decision that was made by churches throughout the book. And what I found was this - when it was an issue that had to do with selecting men for a particular task or position of leadership, the congregation was often involved. In chapter 13 the Holy Spirit called the church to send Barnabas and Saul, so the congregation laid hands on them and sent them off.
• The process of picking a replacement for Judas as an apostle took place in the presence of the 120, and very possibly it was the 120 who actually selected the candidates.
• When the apostles needed some men to help them with the task of distributing the benevolence, instead of selecting the men themselves, they directed the congregation to do it.
And it is easy to see the wisdom of that. It was a very touchy issue, and some felt they were being mistreated. So in a case like that, if you let the people who feel they are being mistreated select men they would trust in this decision making, that will go a long way in solving the conflict. So the people picked out some men they felt they could trust and presented the names to the apostles. Then it was the apostles who ordained them by the laying on of hands. The apostles had certain criteria the men had to meet. But once they were satisfied that the men were qualified, they confirmed them.
So the pattern seems to be that the congregation selects candidates, and the apostles confirm their selections. The one exception to that pattern appears to be Acts 14:23 where Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in each congregation. No mention there of any congregational involvement - although it is possible they were involved and it is just not mentioned.
What about other kinds of decisions? We don’t have any examples in Acts of congregations making any other kinds of leadership decisions. There is one instance where some members of the church asked for an accounting from Peter for his actions (ch.11). Peter obliged, and once they heard his explanation they praised God. But decisions like the qualifications for various positions, or what the positions would be, how money would be allocated, the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira, the decision about inclusion of Gentiles in chapter 10 - those are all decisions that were made by the apostles and elders without any mention of involvement by the congregations.
The most detailed passage we have about a decision being made is in chapter 15. It is known as the Jerusalem Counsel, where they had to make a major decision about how Gentiles fit in with the Church. It seems to have been a fairly complex process, and the people were definitely involved. However when it was all said and done, the final decision was “reached by the apostles and elders” (Acts 16:4).
So what are we to make of all that? The conclusion I draw from that is that the authority that the elders have over the congregation is very similar to the authority a husband has as head of his home. He is the leader, he bears the responsibility for the decisions that are made, and the wife and children are to willingly and gladly submit to and support his final decisions. However, if he makes those decisions independently of his wife, he is a fool. He needs to talk it over with her - not just to try to persuade her of his view, but to get her help in actually making the decision. She has perspectives on the issue that he will not have. Not only that, but her feelings about it matter. Sometimes one car or one house might be a slightly better deal, but if your wife really cannot stand that one and really loves the other one, that is enough to tip the scales so that the wiser purchase is the one that she really likes. And in those rare times when the husband is convinced that option B is the way God wants them to go even though the wife really wants option A, instead of just bulldozing that decision on her, he will strive to lead her in that direction from God’s Word so that she is inspired to follow his leadership. Scripture teaches us to enforce our authority over our young children through discipline and punishment for disobedience. But never are husbands told to punish disobedient wives. And that is because for her submission to be godly submission, it needs to be willing and glad - not coerced and forced. So husbands are to lead mainly through inspiring their wives to follow. And so in a healthy marriage there is a great deal of discussion between husband and wife - especially in decisions that have a big effect on her life, and as much as possible they arrive at a consensus before he makes the decision.
And I believe what we see in the book of Acts is that same attitude between the church leaders and the congregation. The more the decision affects them, the more involvement they have - especially when it comes to the individuals who will be leading them. The authority rests with the leaders, but the leaders love the people, and the church must move forward in joy and harmony, so they involve the people in important decisions, and they listen to the people, and they make themselves accountable to the people.
Appointed by Other Leaders
So where do the elders come from? Who decides who the elders will be? The only information we have in Scripture about the appointment of elders is in Acts 14 where Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in each church, and in Titus 1:5 where Titus is instructed to appoint elders in every town. The only other clue is that it seems to have been the body of elders who ordained Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:14. So the appointment of elders seems to be the responsibility of the leaders in the church. And if we combine that with the general principle we observed in Acts, we could say that the best process would be for elder candidates to be put forward by the congregation, then examined and confirmed and ordained by the elders in harmony with the congregation.
What? The Work of the Apostles
So that answers the “who?” question. To whom is this shepherd the flock command being given? To the elders. The next question is “What?” What is the job description for these elders? Exactly what are elders in the church supposed to do? The one word answer to that question is shepherd. We are to shepherd the flock of God. But before giving that directive, Peter is going to address the elders in a fascinating way in the rest of verse 1. And the way Peter gives this appeal gives us tremendous insight into the nature of this office of elder.
At first verse 1 looks like a list of Peter’s credentials.
1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed:
Why give credentials at this point? He identified himself as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ in the opening of the letter. So why give further credentials here? Most people say it is because Peter wants the elders in the churches to know that he can identify with them. He knows what it is like for them, because he is also a church elder.
I can see that. However I think what Peter is doing here goes well beyond just saying, “Hey, I know what it’s like for you guys.” Very often this is seen as Peter exhibiting humility. He is an apostle, but in order to identify with these pastors he stoops all the way down and reduces himself to their level as a peer. I do not think that is what Peter had in mind. As I have poured over this text this week, what I see is just the reverse of that. I do not think Peter is stooping down to the level of a lowly church elder. I think he is elevating church elders up to his level.
Peter is not setting aside his apostleship. What is an apostle? What did Jesus commission the apostles to do?
Acts 1:8 You will be my witnesses
The task of the apostles was to serve as witnesses, testifying to the truth of the gospel.
Secondly, the apostles were the leaders of the Church. Throughout the book of Acts you see the apostles overseeing the Church and providing leadership - mainly through preaching and prayer. Peter got his marching orders in John 21.
John 21:16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John ..."Shepherd my sheep."
He repeated that three times. That was their job - they were shepherds, preachers, elders, and overseers of the church.
And one more thing - they were revealers of the New Testament.
Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the rooftops.
Jesus taught all the material in the New Testament to the apostles in private, and then in the book of Acts they preached it and taught it far and wide, and they also wrote it down. And what they wrote, we call the New Testament. Jesus promised to give them perfect memory in writing what He taught them.
John 14:26 the Holy Spirit ... will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
But how do we know for sure that is really true? How do we know that their writings were 100% accurate and were the Word of the living God? In order to give us full confidence in that, Jesus gave them the ability to do miracles.
Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.
That is how we know they were truly writing God’s Word - they could do all those miracles. What about Paul? He was not there with Jesus prior to the resurrection like the others. How do we know he was truly an apostle personally commission by Jesus?
2 Corinthians 12:12 I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles.
The miracles were proof of apostleship.
So, what was the job description of an apostle?
1. Reveal the Word of God and do miracles to prove it’s the Word of God.
2. Testify to the truth of the gospel as a witness for Christ.
3. Shepherd, oversee, and lead the church.
But what about after they died? Then what was to become of their ministry? Who was to inherit their task? Start with the revealing of God’s Word, verified by miracles - who inherited that task? No one. That task was completed by the apostles. They finished it.
Ephesians 2:19 you are ... members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets
The apostles and prophets laid the foundation of the church by writing and validating the New Testament Scriptures. We do not keep repeating that task over and over in every generation. Once the foundation for a building is laid, you do not keep laying more and more foundations at every stage of building. You do it once and it is done.
So that part of their job did not get passed on. But what about all the other parts of their job - shepherding and overseeing the church and testifying as a witness for Christ?
2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers
What about the witnessing part? The construction in verse 1 gives the sense that Peter was both a fellow-elder and a fellow-witness with the elders. So the elders inherit that job too.
Writing the New Testament and authenticating it with miracles - that job was completed. But the rest of their job? It was passed down to the elders of local churches. That is why church leaders are grouped together with apostles and prophets in Ephesians 4.
Ephesians 4:11 Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for works of service
So what is Peter doing in 1 Peter 5:1, when he calls himself a fellow elder and fellow witness? He is passing the baton. He is not stooping to their level, he is elevating elders to his level. He is conferring upon the elders the solemn and massive responsibility of continuing on the work of the Apostles. Jesus commissioned the apostles for that work, and the apostles, in turn, passed that on to church elders.
Restoration
And by the way, as an aside - when Peter identifies himself as an elder - that is one of the reasons we believe in restoration of fallen elders at Agape. Those people who are against restoration will often say, “King David remained as king of Israel after his fall, but that’s different. Being a king is one thing, but being an elder in the church is a much higher calling, and you can’t have men with a major blemish in their past because they can never again be above reproach.” But you would be hard pressed to say any church leader has a more severe blemish in his past than Peter, who, as the leader of the Twelve, publically denied Christ three times. And he was restored and was above reproach enough to be an elder. Every leader in the Bible who fell into sin and repented was always restored, never once in the Bible do we see a repentant leader who was not restored to leadership.
Fearless Testimony
So Peter is a fellow elder. Now take a look at that second phrase - witness of the sufferings of Christ. Normally when we use the word "witness" we mean someone who observes something. Someone might say, "I witnessed that event with my own two eyes." So to witness something means to see it. But in a court of law the word is used a little differently. In court it does not mean someone who observed something, but rather someone who testifies to something. So an expert witness might come in and testify that these two DNA samples do not match, or there is no way that bullet came from that gun. That person did not observe the crime at all. He is called a witness simply because he is there to give testimony. When you see the word "witness" in the Bible, it has that courtroom meaning, not the meaning of having seen or observed something. When they were selecting a replacement for Judas they said that replacement would become a witness.
Acts 1:21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 22 beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.
They have already seen the events, but they are not witnesses yet. The person will only become a witness when he starts testifying. So Peter's point is not that he saw Jesus suffer, but rather that he is testifying about the sufferings of Christ.
The Sufferings of Christ
And when he uses that phrase the sufferings of Christ, is he talking about the things Jesus had suffered at the cross? Or is he referring to our suffering for Christ’s name? Back up just seven verses to 4:13 and you will see the exact same phrase.
1 Peter 4:13 Rejoice to the degree that you participate in the sufferings of Christ
There the phrase means suffering for the sake of Christ. And that is almost always what that phrase refers to in the Epistles. If you look up all the times the sufferings of Christ are referred to in the Epistles, only rarely does it refer just to the things Jesus endured during His earthly life. The great majority of the time it refers to persecution of the church.
What has Peter been talking about for the last 2½ chapters? Our suffering for Christ. And I am convinced that is still what he is talking about here. So the point is not that Peter is running around saying, “I solemnly swear that Jesus did indeed suffer. I saw it with my own eyes.” When Peter calls himself a witness - someone who gives testimony about something he has knowledge of - a witness of the sufferings of Christ, what he is saying is, “I have personal, firsthand knowledge of this whole issue of suffering for Christ. I can tell you all about it.” Peter knew what it felt like to be flogged because of His association with Christ. And so Peter is one who gives expert testimony about the purpose and meaning and outcome of suffering for Christ, and how to endure it in a way that glorifies Christ. That is exactly what he has been doing all through the book of 1 Peter.
Now obviously anyone who has been tortured for Christ and who remained faithful and responded in godly ways has a lot of credibility, right? Someone who has been through what Peter went through comes and talks to us about how to handle suffering, we are all ears. So yes, this does establish Peter’s credibility. But the point here is not so much to establish his credibility as much as to let elders know this is their role. Again, the Greek construction gives the sense that Peter was both a fellow-elder and a fellow-witness. This is another aspect of the apostles’ role that is being passed down to church elders.
Leading the Way in Suffering
The elders in the church are to take the lead in testifying and take the lead in suffering. Peter wants us to know that is a leadership issue. When persecution comes, it is usually the pastors who are arrested. They take the pastors, because they want to strike the shepherd in order to scatter the sheep.
So part of the elder’s job is to lead the congregation in suffering for Christ – to show the congregation, this is how it is done.
“This is how you receive abuse and mistreatment and respond with humility and grace. This is what patience looks like.”
Isn’t that what the apostles did? They were flogged, and went away rejoicing. And the Church saw that and was inspired and followed their lead and turned the world upside down through their suffering. How did they do that? What was their secret? How is it humanly possible to rejoice after a flogging? Look at the third description Peter gives.
Future Glory
1 ...a fellow elder, a witness to the sufferings of Christ who also will share in the glory to be revealed
The secret is no secret - Peter has been talking about it ever since chapter 1. Throughout the book, the foundation for our joy is always that glory that is coming. Can you remember all the way back when we first started this book a little over a year ago? I preached a sermon titled “Nose Prints on the Glass.” In that sermon I compared this life to a train ride to a glorious paradise that you have inherited. And the people in the luxury cars don’t have much joy, because they become more and more focused on their accommodations during the train ride. But the people back in the cattle car, with no place to even sit - those people are full of joy because they have their faces pressed against the windows, looking out and getting glimpses of the paradise that they are on their way to take possession of. How was Peter able to be flogged and rejoice? Because the whole time they were flogging him he had his face pressed up against the glass of eternity, and he was looking ahead to his glorious inheritance. If we get anything from this book, Peter wants us to get that.
1:4 he speaks of our inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade kept in heaven for you.
1:5 he speaks of the salvation that is ready to be revealed.
1:6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer
1:7 he talks about the honor and glory we will receive from the Lord when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1:13 he speaks of the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.
2:12 - day of visitation when the Lord comes.
4:13 rejoice in suffering for Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
And now here in chapter 5, we are going to see that the motivation for all that he is calling elders to do is in verse 4 - the crown of glory that will never fade away. And then the closing promise of the book, in 5:10 And the God of all grace ... after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. Peter always had his eyes on the Second Coming. Are there wonderful things to enjoy here and now? Sure - in 3:10-11 he talks about life and see good days and in verse 12 the eyes of the Lord being on you and His ears being attentive to your prayers. Nearness to God’s presence is a wonderful thing we can enjoy here and now in this life, but by far Peter’s main focus is the Second Coming. The only reason the good things in this life are good is because they are samples of what we will get on that Day. There is not anything in this world that is good enough to give you enough pleasure to carry you through severe suffering. Only having your eye on the return of Christ can do that. In 1:11 Peter referred to the prophets predicting the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. In Peter’s heart that is always how it is - suffering and the glories that follow. He could handle suffering because those two great realities were never detached from each other in his thinking. The glories will follow the sufferings like day follows night and so the suffering never got him down because it always pointed him to glory. The suffering is never the whole story. The glory eclipses it a billion times over. Eternal glory makes any suffering in this life light and momentary in comparison.
But it does not seem like that now. Now it seems like our suffering here is heavy and long. If you just started out in heaven - you were born there, and you lived there for, say 10 or 20 trillion years, and then God said to you, “You need to go down to earth and suffer for 70 or 80 years, then you can come right back here and enjoy this glory for the rest of eternity” - then it would be a lot easier to compare the two and come to the conclusion that the earthly suffering is light and momentary. If you could just experience heaven. But did you know that faith can accomplish the same thing as experience? Peter was full of joy about the glory even though he had never experienced it, because of faith. He believed what the Lord promised him about it.
Conclusion
You are a leader. And if you do not know who it is who is following your lead, that makes your responsibility all the greater, because you don’t know who it is or when they are watching, so you just have to be a good example all the time. Someone is going to follow in your steps, in the way you respond to suffering. Someone is going to take their cues from you in the way they treat their spouse. Someone is learning what it means to live the Christian life from watching you. Father, give us the grace to lead well.
Benediction: Psalm 20:1-5 May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. 4 May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. 5 May the LORD grant all your requests.
1:25 Questions
1. To what level of leadership has God called you at this time? (Children, a group of friends, various family members who follow your lead, co-workers who are influenced by you, folks in church who look up to you, etc.)
2. How could you implement the principles in the sermon in your leadership in those areas (especially in the area of bold testimony for Christ, taking the lead in suffering, and setting an example of looking forward to the day of reward)?
3. Who have been the most influential spiritual leaders in your life? Take some time to thank God for them!
