Published: July 12, 2026 | Speaker: Mark Freitag | Series: 1 Peter - Part 42 | Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-4
Transcript
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Is it cooling off some? Okay. I'm afraid I can't uh I can't feel it. Um, one of the side effects of the medication I'm taking for my cancer is I
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get daily hot flashes. I'm not a woman. I'll never be a woman. But in this one thing, I can tell women
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across the world, I feel your pain.
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Sorry. We're in First Peter. We're looking at a new a new chapter, chapter 5. I'm going to read verses 1-4.
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And as Tim said in Sunday school, we did not coordinate this months ago that we would arrive. would arrive. Speaking of the elders of the church on the same day we began Titus, but here we
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are. Um, are. Um, the ways of the Lord are are mysterious.
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1 Peter 5:1 Therefore I exhort the elders among you and as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed
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shepherd the flock of God among you exercising oversight not under compulsion but voluntarily according to the will of God and not for sorted gain
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but with eagerness nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you
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will receive the unfading crown of glory. Let us pray. Our heavenly father, we we know that your ways are beyond
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us, that they're past finding out, that they're higher than ours and more majestic than ours. And yet, Father, you have ordained that on this this day, we
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would be looking at the the leadership of the church that you would help us to understand the things that you have appointed and about the way in which you
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desire your church not only to exist, but to prosper and to give glory to your name. And so we ask, Father, that you
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would by your Holy Spirit speak to our hearts. Help us to understand these things. Cause us to meditate upon them. And cause us to be build it up in love
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toward one another and appreciation for the church that Jesus Christ, who is the head, has made and appointed for us to
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live in. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.
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To the community of believers, Peter delivers his what some commentators call his final charge. There seems to be two attitudes that he's pointing toward. One in in verse
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six, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God. speaking to the entire congregation, humble yourselves, act appropriately toward one another.
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But then the second attitude is our resistance of evil. Verse 9, resist him, that is your adversary, the devil, firm in your faith.
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But before he speaks to the believers in general in the congregation, he addresses the leaders in these first
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four verses of this chapter. And there is a disagreement among theologians and commentators about the
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very first word that appears in our English, the therefore. Some say that it's merely transitional.
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He is moving to a new chapter of his letter. If we could conceive of that, moving on to a new topic. Some say that it's addressed to the
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community in general since God has appointed that believers will suffer. That's what we've seen in chapter 4. If suffering is his will for
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his people and it requires your normal therefore go on with the duties of your station in
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But with any type of persecution, suffering, rejection of believers,
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there will be strains and difficulties within the congregation among the members. And Peter's focus seems to shift here, not as a so much of a transition, but
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the shift from the suffering that comes from without from without to looking at matters within the church.
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All those in the congregation and in the leadership must respond appropriately to one another. Humility is required. It's called for on the part of all believers, the leaders and those
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whom they lead. But since he has already said in verse 17 of chapter 4, it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. And
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it begins with us first.
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I believe that the therefore in chapter 5 relates back to therefore if judgment begins from God's house and as we saw in Exodus chapter 9
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and other places that judgment in the Old Testament always began with the elders the leaders of the people
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that therefore is a logical connector from chapter 4 to chapter 5. The church needs strong leadership for a
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leaders face the most suffering in any situation and they face it first obviously and if you were in Sunday school um I was going to mention that
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here in the New Testament we see elders the presbuteros the presbuteros is the Greek word mentioned by James as the laying on of hands
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In Ephesus, Paul speaks to the elders and gives them a final charge. And then in Titus, we saw that Paul
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told Titus told Titus in Greek to set things a right and perhaps by appointing elders in every city.
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And here we see Peter using that same word. I exhort the elders among you. People look for leadership
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and people look to leaders. They are the ones that the flock are to seek. But what kind of men, what kind of leaders, what kind of
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elders does Peter want them to seek? some words here of those kind in verse two
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through four or two and three, sorry. They are to shepherd and oversee God's flock, doing God's will willingly,
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not under compulsion. They are to fulfill their task eagerly and not be looking to serve just for financial gain.
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They're to live as examples to the flock or literally becoming examples to the flock, but not to use their authority to
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doineer the flock. In chapter 1 verse one, Peter has called himself an apostle of Jesus Christ.
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Here he calls himself your fellow elder.
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Peter certainly was an apostle. He was a what I call a big A apostle. He was chosen by Jesus himself as one of the original 12. He was given authority as a messenger of
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the gospel. the gospel. He had a responsibility as he as we know probably helped Mark write his gospel as an
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interpreter of the events of Jesus life and ministry. He was a writer of God's revelation to the churches as we see here in first Peter and second Peter. He
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was a proclaimer of the meaning of Christ's sufferings. Christ's sufferings. And as one commentator Edund Clowney wrote, he was among those who confirmed
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their preaching with their lives. But he refers to himself again as your fellow elder
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fellow elder and witness of Christ's sufferings, a sharer of the glory to come. Well, why does Peter a big a apostle
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call himself an elder? Your fellow elder. He could, could he not appeal to his authority as a big a apostle?
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I think he simply is identifying with them, showing some kind of solidarity with them. Their ministry perhaps is an extension of his own.
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So therefore, the elders ministry derives its authority from the apostles.
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His tone is comforting. His tone is consoling to them. It It's not fake. And it's not even though he's speaking to everyone later, have humility.
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I don't think this is a humility that's put on and humility for this purpose. As one author put it, he makes the
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elders aware of their commission. It's as if Peter says, "I understand the
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responsibilities you bear. I understand the fears. I understand the hardships. I understand the pressures that you're under in
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ministry. Now, there are some say that say that Peter could not have been as he says of himself witness of the sufferings of Christ. The reasoning is because when Jesus was
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arrested and put on trial, Peter was a coward and he disappeared. There's no record that he was at the cross at the moment or at the moment
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that Jesus died. To me is rubbish. Peter did see Christ's passion.
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He was and the word is martyr and there are those who die for the faith and we know pretty certain that Peter did. But
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it also just simply means eyewitness that he was there. But it doesn't necessarily mean that he had to see the moment that Jesus breathed his final
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Peter saw plenty of suffering in Christ. He saw that Jesus ministry drove a wedge between Jesus and his own
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family. He recognized He recognized Jesus as the Messiah. He had that great revelation, you are the Christ. And then instantly Jesus says to him, but
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understand this. I'm going to Jerusalem and I'm I'm I'm going to be to suffer many things and I'm going to be killed.
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Peter saw the crowds that day in Jerusalem, the ones that had the palm branches and were shouting hosana and laying them down their coats and things for Jesus.
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And then a few days later, those same people had a different cry, didn't they? Crucify him. and crucify him.
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He heard the false claims against Jesus. He heard of the plots against his life. those tears of Jesus agony in the garden of
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Gethsemane. He witnessed the betrayal of one of his fellow disciples, Judas,
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and he witnessed the arrest. And then he from a distance observed the so-called trial.
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the terms that Peter uses in this passage as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ there's only a singular article meaning that they are together it's not
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he was an elder and I was a witness what he is saying is as a fellow elder I am sharing the role with you of testifying
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about the truth of Jesus See, it's all together that witness that telling the story, telling the truth of
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the gospel. the gospel. As the author Karen Jobes writes, the apostle willingly embraces apostolic leadership of the church, making himself
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vulnerable to the same hostile forces that killed Jesus. See, the elders are going to share. They share in their ministry. They share in
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their witness to the gospel. But they also, as he adds, share in the glory that is to come. And sure, Peter saw glory, did he not?
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He he saw Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. He saw him when he rose from the dead. He experienced
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He experienced the indwelling of Christ's Holy Spirit. But what he's pointing to for these men here is is the glory that is to come at
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Jesus second coming. There there is that time of suffering and there will be that time of glory. And I think here is the paradox of
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leadership. Then Peter saw it in Christ's leadership, the sufferings and the glory. Peter shared in the sufferings of
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Christ, but he knew that much more was to come. And so he says, "Be prepared, my fellow elders. Final suffering will lead to final
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glory." Or as Edmund Clowney again wrote, "They too share in suffering as they proclaim the suffering Savior. They too taste of the glory as they proclaim his return."
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But perhaps you're asking a question. Was Peter the best example for these or any elder? Did Peter deserve to be called
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and call himself a leader? Peter tried to keep Jesus from going to Jerusalem, didn't he? In Matthew 16, in
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that passage that I alluded to, Jesus says, "I'm going and I'm going to be suffering and I'm going to be killed." And Peter took him aside, Matthew writes, and began to rebuke him, saying,
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"God forbid it, Lord. This shall never happen to you." What happened in the garden of Gethsemane? Peter fell asleep.
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Jesus had pleaded for them to pray while he went a little way. And this is what Matthew writes. And he came to his disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, "So you men
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could not keep watch with me for one
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he? As he was warming himself by the fire, kind of looking at Jesus in the trial, a servant girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus
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of Nazareth." of Nazareth." And again, Peter denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man."
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further down in Galatians 2 from what was read this morning. Paul writes, [snorts] "And when Cphus, that is Peter, came to Antioch, I oppose him
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to his face because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with Gentiles. But when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof,
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fearing the party of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by his by their hypocrisy.
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their hypocrisy. It's what Peter or Paul goes on to call they were not straightforward with the truth of the gospel. And Paul would never yield the truth.
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From any perspective, Peter's actions disqualified him from church leadership, don't you think? So, how is he here? How is he standing writing to these
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fellow elders fellow elders and encourage them to shepherd the flock of God among you?
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don't know how long it was, but Peter went back to the Sea of Galilee, got in his boat, and went fishing.
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And when he heard a call, he looked up and he saw Jesus waiting for him on the
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And when Peter comes before Jesus, they have a little lunch of broiled fish. Three times Three times Jesus asked,
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Jesus asked, "Simon, Peter, son of John, do you love me?" And three times Jesus responds, Lord, you know all things. You know that I
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love you. Peter was a leader in the church, not because he deserved to be. No man
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deserves to be a leader in the church. but because Jesus instated him as a leader in the church.
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In those three times when Peter answered, "You know that I love you, Jesus, and we won't quibble over the
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Greek words here, but he told him, "Tend my lambs, shepherd my sheep, teach my sheep, or tend my sheep."
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Jesus had asked him the first and most important question for every church leader. Do you love me?
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As one commentator wrote, first, no Christian leader is self-qualified morally or spiritually. Second, the core of an elers's qualification is the love of Jesus, both experienced and returned.
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So the challenges to a church, any church that would endure, a church that would not just exist, but would actually grow, would actually prosper,
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the flock of God that Peter calls. And it's not just that Peter, you know, everybody else except me and Chuck and maybe Aaron and Tim, everybody else tune
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out. He's still writing to the congregation. He's still using the two words, I exhort the elders among you.
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shepherd the flock of God among you. [snorts] So the challenge is not just for the men but for the congregation to recognize what Peter is saying
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or the requirements. The attitudes, the business of the elder
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and the scriptures and again this is the paradox. The scriptures actually warn men not to be leaders in the church. In James chapter 3, we read, "Let not many of you become teachers, knowing that as
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such we will incur a stricter judgment." But the church needs those who can shepherd
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the flock. the flock. Men not afraid of the paradox of
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An elder may be a good decision maker, but for some people, he makes a decision too quick for them. Or another elder may take his time and think through all the issues
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and think them through well, but he's too slow and not reactionary as other folks thinks he ought to be.
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An elder may preach the truth and to good effect. What they in seminary called a good sermon well preached.
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But the only feedback he gets as one of the commentators called it the toxic
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One writer simply asked the question, "What sane person wants to be a leader in the church?"
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There's a famous opening line and apologize to my brother who is the Charles Dickens expert among us. In the beginning of a tale of two cities, it was the best of times. It was the
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worst of times. the book and it's kind of fuzzy because it was eighth grade and that was [clears throat] decades ago but it highlights the social and moral
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and political dichotoies the oppositions the paradoxes that existed in that day and I think Dickens
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is timeless in that in any day but that doesn't matter the best of times the worst of times
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The sheep need godly elders. There will be trouble from outside the church as he's already said,
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but elders need to learn to lead even if they make themselves a target for But there will also be trouble within the church.
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dealing with sin, trying to figure out how to take mature Christians and younger Christians and maturing them both, trying to figure out how should we
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worship, what should we sing?
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Paul warned the Galatians about abusing their freedom in Christ. He says, "But if you," and this is this is Paul's words, "if you bite and devour one another. one another. Take care that you are not consumed by
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one another." one another." He warned the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, "I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and
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from among your own selves, men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. Peter is going to talk about some of
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these things in the verses to come. The heretical things, the immoral things, the envious
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And Peter is going to provide some prescriptions for these situations. But my thought is if they knew Peter at all, if we know Peter at all,
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we will know that above all that love for Christ creates the desire to lead and love God's people.
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And only then, I think, only then can they hear Peter's admonition, shepherd the flock of God among you. Let
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us pray. Our heavenly father, the church is your idea and we rejoice
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in it. We rejoice in the idea of the body of Christ. And yet we know that we are sheep and yet you have appointed elders under sheeperds those who could
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tend the flock of God. We ask Father that you would have grace upon this church as we yes we are seeking new
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leadership and help in that regard. And yet Father we pray that you would strengthen those of us in leadership. you would strengthen our ability as we
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have even prayed this morning, our ability to pray for the church and for the ministry that is here. We pray that you would guard this little flock and
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guard all of the flocks who name the name of Christ in truth. And we ask Paul so pointedly made the point
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that we would be straightway with the truth of the gospel of Christ. We ask these things in his name. Amen.
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To please rise for the benediction from Ephesians chapter 6. Peace be to the brethren and love from
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faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible.