I just first want to say thank you very much to you all for your faithfulness to the sessions. I think it shows not just a reverence for the Lord, but you place a high value on His word, and I really want to say I respect you for that. Thank you for the kind comments that several of you have made about the messages, but I just want to remind you that Really, a major reason why messages are received well, or at least they sound well, are because that's what you come in looking for. Typically, people that want to eat enjoy what they eat. Amen? And so, that has as much to do with your heart and your willingness to listen and hear from the Lord as it does with the pastor or the preacher. Charles Spurgeon said that the fire in the pulpit is fanned by prayers from the pew, and I believe that, and I believe this week is evidence of it, and so thank you for your great spirits and your participation. So today, believe it or not, we're, with the Lord's help, going to end our study in 1 Peter. It won't be the end of our study. We'll continue studying, no doubt, I'm sure in the future as the Lord leads through our personal reading. But as far as our purpose is this week, the corporate study will be finished today. And so we'll pick up in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 1. And so if you'd stand, we'll read not the whole chapter, but just our text, verses 1 to 4 to begin the responsibility of the pastor. 1 Peter 5, verse 1, The elders which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Thank you. You may be seated. Now, what I want to do is I want to work through the verses and show what they mean, and then I want to circle back and give application as far as a pastor is concerned. So, a lot of this stuff will be repetitive, but I think it's good to get through the verses and then we'll go back and look at some practical application. If you go back, let's just go back to chapter, let me see here, where am I? I think I left a, I think I left a page on my desk, or on my six foot table that I'm using as a desk. So just bear with me here, all right? Because I want to see this. No, it's okay. I believe I can find it. Like a well-oiled machine, amen? Well, I thought it was... Well, I think you're just going to have to trust me that it's in there somewhere. There's another verse. Don't look for it now, all right? I spent enough time on that. But there's another verse in 1 Peter where Peter uses the... Oh, I did write it down. I was looking at the wrong part of the verse. Sorry about that. Go back to chapter 4. Sorry, go back to chapter 4. And look at verse 8, and above all things have fervent charity and then see that phrase among yourselves. All right. Now, you know what that means. It means that there is a specific group. All right. Now, I hope this this point makes sense, because I don't think we can get through the rest of chapter five without understanding something I believe is very important. All right. Peter is writing to a region. Remember that? If you were to look at Pontus, Cappadocia, Galatia, Asia, Bithynia, you would see it covers most of what is modern day Turkey. So he's not writing one little group. He's writing saints, strangers, pilgrims that are scattered throughout this region. But there is an expectation, apparently, that they would be hearing this reading among themselves, And, based on chapter 5, Peter says, the elders which are among you, which means, I believe, there's an expectation that there were churches in every one of those areas. Otherwise, this wouldn't make sense. This is the same thing in Philippians chapter 1. Don't turn there. Paul said to the saints which are at Philippi, all the saints which are at Philippi. And you keep reading through the end of the book and you find out he's writing to a church, a local assembly. Well, the expectation is that if you were saved and at Philippi, you'd be at church. And I believe the expectation here in chapter 5 is that all these suffering Christians, all these people under persecution, in chapter 4 he talks about loving each other, submitting to each other. That has to be somewhere. There has to be a place where all of that happens. There has to be a place where you can submit yourselves one to another, and you can love each other, and you can use hospitality without grudging. And then in chapter 5, he says that these places are obviously not just little Bible study groups. They're churches because among all of these groups, among themselves, there are elders, there are pastors, there are leaders of these different churches. And so there's an expectation that Paul has here that there are churches. And I think that's important because Especially today, people believe, in America especially, that as long as you have the Holy Spirit in the Bible, that's all you need. Well, if you have the Holy Spirit and you have the Bible, then He will guide you into all truth, and you'll find in your Bible study that God designed the assembly, and God designed preaching and teaching. God designed fellowship. He gave the ordinances to the assembly, baptism and Lord's Supper. There is an expectation that we are in church. And I think 1 Peter chapter 5 is a good proof text for that. You don't have to have the word church to know that, oh, that must be... If you have elders and you have people that are among themselves or specific groups, it's obvious that there's an expectation that they have churches. So, he says, the elders which are among you, I exhort, who am the vicar of Christ? Is that what Peter says? If there was ever a time for Peter to show he was some sort of pope, now would be the time. But he doesn't do that. He not only says that he's an elder, he says he's an elder. This is similar to what he said in chapter 1 about being an apostle. He says there are elders among you, and then he says, I'm also an elder. not the chief elder, not the head elder, but I'm also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Now, based on what we're going to read in a few minutes, we know that the Holy Spirit's moving him to instruct the pastors on what they are to do in the church. But he doesn't jump to The elders which are among you I exhort, feed the flock." He says, I'm also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. He is reminding them, really, of the theme of 1 Peter. That suffering is real and it ought not surprise us because our Christ suffered, our Lord suffered. But, there's a glory that will be revealed. And so Peter, in verse 1, I'm also an elder, and I am aware and reminding you of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that shall be revealed. In your life as a believer, don't forget suffering. Don't forget your suffering for Christ is suffering with Christ. And don't forget you have a greater end. You have a hope. There is an expected end for the believer. And that expected end is what gives us hope. The elders I exhort to what? Verse 2, feed the flock of God which is among you. He doesn't say educate the flock of God. He doesn't say entertain the flock of God. He says feed the flock of God. A man could stand before the church and educate the church and then not be fed. Dr. Birney could probably speak better to this than I can. I can assure you that. But you can eat foods but not nourish your body, is that correct? You could fill your stomach but not nourish your body. You could eat what's commonly called junk food, or what I call it, everyday life. No. Well, you know what? A church can't survive on junk food, right? I mean, it may feel better to eat Twinkies and ice cream, but if you want to be healthy, you're going to need to get a balanced diet. You're going to need to get some vegetables and proteins and all that. You're going to have to eat that. My wife gives me a hard time every now and then. She said, you know, you might want to think about eating something that actually has life in it today, right? I mean, a bagel, dead, right? A cheeseburger, dead. Salad, hey, there's some life in there. There's some nourishment there. Well, it's silly illustrations, but for us physically it's important, but it is infinitely, and I mean that because eternity is at play, infinitely more important for a pastor to feed, to nourish the flock. It is not an opportunity just to fill your ears and let you walk out of here. No, feeding and educating are two different things. And so he's to feed the flock of God. Now, this is not the first time that Peter has used or heard this word. In John chapter 21, we're not going to turn there, but in verses 15 to 17, Jesus looked at Peter and said, Peter, do you love me? Lord, I love you. And what did Jesus say to him? Feed my sheep. Then feed my lambs. Feed my sheep. Now, he didn't tell Peter, Peter, do you love me? Lord, I love you. All right. Then you get out there and you feed your sheep. He didn't say that. He didn't say, Peter, don't forget to take care of your lambs. Don't forget to feed your sheep. He said, feed my sheep. They're not yours, Peter. They're mine. And so Peter doesn't say, feed your flock. He says, feed the flock of who? Of God. They're God's people. It's God's church. It's God's flock. And this word flock is another word to show it's a specific group. There was a flock in Cappadocia. There was a flock in Asia. There was a flock in Pontus. You need to get the idea. There's churches and the elders which are among them should feed them. In verse 3, he calls them God's heritage, not the elder's heritage. It's not about the elder's legacy, it's about God's. So it's God's heritage, it's God's flock. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint. This is where we get, well, the word bishop is used by Paul to Timothy. But he says, take the oversight thereof, not by constraint. You shouldn't have to feel forced to carry out your calling in the church as a pastor. And then, what he does is he uses this, and he's used this contrast several times. We're not going to turn there for time's sake, but if you were to look back at chapter 1, verses 14 and 15, chapter 1, verses 18 and 19, Chapter 1, verses 23 and 24. Chapter 2, verse 18. In chapter 3, verses 3 and 4, Peter uses often in his letter this idea of, here's what I want you to do. Not this way, but this way. Right? Not, don't do it like this, do it like that. We'll just do a quick one just for illustration's sake. But back in chapter 1, or excuse me, chapter 1, verse 14. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the form of lust or ignorance, but as He which called you is holy." He did the same thing about beauty. Remember we looked at true beauty? It's not the outward, but it is the inward, right? So there's this contrast. He does the same thing for the pastors. He does the same thing for the overseers. He says, take the oversight, but don't do it by constraint, but willingly. God loves a giver, but He loves a cheerful giver. God loves a man who leads, but He loves a man who leads because He desires to, not just because He has to. It's not a chore. It's not a job. It's not a career. It's a calling. Albert Barnes, thank you for Sword Searcher, gives a really good illustration here. If you go to the doctor and you're in the hospital, Do you want someone to come in? As a matter of fact, I saw, I observed this, not personally, I had someone who was close to me, they were in the hospital. The doctor came in, how you doing, check's name, so and so, you know, this is what we're going to do, this is what we're going to do, questions, yeah, we'll look at that later, and then he's out. It's like, man, you just feel like, you feel like a number, you feel like just a stat on a page. But then, the nurses, who I believe get far less credit than they deserve. You couldn't believe the compassion that these people had for the family member that we had. You could tell they weren't doing it just because they were collecting a check. They were doing it because they genuinely, at least they seemed to. If they don't, they were really good actors. But they seemed to genuinely care for the patients that were there. Our family member left the hospital, they actually sent a gift back to the nurse's station just as a thank you. There's a difference between someone who has to do something and someone who wants to do something. And people can tell the difference. And you don't want a doctor that's at your bedside because he has to be there. I really want to be here right now. I'm just here because I can't get a job somewhere else. I mean, I wouldn't want someone like that taking care of me. Well, that's just physical health. You can imagine how much more serious spiritual health is. And so don't do it by constraint. Do it willingly. Not for filthy lucre. Don't do this just to make money, but of a ready mind. Intent is right. You've armed yourself with the right mind. Then he says, neither is being lords over God's heritage. Remember, it's God's heritage. And this is an important thing because a pastor is not a ruler. A pastor is not a, while he has a rule, he's not a king. He's not a monarch. He's an under shepherd. So don't lead, don't take oversight as a Lord. Matter of fact, in the book of the Revelation, the Lord will judge one of his churches because they have the spirit of Nicolaitans. And you know what that word means, whether you realize it or not. If you've ever seen the pair of Nikes, you know that that word must be important, and it is. It's a Greek word. It means victory. So that seems to be a good name to name an athletic shoe after. You don't want to name it loss or defeat, right? So Nike is victory, and laity, you've heard that before, that expression. Oftentimes it's used to describe in religious circles the people in the church pews, the church members, it's the laity. Well, you put those together and it's victory over laity, Nicolaitan. And it means those who ruled over the people as if they were subjects in their kingdom. And Peter says, they're not. You're not a lord, We have a Lord, so don't rule as a Lord. And the Lord looks lowly on that. Not as being lords over God's heritage, but, here's that contrast again, not this way, but this way, being examples to the flock. A pastor is not a cattle driver. He doesn't push the church. He leads the church. He's a shepherd. He's not a cattle driver. And then verse four, and when the chief shepherd shall appear. So there is a shepherd. He's an under shepherd. But then the chief shepherd will appear. Amen. He's the one who's really leading all of this. And that's, of course, our Lord Jesus Christ. When the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory. That means that the pastor, those that are leading the churches, They will receive a crown of dignity, a crown of honor. There's nothing wrong with rewards. The Lord says in Matthew 5 that there's two kinds of rewards. We looked at this a couple days ago. There is the reward that people, in Matthew 6, there's the reward that people want, that to be seen of men. And then there is the reward that your father will give you. And that's a reward here, rewarded openly, which prompts praise to God as a testimony to other people. And then there are also rewards that we will receive when we see our Lord. And those are rewards that we'll of course be able to give Him and praise for as a testimony in heaven and give back. But Peter says here that a faithful pastor, one who feeds the flock, one who leads by example, will receive a crown of glory, a crown of dignity, a crown of honor that fades not away. It will never lose its luster. Isn't that precious? there is nothing wrong with rewarding your pastor here. If the Lord says that I'm going to reward a faithful pastor, there's nothing wrong with a church doing that. And I know that in today's day and age where it's a lot, and of course there's a little awkwardness here because I am a pastor, but you're not my church, so it's easier for me to talk to you about rewarding your pastor, all right, than it would be my church. Let me talk to my church about how to, You know, that would be a little awkward. But it's in the Bible, right? The Bible talks about esteeming them highly in love for their work's sake. That doesn't mean wait till heaven. It means you've got to do that here. The Bible also talks about double honor. And I want to tell you, you go to a pastor's conference, everyone loves that verse. Hey, double honor, pastor. Pay the pastor. It also says especially, which means I'm dealing specifically with they. That labor in the Word and doctrine, right? So, you get a title pastor, that doesn't mean you're entitled to everything the Bible says about a pastor. There is a pattern of work that has to be put in. So, the labor and work that goes into feeding the flock, there's nothing wrong with a church taking care of a pastor that way. Paul says, you don't muzzle the ox that treads out the corn, right? I mean, if he's doing the work, then he's the one that gets fed. So, this is a principle, not just here, but God Himself is going to do it. When the chief shepherd shall appear, He's going to reward His under-shepherds with crowns of glory, crowns of honor, crowns of dignity. Now, I want to go back and I want to look more in detail at what it means to feed the flock, to lead the church, and then lastly, to look for Christ. This is a whole series that we're going to not do this morning, but on feeding the flock. Feeding the flock means preaching the Word. And it means preaching all of it, not just some of it. If you would take your Bible, turn with me back to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. And I want you to see Jesus as a beautiful illustration of this. This is what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. It's one of the most famous portions of Scripture, and often, and what I find somewhat humorous, I'm not making fun of anybody, it's just a little bit humorous, people talk about, you know, Jesus, why can't we just be like Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount? And I want to ask them, have you read the Sermon on the Mount? It doesn't end after the first 12 verses. Now, does Jesus say in verse 5, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth? Yes. That's a great verse, isn't it? Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Look at verse 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Isn't that nice? That's good. And you could and should preach an entire message on the importance of being meek and on the importance of being merciful. That's important. But also, if you keep reading, go down to verse 29. And if thy right eye offend thee, what should you do? Pluck it out. Look at verse 29. I'm sorry, verse 30. If thy right hand offend thee, what should you do? Cut it off. Why? Because you don't want to enter... Jesus says it's more profitable for one of thy members to perish than that thy whole body should be cast into what? Hell. Verse 30. It's more profitable for one of thy members to perish than that thy whole body should be cast into what? Hell. So here you have the Sermon on the Mount. And you have the Beatitudes. And you have this really feel-good thing. Blessed are the merciful. Not that Jesus preached like that, amen? Jesus wasn't sort of this wispy-haired, effeminate-looking man that you see in paintings. He was raised in a carpenter's home. He was likely a very masculine man, not toxic masculinity, amen? Well, there's nothing toxic about biblical masculinity anyway, but Jesus was a man, and he looked like a man, he acted like a man, carried himself like a man. So he didn't teach like that, you know, blessed are the merciful. for they shall." He didn't always yell either. But I think it's interesting because if you're listening to this sermon and Jesus teaching about blessed are the merciful, you likely aren't expecting Him to talk about amputation in a few minutes. What do you mean, pluck out my eye, cut off my eye? What in the world? And now, what is this talk about hell? What happened to just be merciful? What happened to just be loving? What happened to being meek? Let's go back to being meek. I like meek. I don't like hell. Well, there's a truth here that you don't want to only preach on hell, right? You don't want to only preach on punishment because now you're not preaching the gospel. Jesus didn't say, I came to preach captivity to the captive. He came to preach deliverance to the captive. He didn't come to preach blindness to the blind. You're lost. You'll always be lost. There's no hope for you. No, he came to preach sight to the blind. Amen? But they need to know they're blind. And so Jesus Himself in His preaching is balanced. He's giving everything. And if you preach the Word of God, that's how you nourish the church. Not everyone's going to like every message. That's just how it goes. But if you preach the whole counsel of God, you're able to give the hard truths with the other things that are easier to take. There's milk of the word, there's meat of the word. Let me give you an illustration. If I handed you, for lunch today, a cup of dry flour and said, enjoy, bon appetit, you're likely not going to be as thrilled about me cooking lunch or making lunch. Here's a few raw eggs for you, enjoy. Now you might like the glass of milk that I give you, and you like sugar, but two cups of sugar, really? That's what you're going to give me to eat? We wouldn't like that. But if you put those ingredients together, you mix them together, you get cake. Amen? Now we're talking. I mean, these ingredients on their own are not that great, but put them together and it's marvelous. It's wonderful. There was people years ago, used to come to our church, some of you might remember, and say, all Passover preaches on is this, and they said whatever the subject was. Well, they came to one service every week. We have four preaching services every week, right? If you showed up at our house around 7.30, 8 o'clock, you might think, or every day, you might think the only thing Jen makes is breakfast. But if you show up around noon, you go, oh, she knows how to make lunch, too. And at evening, oh, she knows how to make dinner, and really well, too. And then if you stick around till 10, you'd say, oh, Josh knows how to bake a frozen pizza. Because, you know, I like to contribute. my culinary skills every now and then. In other words, you show up one time, it's not going to give you a fair representation, right? Well, that's like scripture. There are things in scripture that are hard to understand, they're not easy to swallow, but when you mix it with the rest of the word of God, when you mix it with the rest of truth, it's marvelous. It's wonderful. And I like what one pastor said at a pastor's conference. He used that illustration about the flour and the sugar and the eggs and all that. And he said, put it all together, you get cake. And so he ended his message this way, let them eat cake. Amen? Let them eat cake. Anyway, I thought it was funny. So this idea of feeding is not entertaining. I want to challenge you and I want to encourage you. The Apostle Paul said that in the last days, it'll be, matter of fact, let's turn there, I want you to see this. Take your Bible, turn to 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2, and we'll do a quick Bible study here. This is all entailed under feeding the flock. 2 Timothy 2 and verse 15, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, and then, see that phrase there, rightly dividing the word of truth. So that's somewhat dispensationalism. It's not talking about dispensationalism. You know, divide the Bible up into different dispensations. It means know how to cut it straight. You ever gone to a butcher's shop, and that man, he knows how to take a piece of meat, and he knows how to cut it right, and he gets all the meat off that bone, and there's nothing left over. He knows how to cut it right. If I tried to do that, it wouldn't go as well, right? When he's saying here, he's not saying butcher the Word of God. What he is saying is rightly cut, rightly divide the Word of Truth. Know how when you stand before your church to lay that thing open just as it should be and serve it just like it's meant to be served. Rightly divide, rightly cut. Cut the Scriptures straight. There's not room for opinion. There's not room for opinion in the pulpit. You rightly divide the Word of God. The pulpit is not a place for me to get something off my chest. You know, if something is really bothering me and I can't wait to get up and preach about it, it would be better to not even enter the pulpit than to stand up as if I'm giving God's Word and really I'm just kind of airing some frustration. The pulpit is not a bully pulpit. One man said years ago, when you're done preaching, your church should have sensed a burden on your heart, not a chip on your shoulder. And so, study to show yourself approved unto your church. No, approved unto God. Rightly dividing. Cutting the Word of God straight. Rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Go to chapter 3, verse 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is proud for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the church would be, is that what it says? No, that the man of God may be what? Perfect. Doesn't mean without error, it means complete. The Bible is filled with doctrine, with reproof, correction, instruction, that the pastor, that the man of God, that the elder, that the bishop, that the overseer, may be complete, throughly furnished unto all good works. There's a benefit there. It's not just for your doctrine. It's for mine. It's for the pastors. Look at verse 1 of chapter 4. I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word. Be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine. How can you reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine if you're filled three verses back with doctrine, reproof, rebuke, correction, and instruction in righteousness? You see that? In other words, don't be a hypocrite. You can't get up there and if I got up here and didn't live what I preach, then I'm a hypocrite. I'm a castaway. There's no life in it. There's no power in it. And all I did was just talk for a few minutes. Well, we don't want that. So take care of yourself in chapter 3, verses 16 and 17, so that you can take care of the church in chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. Why is that so important? Look at verse 3 of chapter 4. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts. Peter talked about this this week. We don't follow the lusts of men, but the will of God. but there will be a people that after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables." Now, I'm not saying this to be sarcastic. I believe this convictionally. I don't believe that we have ever lived in a day where this verse is more possible. It is so easy today to heap to ourselves teachers that match what we already believe. Podcasts, YouTube, internet, sermon websites, there are church websites, there's live streams, there are a dozen different ways that you can find teaching on the Bible. The question is, how do we know what's right? How do we know who's teaching the truth? Well, they're wearing a suit. Don't do that, right? I can trust this man. He's wearing a white coat. He must know everything there is to know about medicine. It doesn't work that way, right? At least I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way, right? Well, just because a guy has a suit on doesn't mean that, oh, he must know the Bible. Well, he's on TV. I mean, he wouldn't have been on TV unless he must have really, really known his stuff. That shouldn't be your gauge either. Well, it's a radio program. Obviously, they wouldn't put anybody on the radio who doesn't know their stuff. That's not true either. There are conservative talk shows and there are liberal talk shows. They both have talk shows, right? They both are on the air. How do we know who's teaching right and who's teaching wrong? This, the Bible. And there is an accountability that a believer has. Remember what I said in the very beginning. If you were saved, there was an expectation that you were in an assembly in Pontus, Cappadocia, Galatia, Asia, or Bithynia. Just like Philippi. Just like when Paul wrote the region of Galatia. Galatia is not a city. Galatia is a region. And he said under the churches, plural, of Galatia. So there's an expectation that you're in a church, right? Well, why is that? because we need accountability. We need to be taught. And when I listen to the pastor preach a message and 45 other people, 130 other people heard the same message, it's likely not as easy for me to say, well, here's what I take out of it. But if I'm in my car by myself, if all I do is listen to my favorite guy on the radio, well, guess who my counselor is? Me. And you know what I found about myself when I ask myself, I'm always right. Isn't that great? Echo chambers are never a good thing. God knew what he was doing when he designed the assembly. And so a pastor studies, he studies, and he studies, and then he gets up and he lays open the Word of God to God's people, knowing that there are a dozen different voices coming at them all week long, and he doesn't have time to get up and handle every single thing that goes on in the world. You can't play whack-a-mole with the church. There's this issue and there's that issue. Well, if I do a series on this or if I do a message on that, just preach the Word. Nourish the church, nourish the flock, feed the flock of God. And a strongly fed church knows how to handle false doctrine. A strongly fed church knows how to handle heresy. A strongly fed church knows how to handle the world. Remember the context that Peter is writing, suffering saints, persecuted Christians. And He's telling these elders, He's telling these pastors, you make sure you feed those people. Get them strong, get them nourished, get them strengthened. Today, we are living in a time that's so easy to find teachers having itching ears. Be thankful for a church that's committed to preaching the Word of God. Be thankful to be part of an assembly, a congregation, that's committed to preaching the Scriptures. This is not the only time we don't have time to turn there. But Acts chapter 20 verses 17 to 34, I'd encourage you to read that text at some point. The Apostle Paul is sailing by Ephesus. He calls the elders of Ephesus to come down. Greatest personal studies I've been doing is we're going through the book of Acts at our church up in North Dakota. And this was such a rewarding portion of scripture for me and I believe for our church. But Paul calls the elders of Ephesus down. And what did he tell the elders of Ephesus to do? Feed the church. Feed the flock. Feed. This word feed keeps coming up. for the pastor's responsibility. It's not our job to entertain. It's not our job to educate. It is our job to feed. And as a result, Paul said, I've done all of these things. I wish we had time to go into it and I'm going to resist the temptation to turn there because we'll get down that rabbit hole. But Paul in Acts 20 verses 17 to 34 illustrates the very things Peter's teaching here in 1 Peter chapter 5. Because all the things Peter says to do, Paul did, and he's led by example in doing it, and he said, look at me, this is what I did. Paul is a beautiful picture of it. And you know what the result was at the end? When it came time to say goodbye, the Bible says the elders wept sore. They fell on Paul's neck. And you know why? They sorrowed most of all. And this is beautiful. They cried the most. They wept the hardest when they knew they would see His face no more. It wasn't some great, deep theological thing. They loved Him. He loved them and they loved Him. You don't just get relationships like that. You earn relationships like that. And a pastor who is loyal, a pastor who feeds, a pastor who leads by example, gets to experience that love from the flock of God, the congregation, the people he's privileged to serve. The reality is that the focus is not on the pastor when it comes to the pastor's responsibility. It's always on the church. Feed the flock. The church is not a platform for the pastor's preaching ministry. New Testament Baptist Church, Larimore, North Dakota, home of Pastor Josh Fryman. That's not what the church is. The focus is not me, the focus is the church. God, because he loves the church, and because he knows preaching and teaching is important, gifts the church a pastor. Your pastor is a gift from the Lord. It shows you how much he loves the church. Amen? He said, I'm going to give you someone who is going to dedicate their life to studying my word to feed you on a weekly basis. What a privilege that is. Not only to be the one that gets to do the studying and preaching, but to be the one that gets to receive it. And I know that this church loves your pastor. I know that you take care of him, but that is a biblical thing to do. There's nothing wrong with showing gratitude. So, the church is not a platform for the pastor's preaching ministry. The church is the focus, not the pastor. You say, well, then why when we come into the sanctuary does everybody look at the pastor? Well, don't get that wrong. It's not the one behind the pulpit everyone's focused on. It's the book on the pulpit that the one behind the pulpit is preaching. That's a very important distinction, amen? I could be Fred Jones up here. It doesn't matter who the person is. What am I saying? That's what matters. And that's why it's important to study, rightly divide, preach, and feed. Let me just give you one more text to show you this so that you know that this isn't just, you know, opinion. Take your Bible, turn to Acts chapter 6 real quick. Acts chapter 6. This is my last morning. I've got to get it all in. Amen? Plan on being here until 2. Acts chapter 6, verse 1. In those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Now, it doesn't say they thought they were neglected, it says they were neglected. Did you see that? That's because the best of men are still what? Men at best. Men make mistakes, even in leadership, even in ministry. Even the apostles, pastors, elders, bishops, overseers, make mistakes. People fall through the cracks sometimes. We don't want it to be that way, but sometimes that's what happens. So what do we do? Well, we don't want anyone to think they're not loved. Everyone needs to know they're loved. So we have to change how we operate. Well, how are we going to change how we operate? The Twelve called the multitude of disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to the prayer and to the what? Ministry of the Word. Because you know what was important? Taking care of the widows. That's important. Taking care of people in the church is important. Would you agree with that? But it's not more important than the ministry of the Word. They didn't say, we better slow down on all this prayer and study because people are falling through the cracks. No, they didn't do that at all. They said, well, we can't change what we're doing, so we need to add people to help and leadership. This is a proof text of the primacy of preaching in the church. There is nothing more important than the preaching and teaching of God's word. Now, that doesn't make the pastor the most important person in the church. It makes the church the most important, realizing that's how much you need the Word of God, that the most important thing is the preaching and teaching of it. Don't ever underestimate the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. It'll be very easy to go to a church that serves coffee and makes a... not that they're all serving coffee, but I'm saying that shouldn't be the best thing about the church, is that they have a really good program. I love their worship music. I love their band. I love their music. I love their entertainment. That's not what church is about. Church is about God's people summing themselves together with the fear of God, reverencing the one they're about, to sit and be fed the Word of God, nourished, because when you go back out into that world, there is persecution and suffering and false accusations and mistreatment, and there has to be a place that they can come, have fellowship, and be strengthened. It's the church. So you elders, make sure you feed them. Don't educate them, don't entertain them, feed them. I'll just give you another verse to write down here real quick. 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 6, we don't have time to turn there, but that's another good cross-reference for this. So you feed the church and then you lead the church. Why is it important to lead the church? Let them figure it out. You lead the church because an example matters. Did you know the Lord didn't have to live his whole life down here as long as he did? Could he have lived a perfect life until 12 years old? Could he have lived a perfect life till 25 years old? Sure. But he wanted to be tempted in all points as we are. Amen? And the Bible says he left us an example. Now, pastors aren't Jesus, but they should strive to be like Jesus. And so verse 3, it says, don't be lords over God's heritage, but be examples to the flock. Again, as I said before, cattle drivers push, they don't lead, but shepherds lead. Shepherds go first. Shepherds say, this is where we're going. They know, they look ahead, they're praying, they're discerning. Do you know that one of the responsibilities of a pastor, a shepherd, is to discern the state of the flock? What does that mean? It means to know how the flock is doing. And then when you pray, say, okay, they look like It looks like it might rain, so we're going to come over here to where there's a hillside, we can have some shelter. Looks like it's going to be good weather, and they haven't been fed, we're going to go over here into the green pastures and we're going to eat. A pastor does the same thing. Lord, what do you want me to give them this week? What do they need? I mean that. That's not just spiritual, that's real. Your pastor prays every week. What does the church need? Now, often it's the next chapter and the next verse, amen? You preach through the Word of God, and how often that meets needs is a great testimony to God's providence. But you're feeding them the Word of God. But you're living the Word of God, so that when you're preaching the Word of God, there's power and authority behind it. It's never, do as I say, not as I do. A pastor who is that isn't a pastor, he's a hireling. So, Lead as an example to the flock. So, lead the church. Again, as I said, he does this contrast not as being a Lord, but by being an example to the flock. Remember that the church is the focus. And then, look for Christ. The pastor's responsibility is to feed the flock. It's to lead the church. Lead the church by example. If I preach, live by faith, I have to live, live by faith. Amen? So lead by example. And then lastly, look for Christ. Verse four, when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. One of my biggest mistakes when I was young in the ministry was trying to please the church. Now you should love people, right? You should love people. Of course you should love people. Should you love truth? Yes, of course. But you should never love people more than you love truth. You should never be willing to compromise truth because, well, it'll work out in the end. It usually doesn't work out in the end. And Peter is saying, feed the flock, lead the church, lead them by example, but more important than anything, look for the chief shepherd. He's coming back. We do what we do out of love for the Lord's people, and I can say that with absolute conviction. It's a privilege to pastor a church. I mean that. That is an absolute privilege. All these people that make it out like they're martyrs, it's not. It's a wonderful thing to be in the ministry. I know Pastor Graff feels the same way. It's a privilege to be in the ministry. But, as much as we love pastoring the Lord's people, we love the Lord more than we love His church. That doesn't make you unimportant, it just makes you less important. And that may sound unkind to say, but you need to understand that that's the truth. You have to understand your position when it comes to the pastor's schedule. His job is to be faithful to the Lord first, then to his family, because the family comes before you, and then the church. If the church robs me, or excuse me, robs my family of me, then I'm doing something wrong. If I don't have a family, I don't have a ministry. This is in the Bible. It's okay to amen things that are in the Bible. Amen? So, but it doesn't mean you're not important. You're very important. Otherwise, the Lord wouldn't have gifted you a pastor. You know, you do matter. But you don't need a pope. You need a pastor. You don't need a bishop or a cardinal. You don't need someone that you have to run to to help you make every one of your decisions in life. If He's feeding you well enough, you're able to do that on your own. You have the Holy Spirit, you have the Word of God, you're well taught, you're well fed, and so there's not a dependency on the pastor. I wish I had more time on this. If I'm feeding my church correctly, their appetite is for the Word of God, not for my voice. So they're going to learn a dependence not on me, a dependence upon the Word of God. So, but this all comes in order for the pastor. He's looking not to please the church. Now, do we want to please the church? Of course we do. Who wants to pastor a church that doesn't like them? Right? I mean, of course you want people to like you. And I think you want to know the pastor likes you. But the chief aim of a pastor is to please the Lord, not to please the church. And that's hard because sometimes you have to preach things that are difficult. You have to get up and you have to preach in a way or on a subject that you know is going to go directly against what some people have said or what they do. But if those people love the Lord, and if those people understand what church is about, they will love the pastor more for getting up in spite of it being difficult, and not beating around the bush, but just rightly dividing, cutting it straight, and saying, here's what God says. And we do that because we look for His return. We don't just look for pats on the back. There's nothing wrong with a pat on the back, but that's not what we're in it for. So when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away. And what a blessing that is. Amen? There's a lot of verses we didn't get to, but, you know, Hebrews 13, you know, obey them, they had a rule of view, there's a responsibility there, but we'll look more about that in the next hour. But the responsibility of a pastor, Peter says, Feed the flock, lead the church, and then look for Christ. Look for His return so that you hear, well done, good and faithful servant. Not from the church, but from the Lord.