Please stand. Peter says in 1 Peter 5, 1, The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a protector 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. Heavenly Father, we ask that you'd give us some background in the understanding of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in these last days. We pray that we might do things decently and in order, according to your word, that there would be more opportunity for the glory of our Redeemer. Glorify yourself before us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Back in chapter one, Peter introduced himself to the readers of this epistle by calling himself an apostle. He was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, one of those whom Christ gave that special title to in Luke chapter six. And it came to pass in those days that Jesus went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples. And of those disciples, he chose 12 whom he also named apostles. One of the things to keep in mind in this scripture is that out of a larger group of disciples, Christ chose only 12 to be his special apostles. Not all Christians, not all evangelists are called to be apostles. I believe there is a scriptural ground to say that the original office of apostle doesn't exist anymore. However, the word apostolos does refer to anyone who is sent, sent with a message. And Hebrews chapter three, verse number one, appropriately calls our Lord Jesus Christ the apostle of the Father. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Jesus Christ. Let's think about Christ, the apostle and high priest. And we'll get to some other things here in just a minute. The Lord Jesus had a special commission with a message to share to humanity. And that message was given over a long period of time, but of course the highlight of it was at Calvary when he gave his life. In 1 Peter 5 now, moving on from the apostle, Peter begins to share some ecclesiastical instruction. Here are things that we should do as young people in the church or young Christians in the church. And you who are leaders of the church, here are some things I want you to consider. Church direction. And he says in verse number one, the elders which are among you, I exhort. In essence, feed the flock of God which is among you. Taking out a few words there. The elders which are among you I exhort, feed the flock of God which is among you. And to highlight what he is saying, Peter adds that not only is he an apostle, he too is an elder. Before we get into the specifics of the instructions, which we'll not get to this evening, I feel it necessary to deal with the term elder. As an elder myself, it's important that I feed you a little bit of information about the office of the elder. One reason for this is I fear that one of the practices of Catholicism and Protestantism is creeping into some Baptist churches. More and more churches are implementing something called elder rule. And some are even using the Presbyterian idea, distinguishing ruling elders from teaching elders. Baptist churches. Recently there was a Southern Baptist conference dealing with the subject of whether or not we ought to have elders. It's happening. Let me be clear from the outset. I have no argument against a plurality of elders. because it is clear that in some of the churches we find in the Word of God, they were large enough where they had to have many elders. That's not a problem. We see it in the Word of God. The problem arises in the definition and the responsibility of those elders. Elders in many Protestant churches govern the church. They're in charge. They're the bosses. They are a religious oligarchy. A small group of elders govern things, rule things. They're the bosses. They leave the congregation behind. Elder rule, as advocated even by some Baptists, robbed the church of its congregational government. This is an attack on one of the foundational principles that Baptists have died to promote and defend, and it's being taken from them from within. from their colleges and so on. I wouldn't mind it a bit if our congregation grew to such an extent that we needed 12 deacons and six elders to get it to work properly. That would be a marvelous thing. But the moment those elders begin to rule the church, then this would cease to be a Baptist ecclesia. When it comes to the Lord's churches, there are two biblical offices, pastors and deacons. Initially, deacons were chosen by the church in Jerusalem to assist the spiritual leaders of the congregation by ministering in secular things, leaving the leaders of the church time to study and to pray and to preach the word of God, teach the word of God. Their ministry was secular, these deacons. Sadly, in some Baptist churches, deacons take over. They become the rulers. They rule the congregation. In some churches, they determine who will be pastor. In some churches, they determine who will be speaking at the annual revival that we have in the fall. In some churches, they tell the pastor what to preach. Because of this, my pastor years ago, as I've already told you several times, he did not have any deacons, because he didn't want this sort of thing. We can still have deacons and not have the misuse of deacons. This, of course, this deacon rule is as unscriptural as elder rules. As I said, there are two ecclesiastical offices in the Lord's churches, pastors and deacons. But things get confused when we read through the Bible because of all of the other terms which come up in the leadership of biblical churches. And the fact is, pastors are mentioned once in the Bible. Only one time do we read in our English of pastors. Please turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians 4 and verse number 11. Here we're told that Christ gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ. till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man. So we have these various responsibilities, if you like, various offices, and the purpose of those offices was to instruct us all how to be better servants of God till we come to the perfection of humanity. It's important to note that the word pastor is, keep this in mind, poimen. It literally translates as shepherd, if we were to translate it. And I'll come back to that in just a minute. It's also important to notice in Ephesians 4, there's no mention of elders. Over here in Peter, we have elders. There's no mention of elders here. There's no mention of bishops here in Ephesians 4. Didn't God give churches elders? Didn't he give them bishops? Yes, he did, but under a different title. I'll come back to this in just a minute as well. In Roman Catholicism, there is a ministerial hierarchy starting with the Pope at the top, descending in power and authority to cardinals and archbishops and bishops and priests down to deacons, and the deacons are not necessarily just servants in this case. I think I have that right. The Episcopalians have pastors that lead congregations, but they also have bishops who have authority over a multitude of congregations and a multitude of those pastors. Presbyterianism is very similar to that, as are the Lutherans and the Methodists and just about everybody else under the umbrella of Protestantism. In contrast to those various denominational hierarchies, Baptists believe in the independency and the autonomy of each local church without bishops ruling over groups of churches. No single Baptist church, however large it might be, has any authority over any other Baptist church. and no local pastor has any right to dictate anything to any other pastor or any other church. That is old time Baptist doctrine. But going back to that word bishop, there are references to bishops in the Bible. Who are those bishops? What do they do? At this point, before proving it, I will just say that biblical bishops were pastors of local churches. For example, when Paul was writing in the church in Philippi, he began his epistle with the words, Paul and Demotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. Grace unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Why didn't Paul address his letter to the pastor or pastors of the church in Philippi? I believe he did under a different title. I am convinced that pastor, elder, and bishop all speak about the same office. The same person. And there shouldn't be a problem with that. Just as I go into this doctor's office over here, or I go to Best Buy over there, in one business I'm known as David Oldfield. And then in the other one, I'm known as Kenneth Oldfield. It's the same guy. I just have several names. No problem there. Some of you call me Brother Oldfield. Some of you prefer to address me as Pastor Oldfield, and you make a difference. I've heard it in your tone. There's a difference between the two as far as you're concerned. As far as I'm concerned, both titles apply to me. I'm okay with either one. A few minutes ago, I pointed out that the Lord Jesus is called an apostle, perhaps the apostle in the book of Hebrews. In the last verse of 1 Peter chapter 2, Christ is described as the shepherd and bishop of our souls. Hebrews even calls him our high priest. Which is it? Which is Christ? Is he shepherd, bishop, high priest? What is he, apostle? This is even before we consider the fact that he is the son of God, that he is a savior, and so on and so forth. Of course, he is all of these things. Each of these titles point to a different aspect of his ministry. Now, Peter says he's the shepherd of our souls. Consider that. Don't forget the instruction that Jesus himself gave about himself. I am the good shepherd. And there's quite a bit of material there under I am the good shepherd. A few minutes ago, I emphasized that the word pastor is the translation of the Greek word poimen. Well, when Jesus called himself the good shepherd, He used that word, poimen. We could say that Jesus is the good pastor, and it would not be unbiblical. We probably wouldn't say that, but it wouldn't be incorrect. We could also say that the pastor of the local congregation is an under-shepherd to the shepherd. Again, verse number five, when the chief, verse four of chapter five, when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. There is a chief shepherd, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And you gentlemen are less than the chief shepherd, but still shepherds. Let's see. Where am I? We could also say that the pastor of a local congregation is an under-shepherd in relation to Christ. We just did say that. And what is the job of a shepherd? Please turn to Psalm 23. What is the job of a shepherd? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. What does he do? He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He feeds me. He gives me drink. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Don't go down that trail. That's the broad road. Don't go that way. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because the shepherd is with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What does the shepherd do? He shepherds. He feeds the flock. And what is Peter's instruction to the bishops that he is addressing in chapter five? He says, feed the flock of God, which is among you. Would you like to guess what Greek word is translated feed? It's the verb form of pastor or shepherd. Peter is instructing those men whom he calls elders in verse number one to pastor or shepherd the flock of God. Elder is another word for pastor. They are synonymous. When Paul was traveling back to Jerusalem, carrying the offerings that he had collected in Achaia and Macedonia to give to the brethren there in Jerusalem, he stopped at Miletus, there on the edge of Asia Minor. In Acts 20, verse number 17, we read, And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church to meet with him. Why didn't he call the pastors of the church to join him there? I believe he did, but he used a different word. In Acts 14, Before moving to a new location, Paul and Barnabas ordained them elders in every church and prayed with them, fasting, after which they commended them to the Lord on which they had believed. Acts chapter 14 and verse number 23. Why didn't they ordain pastors for their churches? I believe he did. They did, just under a different title, different name. Five times in Acts chapter 15, there's mention of elders. along with the pastors there, or apostles there in Jerusalem. But not one pastor is mentioned. Not one time does the word pastor come up because elder and pastor are synonymous. In Titus chapter 1, Paul instructed his assistant to ordain elders in cities where churches had been established. But again, there's no mention of ordaining pastors because Elder and pastor, the same office. In addition to elder, the pastor is also called bishop. Please turn to Titus chapter one, verse number five. Page number 1269. Verse number five. For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou should set in order the things that are wanting, to ordain elders in every city as I appointed thee. If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober and just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Notice that Paul seamlessly goes from ordaining elders in verse 5 to describing the qualifications of those elders in verse number 7, but he calls them bishops. And then in verse number 9, he says that the primary responsibility of these elder bishops is to feed the flock of God with sound doctrine and exhortation, which is the work of a shepherd or pastor. Not only do pastor and elder refer to the same office, so does the word bishop. Earlier I mentioned the Protestant denominations, the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians. Honesty demands that I tell you that both these denominational titles come from the Bible, even though their offices and their practices don't. The word elder in Greek is presbyteros, and bishop is episkopos. The Episcopalians emphasize their bishops. Both of those words, when found in the Bible, describe pastors. Furthermore, episkopos literally could be translated as overseer. A few minutes ago I took you to Acts 20 when Paul called the elders of the church in Ephesus to meet him. Acts 20 and 28 says, take heed therefore unto yourselves to feed the flock of God or to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. The word overseer in that verse, Acts chapter 20, verse number 28, is translated bishop six other times in the word of God, including 1 Peter 2.25. For you see you were a sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. Overseer, actually. And we hear Paul telling these overseeing bishops to do the work of the pastor shepherd in feeding the church of God. Are you thoroughly confused? What I'm trying to say, simplify things, pastor, elder, bishop are interchangeable. I am convinced that this is the teaching of the New Testament. Baptists today generally prefer the title pastor. Bishop may be more biblically appropriate, but most Baptists shy away from that term because it has been abused by the Catholics and the Protestants. It's a shame. That's the way it is. Also, elder is far more common in the Bible when speaking about the leadership of God's churches. But I suppose some people consider it to be simply old-fashioned. Elder is still a very good word. You will hear me use it from time to time, and particularly in those history notes that I share with you. Because 250 years ago, nearly every Baptist church was pastored by an elder. Elder so-and-so. That was just the way things were. We're just not doing it that way. Even with the... Again, I say, I don't have a problem with the plurality of elders when necessary, but I have serious problems with elder rule because it places too much authority in the hands of the pastor. I assure you, and you can verify this yourself by studying, reading through the Word of God, I don't find any biblical reference to ruling elders versus teaching elders. There's just elders. And even with the limited biblical use of the word pastor, in my understanding of the Word of God, I never see churches that have elders and pastors. It's the same office. But what's the purpose of the three words? Why use them? Perhaps it was to highlight three different aspects and functions of the same office. Just as the Lord Jesus is given many titles because he wears many hats, so to speak, so too does the earthly leader of God's church. The word pastor relates to the teaching duty of the office. As Peter tells the Asian churches here, verse number one, verse number two, feed the flock of God. And that is what I'm trying to do this evening. Acts 20, 28, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God that he hath purchased with his own blood. The word elder, on the other hand, perhaps refers to the dignity of the office. According to 1 Timothy 3.6, the pastor, or I should say the bishop, is not to be a novice in the ministry. It isn't his age, necessarily, it's being referred to. It's not the color of his hair, necessarily. But he needs to have experience in the ministry. And hopefully a little maturity. Then the word bishop speaks of the leadership responsibility of the office. The pastor is to oversee the church in the things of the spirit. But as Peter says right here, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. What about the title reverend? That comes to us out of Catholicism. One of the books of the Hippocrapha. When someone who doesn't know any better calls me Reverend Oldfield, I respond. But if you use the term, I just might ignore you. Unless I know that you're teasing in doing it. There are some other titles preachers prefer. Call me Dr. Oldfield. or chaplain Oldfield. If a man's earned the right to be called a doctor, I don't have a problem with that, except perhaps the pride that drives him to say, call me doctor, I've earned it. I'm not going to call you doctor if you put it that way. But it appears to me that the old familiar biblical terms are far better. And I consider it a great honor when you call me Pastor Oldfield.