"Shepherding the Flock of God"
Notes
Transcript
“What is the responsibility of the Elders?”
“What is the responsibility of the Elders?”
I. Lessons from an Apostle - (1 Peter 5:1-4)
I. Lessons from an Apostle - (1 Peter 5:1-4)
A. A Strong Exhortation - (5:1)
A. A Strong Exhortation - (5:1)
B. A Weighty Responsibility - (5:2-3)
B. A Weighty Responsibility - (5:2-3)
1. The LIMITS of their responsibility/authority
1. The LIMITS of their responsibility/authority
2. The DESCRIPTION of their responsibility/authority
2. The DESCRIPTION of their responsibility/authority
3. The PROPER MOTIVES for their responsibility/authority - (vv.2b-3)
3. The PROPER MOTIVES for their responsibility/authority - (vv.2b-3)
C. A Promised Reward - (5:4)
C. A Promised Reward - (5:4)
II. Lessons from a King - (Psalm 23)
II. Lessons from a King - (Psalm 23)
A. A Shepherd has a RELATIONSHIP with the Flock - (v.1a)
A. A Shepherd has a RELATIONSHIP with the Flock - (v.1a)
When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—
B. A Shepherd PROVIDES for the Flock - (vv.1b-3a)
B. A Shepherd PROVIDES for the Flock - (vv.1b-3a)
How does the shepherd provide?
1. He is responsible for the NOURISHMENT of the flock - (v.2)
1. He is responsible for the NOURISHMENT of the flock - (v.2)
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
2. He is responsible for the RESTORATION of the flock - (v.3a)
2. He is responsible for the RESTORATION of the flock - (v.3a)
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?
And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.
In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
He is responsible for the MATURATION of the flock - (v.3b)
He is responsible for the MATURATION of the flock - (v.3b)
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—
having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
C. A Shepherd PROTECTS the Flock - (vv.4-5a)
C. A Shepherd PROTECTS the Flock - (vv.4-5a)
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group.
They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”
This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith
and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.
D. A Shepherd PREPARES the Flock - (vv.5b-6)
D. A Shepherd PREPARES the Flock - (vv.5b-6)