Instructions to the Flock

In 1 Peter 5:5, we move from talking to the elders to talking to the “youngers.”  If God puts elders in authority then those who are not elders need to submit to that authority.  Submission has been a big theme in Peter’s letter.  It started back in chapter 2 when he told the believers to submit to the human governments.  Then he spoke to slaves about submitting to their masters.  Next he spoke to wives about submitting to their husbands.  He even mentions that, after the cross, all angels and spiritual authorities are submitted to Christ.  This last “submission” is for the Church body to its leaders.

Remember that the definition of submission is this: taking your proper place under a proper authority.  This definition hinges on the terms proper.  It is the Word of God that makes something proper.  Thus, we are not called to submit to everything or one that purports it is an authority.  But when we do recognize proper authority, even then, we submit to it in the proper way.  Thus it does not call for the Church body to become slavishly obedient to the whims of Church leaders.  So let’s look at what Peter has to say here.

We Should Submit To The Elders

I recognize, again, that submission has been abused by leaders.  Thus the virtue of submission requires us to use our minds and listen to God’s Word.  Submission to godly leadership does have boundaries.  They are not God and can take unscriptural positions.  However, as a virtue, submission recognizes that I too am a sinner in need of restraint.  Thus it is only proper that God should place proper authorities over me in appropriate ways.  Leaders should not be telling members who to marry.  But we should listen when they remind us of the Scripture’s injunction to not marry unbelievers.  They are the elders who have a more mature spiritual wisdom and understanding.  I am the “younger” and not just in age.  Those who are not put in leadership should carefully follow those who have been put in leadership as a child should listen to its parents.  Again, this is within Scriptural bounds.

The term “likewise” is used to point us back to the elders.  In the same way they are to submit to Christ’s calling on their life, so we too must submit to it.  How were they supposed to respond?  They were supposed to respond willingly rather than being forced into it (vs. 2).  They were supposed to eagerly serve with pure motives rather than for dishonest gain.  They were supposed to serve as examples rather than “lording” their authority over the Church.  Thus the body of Christ also needs to submit willingly without being forced.  We should be eager to submit with pure motives rather than for dishonest gain, i.e. manipulating.  We should be quick to follow the “right” examples rather than those elders who fall into coercive tactics.  When both elders and “youngers” properly respond to the Lord this can be a beautiful environment where God speaks to us in his Word and confirms it with the leading of elders.  This environment is a protective environment that keeps us spiritually safe.

The Church Should Be Mutually Submitted

Here Peter moves beyond the elder / flock distinction and speaks to the Church as a whole.  The overall or general atmosphere of the Church should be defined by mutual submission.  But under what authority do we submit to one another?  First, we do so under the authority of God’s Word.  But second, we do so under the authority of the demands of Love (i.e. God’s nature).  In love we learn to humble ourselves to serve and to be served.  Elders are simply to lead us in this area of mutual submission and growing in the Truth of Christ.  We need to listen and be led by the “commands” of love.

Next Peter says that they should clothe themselves with humility.  The word used here is one of a servant tying an apron around them.  Humility must be the “uniform” that we tie on ourselves.  It identifies us as one of Christ’s flock.  It is symbolic of the time when Jesus tied on a towel and washed his disciple’s feet.  If we serve without a humble mind it spoils the service.  But, those being washed have to humble themselves, too.  Peter was quick to tell the Lord he couldn’t wash his feet.  But Jesus told him if he didn’t wash Peter’s feet that Peter would have nothing with the Lord.  Oops!  “I take that back, Lord!  Wash all of me!”  We can be too quick to say that we don’t need any leadership.  However, it is God’s wisdom and we should not reject it.  To reject it is to jeopardize our position in Christ because we are rejecting the very Word of Christ.

Peter then quotes from Proverbs 3:34.  Believers ought to humble themselves beneath the “Mighty Hand” of God because God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.  The word resists here could better be translated as “sets himself against.”  If you walk in pride God sets himself against you.  Hmm… I wonder who will win?  Like the angel in the way before Balaam, God will stand against us if we walk in pride.  But if we humble ourselves he will be quick to give us grace.  Thus his hand is called mighty.  It is powerful in judgment to those who in their own wisdom walk in pride.  And, it is powerful in grace to those who are humble.  Which would you rather receive?

Final Instructions To Believers

On top of being submitted to the elders, Peter asks the believers to put their daily concerns upon the Lord.  When we carry around our “stuff” all the time, it leads to increased anxiety.  The picture has been used of rolling your burdens upon the Lord like the people in the middle east loaded up a camel. Let God do the heavy lifting of those daily concerns that tend to weigh us down.  When we do this we are enabled to help each other.  Can you imagine a worker showing up to move your furniture, but he has a 100 pound pack on his back and is holding an arm full of groceries?  If he is going to be any help at all he will need to unload himself first.  Peter shares this concern in the same vein.  We must learn to roll our burden onto Jesus if we are going to be able to help one another.  How do we do this?  First we do it through prayer.  When we talk through our anxieties and then ask God for his help, we begin to unload ourselves of much weight.  However, it also involves faith.  We need to trust that he really is caring for us.  This doesn’t mean he simply has emotions about our situation, but that he is also actually taking care of us.  We can talk to him about it, ask for help, and then quit worrying about it.  This unloading process is too often avoided in our lives.  It causes much pain and grief in our lives and the lives of others.

Next he tells them to be watchful over their souls.  This involves sobriety, i.e. not being drunk on the pleasures of this world.  And, it also involves vigilance.  The watchful shepherd is standing at attention, watching both the sheep and the hills for sign of trouble.  We need to take our spiritual condition serious and not get caught up in living life to please our flesh.  We have an enemy who is an equal opportunity eater.  Like a lion he will eat anything that isn’t ready for it.  So take your stand against the enemy.  Like David of old, do not rely upon your own wisdom and strength.  But, rather, rely upon the power and might of the Spirit of the Lord.  He can only devour those who are not sober and vigilant.  “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”

Final Thoughts

We can get so worried about the things of life that we forget; it is God who takes care of us.  Perhaps you are worried about all the things you shouldn’t be, and not worried about all the things you should?  Let the Spirit of God speak to your heart and correct you in this area.

Also, God has given us all the instructions we need to outwit the devil’s schemes.  We just need to trust him.  Godly leadership is a part of that.  Don’t settle for saying it doesn’t work.  Find a place where there are elders who trust God and are caring for the souls of those who attend that church.  You won’t always agree with them.  But humble yourself and let God use them to help watch over your soul.  In doing so you are thwarting the work of the devil in your life.

Instructions to Flock Audio

The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, Part 2

Last week we recognized that the primary key to the Kingdom of Heaven is the Truth of the Identity of Jesus and what he came to do on our behalf.  However this does beg the question, “Why is the Kingdom of Heaven “locked” in the first place?

When taken as a whole, the biblical message is this: the nature, choices, and actions of a person lock themselves out of God’s Kingdom.  John 3:16 says it well that God gave his one and only son that WHOSOEVER believed on him would have life rather than perishing.  Also Peter says that God is not willing that any should perish.  God has done absolutely everything but make people into robots.  Judas had an intimate view of the nature and wisdom of Jesus.  Yet, he made a different decision than the other disciples.  He refused to humble himself and follow Jesus.  He chose wickedness over righteousness.  This clear choice is made everyday by countless people.  Thus the Book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of the end of the age.  Not only will mankind gather for global war, but when Jesus appears, the armies of the earth will turn their firepower against him.  Though Christ puts this rebellion down and institutes a 1,000 year peace on the earth,  still a large number of people will be able to be tempted by Satan to surround the “camp of the saints” and try to destroy them.  God in his wisdom knew that sin would never be content to choose a different path.  If given the chance it would always seek to destroy God and those who follow his way; thus the need to lock out the kind of person who will not repent and turn away from wickedness.

Now today, we are going to go to Matthew 18:15-18 and look at a second key that can lock or unlock the Kingdom of Heaven to people.

How We Deal With Sin Is A Key To The Kingdom Of Heaven

This whole section begins with the disciples’ question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  Jesus responds by saying in verse 3, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (NIV)  Without the humility of a child, and a simple openness to being taught by God, none of us will even enter the Kingdom of Heaven; much less be the greatest.  So facing the gospel requires an initial humility and surrender to God and his plan.  When it comes to dealing with sin we tend to lose our humility and surrender.  Thus Jesus deals with this area in verse 15 and following.  If we do not get a handle on how to correctly deal with the sins of others and our own sin then the Kingdom of Heaven will remain locked and inaccessible.  So what should we do when others sin against us, especially fellow Christians?

First we start with a private confronting.  The world is too quick to publish the sins of others and it relishes too much in the fall of others.  Believers in Jesus are not to be this way.  We are to be motivated by love (hard to do when you have been sinned against).  Love covers a multitude of sins.  However, it doesn’t cover them up.  The difference between a cover-up of sin and covering sin is that a cover-up seeks to avoid dealing with the sin and its consequences.  Whereas, covering sin keeps the circle of intimates small so that the issue can be dealt with in respect and honor.  However, if the sin is a public sin then the Scriptures state it is to be dealt with publically.  So here is the principle.  Do rush to expand the circle of those involved in dealing with a sin.  Only involve those who were present.  The balance between going to war against those who sin against us and not dealing with it and hoping it will go away, is to lovingly confront in private.

The next issue is how the rebuke is received.  The phrase, “if your brother hears you,” means if he listens to you and recognizes his sin.  The second key in dealing with sin is that we need to humbly receive rebukes.  We don’t talk about this much, but, the sinner has just as much responsibility to receive it humbly as the aggrieved does to give it lovingly.  God in his wisdom uses each of us to perfect the other.  But this only works when we are humble.  If we refuse to be humble, we refuse to be perfected and ultimately we refuse the way of Jesus.

If the rebuke is not humbly received then the Issue needs to be made accountable to one or two others.  We need to be careful who we choose to bring into such a situation.  Choose individuals who can be objective and give godly wisdom if needed.  In other words you are not bringing your own personal posse to beat up on the person.  They are there to give witness to the actions and demeanor of both sides.

At this point I should bring up the problem of gossiping.  Even under the guise of getting advice we can be guilty of publishing the sins of others before we have rightly confronted them.  If you need advise get it in a general manner; not giving the name of the offender.  However, if the rebuke is not received you get two witnesses to verify.

Lastly, if you are still refused then it is to be exposed to the Church.  There is no process given and it is highly doubtful that Jesus intends us to stand up in church and tell the sins of the other.  Still, it needs to go before the elders of the church.  It has to be dealt with publically.  When a person goes through such a process and they still refuse to humble themselves and reconcile then something is deeply wrong in their heart.  They are not following the Lord.  They are following themselves.  For the sake of the church it is best, as in 1 Corinthians 5, to disfellowship the individual until they repent.  This doesn’t have to be a blow up.  It can be something as simple as this, “We love you, but because you refuse to deal with this sin and make things right, we have to ask you to leave until such a time as you can admit your fault and make things right.”  Otherwise, it will become a festering wound in the church and ultimately cause many more to be caught up in the issue.

Practical Thoughts For Christians

We must always remember that God uses our fellow Christians to help us grow to be more like Jesus.  It is the litmus test of our inner spiritual life.  We may not like it.  We may even run from it and try to avoid it.  However, we need to learn to properly challenge each other and we also need to learn to properly receive a challenge.  It is too easy not to say anything until we blow up.  This is a sin, also.  However, just because someone does a poor job of confronting us of our sin does not get us off the hook of repenting ourselves.  We can spend our time playing the legal game or we can become more like Jesus.  “He got mad and yelled at me in an unchristian way, so I don’t have to listen to him.”  “He sinned against me so I get a freebie to scream at him and vent.”  Both of these attitudes are sinful.

Sin that is not dealt with will get worse and hurt more people.  The choice to do nothing is sinful because it puts personal comfort in front of the pain of others.  Sin does not stay the same.  Rather, it grows and becomes worse.

Lastly, we need humility and love on both sides in order for there to be reconciliation.  God help us to love one another and thus prove that we do love Jesus.

Keys to the Kingdom P2 Audio

On Pride And Humiliation

We are going to look at a passage today that is needed in a day where we live in one of the greatest and most powerful nations in the history of the world.  Daniel 4 includes several first-hand accounts from a Babylonian king who had come to know that the God of Israel was indeed the ruler over all things.  He was so impressed and so powerful that he sent this proclamation to all the nations of the world that were under his control.  In it he reveals that the God of heaven is not impressed with our great pride.

The Reasons For Pride

In Daniel 4:1-4 we find several reasons for the pride that King Nebuchadnezzar had.  He ruled from the 600’s to the 500’s BC, at a time when God was judging Jerusalem.  God gave him the power to subdue even the Assyrian empire that had risen before him down to even the Egyptian nation.  Yet, God would not hold back judgments upon Babylon and its king.

Nebuchadnezzar, in the first person, sets the scene by pointing out that he was at rest in his house, and flourishing in his palace.  He was at rest.  Everything was going well and his mind was tranquil and secure without any major worries.  This is a dangerous time for us because it tends to lead to pride.  Not only was he tranquil, but he was flourishing.  All that he had put his hand to seemed to come easy.  He dominated the nations that he moved against.  He is the instigator of that wonder of the ancient world we know as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.  Like a plant, he had grown quickly and fruitfully in the things of this world. Notice his statements “My house,” and “my palace.”  He had accumulated many possessions that were his and he attributed them to his own power.

Later I will come back to another reason for pride.  But it is easy to see why Nebuchadnezzar would think highly of himself and think all was okay.

The Grace of God Humbles Us

God in His grace gets Nebuchadnezzar’s attention through a dream.  This dream was a very ominous dream in which it was clear that something bad was going to happen.  It troubled him greatly.  He had called his counselors to interpret it.  Earlier in chapter 2 there was a dream that they couldn’t interpret.  However, this time it simply says, “but they did not make known to me its interpretation.”  It almost seems that they knew the answer but were afraid to tell him.  Daniel comes and tells him what the dream meant.

The dream was simple.  A huge tree was like a skyscraper up into the heavens and its branches reached all the way to the ends of the earth.  The birds lived in its branches and ate its fruit.  The animals lived in its shade and ate from its fruit.  But then an angel called a Watcher comes down.  He proclaims a heavenly decree that the tree is to be cut down, the branches cut off, and stripped.  But the stump is to be left in the ground with an iron/bronze band around it till 7 times pass.  Also, the pronoun becomes personal when the angel adds at the end, “let his heart be changed from that of a man to that of an animal…”   The interpretation Daniel gave was that Nebuchadnezzar would lose his kingdom for seven years and at the same time he would lose his mind.  He would become like an animal.

Now Daniel in verse 27 warns the king that he would be wise to stop his wickedness and begin living righteously.  He also instructs him to quit oppressing the poor.  “Perhaps,…” God would relent or give mercy.  We do not know whether Nebuchadnezzar tried to follow Daniel's advice or not.  But verses 29-33 show that it was a year later when Nebuchadnezzar was walking through his palace that his judgment came down, losing both his mind and his kingdom.

This brings me back to reasons for Pride.  God always sends warnings before his judgments.  This length of time has a way of being misinterpreted by men.  We tend to think either that it won’t happen, or that what we have done to try and appease God has “worked.”  Either way, we often continue in that lifestyle of arrogant pride before God and people.  Nebuchadnezzar was in the middle of boasting about his kingdom when a voice comes from heaven basically saying that his time was up.

God gives periodic judgments, not because he is a mean God, but because he loves us.  In his grace he puts things in our path to trip us up and hold us back along the hurtful paths we choose in this life.  In verse 17 the angel tells why this judgment is coming down.  First it is to demonstrate that God rules over any kingdom of men.  Also that God puts whomever he will in charge of those kingdoms, even the lowest of men.  In our ability and power, whether we are king or an average Joe, we forget that God is our sovereign.  We answer to him and if we choose the path of pride, he will humble us.  Why?  Because he loves us and those around us too much to let us continue without warning and judgments.

The whole reason for judgments in this world is so that we will repent.  This is for the person being judged and those who are watching it.  Repentance is always the proper response to God’s warnings.  It is the proper response whether it “works” to avoid difficulty, or not.  However, through it all, we can trust that God means us good even when he dispenses judgments in this life.  Of course this begs the question of the ultimate judgment when we stand and give an account for our life.  Am I ready for that?  Are you ready for that?

Cooperate With God’s Grace

At the end of 7 years, God graciously gave Nebuchadnezzar’s mind back to him.  Jewish tradition makes reference to Daniel taking care of this king gone mad.  When his mind comes back to him, he blessed, praised, honored, and extolled the Most High God.  Nebuchadnezzar finally “got it” that God was greater than even him.  This led him to witness to the world around him of God’s power.  But Nebuchadnezzar also references the Justice of God.  Justice is more than doing what is right.  It is the sense of balancing out an evil.  A just punishment is one that fits the crime.  To overly punish a crime is not just and to under punish a crime is not just as well.  God is just in his judgments.  Nebuchadnezzer sends a proclamation to all the nations under his power to witness to God’s power and justice.  He ends with the powerful statement that God is able to put down those who walk down in pride.  However, the Bible takes this point one step further.  God has put mankind on warning that he is not only able, but completely decided to judge the pride of all mankind. 

Has God humbled you recently?  Perhaps he is speaking to you about your life.  Turn to him and cooperate with this grace.  Listen to his instruction and walk in the paths of living according to God's Word.

On Pride and Humilation Audio