Desiring to Serve Christ Alone (1Peter 5:4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
4/24/2012 9:45:20 AM
My Worship Time     Focus:  Desire to please Christ Along
Bible Reading & Meditation     Reference:  1Peter 5:4
 Message of the verse:  4  And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”  (NASB)  “4  And then, when the Chief Shepherd reveals himself, you will receive that crown of glory which cannot fade.”  (Phillips)
 We have been looking at 1 Peter 5 for some time and in Warren Wiersbe commentary on the book of 1 Peter he has entitled chapter eleven “How To Be A Good Shepherd,” and this chapter covers the first four verses of 1Peter 5.  We will be looking at the last main point from this chapter which he calls “A Desire to Please Christ Alone.”
 A Desire to Please Christ Along:  (v. 4):  “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”  (ESV)
 Warren Wiersbe entitles his commentary on 1 Peter “Be Hopeful,” and what can be more hopeful than the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is what is mentioned in the verse we are looking at. 
 The main job of a faithful Shepherd is to please the Lord Jesus Christ.  Dr. Wiersbe writes about a man who commented in the following way to him:  “It must be hard to keep all these people happy,’ a visitor said to me after a church service. I replied with a smile, ‘I try to please the Lord, and I let Him take care of the rest.’”
 We know that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who died for the sheep, “"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.’” (John 10:11) We know that He is the Great Shepherd and He lives for the sheep, “20  Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21  equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”  (Hebrews 13:20-21)  there is one more thing we know that is seen from 1Peter 5:4 and that is that Jesus Christ is the Chief Shepherd who comes for His sheep. 
 James said in his letter “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”  One of the qualifications of an Elder is that he is able to teach, he should have the gift of teaching, but is seems that James is speaking of people who have a desire to teach others, but they do not have the gift of teaching and therefore will not fulfill the position of teaching the way that it should be fulfilled for they will be doing it in their own effort, and not like an elder who has the gift and calling from the Lord. 
 We see here in verse four of 1Peter 5 that the Chief Shepherd will come and give to those faithful Elders, or Pastors and unfading crown of glory.  He will not give this to the one who has not been gifted for this position, but to those whom He has called and to those whom He has called who are faithful.  We know that Peter was writing about hope in times of tribulation, and it is hopeful for a local church to have a faithful Pastor during these hard times.
 Dr. Wiersbe writes of a faithful Pastor:  “One summer day, I stood amid the ruins of a church near Anwoth in Scotland.  The building at one time seated perhaps 150 people.  By modern standards, it would not have been a successful church.  But the man who pastured that flock was the saintly Samuel Rutherford, whose Letters of Samuel Rutherford is a spiritual classic.  His ministry continues, though today his church building is in ruins.  The Chief Shepherd has rewarded him for his faithful labors, which included a great deal of persecution and physical suffering.”
 During the time of Peter’s life there were Olympic games and the winner of certain events would win a crown which would have leaves or flowers or both on it, and this crown would quickly fade away.  The crown that will be given to faithful pastors will never fade away for it will be an unfading crown of glory.
 There are many “pastors” today and probably down through the church age that are working for their own crowns.  We see in today’s world pastors who are trying to build crystal cathedrals or drive big cars and have their own airplanes to get around in, and people fall for this and support their “ministries.”  Peter is not writing about those kinds of pastors but pastors who are called by the Lord and are faithful to the Lord and these will receive the unfading crown of glory to which they will be able to place it at the feet of Jesus.  “The twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying.”  (Rev. 4:10)  The twenty-four elders represent the Church age.
 Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary from this section with these important words:  “Everything in the local church rises or falls with leadership.  No matter how large or small a fellowship might be, the leaders must be Christians, each with a vital personal relationship with Christ, a loving concern for their people, and a real desire to please Jesus Christ.
 “We lead by serving, and we serve by suffering.
 “This is the way Jesus did it, and this is the only way that truly glorifies Him.”
 Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am happy that most of my Christian life I have been serving the Lord under Pastors that are like the ones that Peter is writing about.
4/24/2012 10:41:23 AM