Author: missionspaul

Leadership is what we do but being a shepherd is who we are.

“To the elders … be shepherds” (! Peter 5 v 1-2)

Into a context of being interrogated over who he is, where he is from and why he is here, Jesus tells a story.

Was it going to be a story showing the power of who he was? A warrior leading the people into battle over the Roman Empire? No! He tells the story of a shepherd (John 10).

The story is not of a powerful leader but of a caring and loving shepherd.

The Bible is full of a God who loves as a shepherd.

Joseph described God, “God who has been my shepherd all my life” (Genesis 48:15)

Isaiah prophesies, “He tends his flock like a shepherd: he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” (40:11)

And of course David says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” (Psalm 23:1)

So it isn’t strange in the slightest for Jesus to reveal who he is by giving a story regarding a shepherd and the sheep.

Of course there is more than loving and caring. There is the voice that is recognised. There is the leadership ability to lead them out. But the voice and the leadership is set in the context of being a shepherd.

Today I am attending a surprise event for someone who was in one of my churches that I led years ago. I was their leader, the ‘elder’ as Peter calls them, the one responsible for leading through teaching, leading in mission, leading in discipleship. They will have forgotten many details of my leadership except the main one. They will remember my love and care for them. They will remember I was their shepherd.

You never forget your leader who was a shepherd to you.

This coming Sunday I will again have the privilege of holding an induction for a Pastor. I will lead them in charges that she will make to the church. One of which will be this: “I charge you before God to lead your people with the love of a shepherd – remembering at all times that you are only the under shepherd and that God is the Great and Good Shepherd of the flock.”

Peter is nearing the end of his letter and he is giving instructions to the leaders, the young people and then all the members of the Church community.

 ² Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; ³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5 v 2-4)

I know that this Sunday the Pastor and her husband having left a wonderful church will step into a new season for their lives out of response to the call of God. The Pastor is not reluctantly starting in this new church but neither is she coming for any lucrative deal.

Pastors’ shepherd because they want to please God; they don’t do it because they have to, v2.

Pastors’ shepherd because they are passionate about the well-being of people, they desire to feed, protect and guide people into their futures with God; they don’t do it to grab at the salary, the pension and the lucrative expenses (and in most cases this is obvious!), v2.

Pastors’ shepherd because they know and demonstrate what it is to be shepherded; they don’t do it because they want to push people around being their lord and master, v3.

Why not text your Pastor today and thank them for being the shepherd of your life.

Approaching the end of this letter Peter writes to a few individual groups: the Church leaders; the younger generation and then everyone in the Church community. He does from his position as a leader.

“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed” (1 Peter 5 v 1)

1. He knows what it is like. He is a ‘fellow elder’. Yesterday I had the privilege as I always do to sit alongside fellow Pastors and share God’s Word with them. I love this privilege. I have pastored a small church and a large church and as I looked at them yesterday I could relate and they knew it. Sometimes we need someone who has travelled our path to come alongside us, to be a ‘fellow’. That is in every walk of life and position we find ourselves in. Be grateful if you have someone like this for you will grow if you do.
2. He has known failure. He is a witness to the sufferings of Christ. For him this is not a badge of success. He is fully aware of his involvement. From his opposition of the pathway Jesus was taking to the cross; his inability to watch and pray in the garden; his violence of cutting off of the servant’s ear; his denial of Jesus; his decision to go back to his old way of life; all of these things play out in the story of the sufferings of Christ. But his failure didn’t define him. Here he is writing to leaders as a leader.
3. He is looking forward; he has vision of the coming glory of Jesus Christ. He would remember the Transfiguration moment and he longs for more to come. He is confident he will be there in the end time, in the glory of Jesus revealed.

That’s what we all need. Fellows who know what it is like; who show vulnerability because of their stories of failure and who carry a hope and a vision for the future glory.

I have experienced the best of humanity in the worst of scenarios. In places of persecution; with people who face inevitable early death from treatable diseases; so many tragic situations have re-focused the minds so that every moment becomes a gift to either squander or use for God’s glory.

If you knew Jesus Christ would return in 2023 would it matter?

If you believed the end of all things was near: How would you pray? (v7)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Which person that hurt you would you love more? (v8)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would you stop complaining? (v9)

If you believed the end of all things was near: How would you be generous with what you have been given? (v10)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would what comes out of your mouth change? (v11)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Who would you help today? (v11)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would you waste time analysing your life? (v12)

If you believed the end of all things was near: How would you view your suffering? (v13)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would you be less worried about what people think of you? (v14)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would your behaviour change? (v15)

If you believed the end of all things was near: What would success then look like for you? (v16)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would you be ready to meet God? (v17)

If you believed the end of all things was near: How would you view those who do not know Christ? (v18)

If you believed the end of all things was near: How would this impact your trust of God? (v19)

Depending on the answers it could suggest that there are ‘Christians’ who do not believe the end of all things is near.

“The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. ⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. ¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶ However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. ¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’ ¹⁹ So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” (1 Peter 4 v 7-19)

What you are going through here on earth isn’t everything. It is temporary. Get an eternal perspective. Live with this mind-set. That is what Peter tells the suffering Church.

“The end of all things is near.” (1 Peter 4:7) Live out of that truth:-

1. Get hold of your thinking, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray” v7.
2. Love others practically, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” v8-9. 
3. Serve others, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” v10-11.
4. Glorify God in your life, “… so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen”v11.
5. Don’t be ashamed but rejoice, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” v 12-13.
6. If insulted be blessed, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” v14.
7. Do good through the suffering, “If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good” v16-19.  v15-19.

 (1 Peter 4 v 7-19)

Now go back and apply those 7 keys to your life as you think with an eternal perspective.

You don’t have to make it worse. You don’t have to fall apart. You are still in the hands of God even in a bad day. In fact your bad day can reveal more of Christ in you than any other day.

So how?

“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. ² As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. ³ For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. ⁴ They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. ⁵ But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.” (1 Peter 4 v 1-6)

You have dealt with sin. How? Through the suffering you have endured.

Just as Jesus who without sin suffered for our sin fully dealing with its power we have the same attitude and approach to life. This suffering we go through teaches us to make sure the important comes to the surface of our lives and that is we become like Jesus. Peter has compared our suffering with the obedience of Noah who had to build an ark and face slander. When we put our faith in Jesus in baptism (akin to Noah’s flood) we gave ourselves to the same road that Jesus went on through suffering into glory.

You don’t live like those in Noah’s day. How? Through the reaction to your suffering.

We do not react like the world, think selfishly, living for ourselves, but we focus on His will and what He wants for our lives through this suffering, we live for Him. Though Noah isn’t mentioned these verses are continuing from what Peter has already spoken and he then brings a list of vices that Noah’s generation was involved in. As with Noah, as in Peter’s day, here today you may be that one who is receiving further abuse simply because you are not responding like the way of the world does in dealing with the difficulties of life.

You live in such a way that even the ‘dead’ can live. How? There is an accounting to come. God will judge the living and the dead. But because you have chosen to live through the suffering, to proclaim Christ despite the attacks on your life then it is possible that those who were ‘dead’ will also come to life. You can still see the impact of the gospel because of the way you live your life.

Happy Pentecost Sunday!

“For Christ … having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which He also went and made proclamation…” (1 Peter 3 v 18-19)

The Spirit who empowered Jesus to rise is the same Spirit that is then outpoured on Pentecost.

What might seem dead today or finished isn’t necessarily so!

What you cannot do the Spirit can!

The Spirit works in you to work out from you to tell others!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Ever find yourself in a situation when you ask yourself how did we get here? When you simply, do not understand, there’s no rhyme or reason to it, it feels deeply spiritual, outside of common sense, irrational, beyond you. It feels like there’s another agenda, a hidden one, something is taking place that you cannot see right now, it feels like a battle that is being played out right in front of you but you don’t really know who the characters are.

Peter speaks right into this situation to a people who like us at times feel the onslaught of the situation, maybe the malicious talk, perhaps the persecution is actually not flesh and blood but demonic.

¹⁹ After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” (1 Peter 3 v 19-22)

Here’s the encouragement:

1. VICTORY. Christ has proclaimed (not evangelised) victory over the unseen world. The demonic are triumphed by the cross (numerous passages in the NT support this).
2. Wait. God waits. He waited patiently for Noah’s generation to believe and He thus is waiting patiently for the persecutors of His church to repent.
3. INADEQUACY. In the flood only a few were saved and at times when facing our enemy we also feel inadequate, few in number compared to the Goliath’s.
4. CLEAR CONSCIENCE. The flood symbolised the water baptism to come but not that it saves us but is the sign of a new relationship with the risen Christ who gives us a powerful clear conscience before God because of His forgiveness.
5. VINDICATION. Christ has gone, ascended, into heaven, at God’s right hand and the whole cosmos and underneath the cosmos are under His rule. It means this: Christ is vindicated. And because Christ is our Lord so we will also be vindicated.

Yesterday I watched an appeal for prayer from Archbishop Ben Kwashi for his fellow Christian Nigerians who are once again being killed in their own villages by wicked people. It seems so evil it is almost as if demons are amongst them. We believe attacks on Gods people for doing right comes from spiritual forces. It was the case for the Christians Peter is writing to. This is more than just a bad day. This is how to survive an evil demonic attack on your life.

We move into what is a difficult passage to understand but it starts off with ‘For Christ also suffered’.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. ¹⁹ After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” (1 Peter 3 v 18-22)

So how do you survive an evil demonic attack on your life? As you walk in the way of Christ:

1. Acknowledge the attack will hurt you. ‘For Christ also suffered’
2. The Spirit will come to your help and will bring new life. ‘made alive in the Spirit’
3. Know you will testify and be a proclaimer of your victory. ‘made proclamation’ (to the fallen angels)
4. Your commitment to Christ will save you. ‘baptism that now saves you also’
5. Evil will not have victory over you rather it will be in submission to you. ‘powers in submission to him’.

We move into a new section within the letter and Peter becomes really clear in addressing the problem of struggling because of who comes against you. Having telling us to be a good person in the previous verses he opens the new section with a rhetorical question. The answer is of course ‘no one’.

 ^“Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” (v13)

However I know some of the most faithful and ‘good’ Christians who suffer through malicious gossip and from people who should know better who want to bring them down.

Peter gives instruction in how to respond when you are spoken against.

^“But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3 v 13-17)

Here are 6 responses:

1. I am blessed. Why? Perhaps it is simply the fact that we receive what Jesus Christ received. He was spoken against and so will we. We walk His walk.
2. I will not be afraid. Why? Because to fear is only a choice equal to obedience being a choice too.
3. I will fear Christ. Why? Because He is the Lord of your life not those who speak against you.
4. I will be prepared with my answers. Why? Because courage in the midst of suffering needs to be able to also challenge that what is making you suffer.
5. I will be gentle and respectful. Why? Because we are not called to fight flesh and blood. We choose a higher ground of vocabulary.
6. I will have a clear conscience. Why? Because holding onto your integrity so that you are not also being malicious is the basis for your victory.

People will speak against you and it might be today that they do. You might be in the middle of this malicious season. Choose these 6 responses.