SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
4/4/2012 8:55:40 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: Learning from the Master
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1Peter
5:1
Message
of the verses: As I read over the
words that Dr. Wiersbe wrote in his commentary on the introduction to his
eleventh chapter on the book of 1Peter I come away with a better understand of
this very important section of Peter’s first book. I have mentioned on many occasions that
Warren Wiersbe puts the cookies on a shelf where you can reach them and he
certainly did in this section. He
entitles this eleventh chapter of his commentary on 1Peter, which is called “Be
Hopeful,” “How To Be A Good Shepherd,” and it covers the first four verses of
1Peter 5. If his writings cover only
four verses in a chapter of God’s Word, then there must be a lot of important
things in those four verses, and the fact that Peter is writing about “Pastors”
or “Shepherds” is a very important thing for all believers to learn about for
most of us who are believes in Jesus Christ will be setting under the teaching
of a Pastor and so we must know what God expects us to know about the Pastor’s
role in the church. Peter was an “Elder”
and this is the same word as “Bishop.”
Elder refers to the maturity of the officer, and bishop to the
responsibility of the office. The word
Pastor (and this word means shepherd) is another title for this same office as
seen in Ephesians 4:11, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets,
and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.” Dr. Wiersbe writes “The elders were appointed
to office (Acts 14:23), where the verb ‘ordain’ means ‘to appoint by the
raising of hands’). Apparently each
congregation had the privilege of voting on qualified men.”
We have just been through the forth
chapter of 1Peter and in that we learned that Peter was encouraging his readers
to stand firm in the face of persecution, which would be coming in full force
in about a year from the time that Peter wrote his first letter. I am not saying that Peter knew about the
timing of this difficult persecution, but he knew that persecution was
happening to some extent to those who named the name of Jesus Christ. Peter knew how important it was for his
readers to have a qualified Pastor leading them for if judgment was to begin in
God’s house then God’s house had better be in good order. Having a qualified Pastor who was learning
and growing in the Lord was essential if they were to get through this
persecution in a way that would bring honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Peter was concerned that
the leadership in the local churches be at its best. When the fiery trial would come, the
believers in the assemblies would look to their elder for encouragement and
direction. What are the personal
qualities that make for a successful pastor?”
A
Vital Personal Experience with Christ (1Peter 5:1): “Therefore, I exhort the elders among
you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a
partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed.”
We see in this verse that Peter
calls himself a “fellow elder” and does not identify himself as an apostle
here, but does say that he was a witness of the sufferings of Christ. That word witness, according to Dr. Wiersbe,
give us our English word “martyr.” We
usually think of the word martyr as one who has given his life for the cause of
Jesus Christ, which is something that Peter did, but “basically, a ‘martyr’ is
a witness who tells what he has seen and heard.”
The next five paragraphs in this SD
are from the pen of Warren Wiersbe, and I believe that it is important for
setting the background for this important subject of the qualifications of a
Pastor.
“It is interesting to read 1 Peter 5
in the light of Peter’s personal experiences with Christ. First Peter 5:1 takes us to Gethsemane and
Calvary. ‘The glory that shall be
revealed’ reminds us of Peter’s experience with Christ on the Mount of
Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-5; 2 Peter 1:15-18). The emphasis in 1Peter 5:2 on the shepherd
and the sheep certainly brings to mind John 10 and our Lord’s admonition to
Peter in John 21:15-17.
“The warning in 1 Peter 5:3 about
‘lording it over’ the saints reminds us of Christ’s lesson about true greatness
in Luke 22:24-30, as well as the other times that He taught His disciples about
humility and service. The phrase in 1
Peter 5:5, ‘Be clothed with humility,’ takes us back to the Upper Room where
Jesus put on the towel and washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17).
“The warning about Satan in 1 Peter
5:8 parallels our Lord’s warning to Peter that Satan was going to ‘sift’ him
and the other Apostles (Luke 22:31).
Peter did not heed that warning, and he ended up denying his Lord three
times.
“It is interesting to note that the
verb ‘make you perfect’ (1 Peter 5:10) is translated ‘mending their nets’ in
Matthew 4:21, the account of the call of the four fishermen into the Lord’s
service.
“In other words, Peter wrote these
words, inspired by the Spirit of God, out of his own personal experience with
Jesus Christ. He had a vital and growing
relationship with Christ, and this made it possible for him to minister
effectively to God’s people.”
The Apostle Paul wrote the following
to Timothy to admonish him to continue to grow in his Christian walk with the
Lord, “15 Be diligent in these matters;
give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” (1Timothy 4:15) Progress means in the original “pioneer
advance.” This show us that Elders must
continue to look at new territories of study, they are not to teach the same
thing week after week. In order to do
this they must be in tuned with God and His Word.
At the end of his commentary on this
verse Dr. Wiersbe writes “If I have any counsel for God’s shepherds today, it
is this: cultivate a growing
relationship with Jesus Christ, and share what He gives you with your
people. That way, you will grow, and
they will grow with you.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: A couple
of week ago I began to take the Spiritual Diaries that I have written since
2001 and begin to put them into individual books according to the books of the
Bible that I have studied. I went to put
my commentaries on 1Peter into book form and found out that I was missing the
end of chapter four and all of chapter five so I then decided to complete these
missing entries so that I could complete that commentary. My plan for these SD that are put into book
form is to give them to my children and grandchildren so that perhaps they too
will begin a serious study of the Word of God.
I believe that it was surely in
the will of God for me to again study the book of 1Peter, especially this
portion. Our Pastor is going over this
wonderful book and so I can receive a double blessing from studying it with him
and on my own.
4/4/2012
10:14:30 AM
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