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Derek Greer
Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's Word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in. Peter is finishing up first. Peter, he's rounding the bases. And these are now his closing remarks. He says to the elders who are among you now, the concept of eldership existed long before the Bible was written. In fact, In Genesis chapter 50, we find that the Egyptians had a group called elders. And this term is really an ancient term that was used for people that possess the wisdom and maturity that typically only comes with age. But over time, in the Jewish culture, it also came to represent leadership offices. There's an old African proverb, youth walk faster, but the elders know the road. But I don't want you to mishear me. Age does not automatically make you wise. Your choices, your decisions do. Walt Disney famously commented. He said that growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional. Peter said, the elders who are among you, I exhort you. Now, a little bit is lost in the English here, in the Greek, that language, exhort means to come alongside and encourage. And this term was used amongst the Greeks for that moment when the general would come out of his tent, get up front and personal with his men and give them a rousing pre battle speech. And the Holy Spirit, I believe, selected this term because it was to be a reminder that we are actually in the most important battle that any person could be involved in. It's the battle over the heart and the souls of those we love, our families and our communities. But then he goes on to say, I, who am a fellow elder. How many know? Everyone has an opinion. Yeah, yeah. But advice is taken differently when you know it comes from someone who's been there, got the T shirt, the bumper sticker and everything. He calls himself a fellow elder. You see, Peter's life, you read the Bible, was not untouched by hardship. He knew the pressure of being public. He knew the pressure of leadership. He knew the problems and the pain that comes with personal hardship. The Bible says he took beatings and he was left bloody. Along with the other 12, he faced prolonged persecution. In fact, historians say that Peter was eventually crucified upside down because he told the soldiers he was unworthy of being crucified. Like his master, Jesus, Peter had some toughness about him. Peter had some strength about him. And Peter was an example that he wanted others to follow. He said, I, who am a what fellow elder. You know, it's important to make sure that you're taking advice from people who have in some way kind of been where you are and have made progress where you're going. I think in these last days, we need to be just a little bit less naive. Because just because you're smart enough to get a degree doesn't mean you're smart enough to have successful relationships in your own life. I say that to say is, you know, doctor, such and such says X, Y, and Z. And. And we run and we do it because we think, you know, they're so wise. But my Bible calls Jesus wonderful counselor. And you could settle for some of these educated counselors. But if you want a wonderful, if you want a matchless, a supreme, if you want ultimate counsel, the best advice always aligns with the Scriptures. He says, I, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. It said that thousands watch Jesus be crucified. He was on the cross for some hours. And people from all over the city would come and watch for a moment. And some would leave, others would stay. But out of the thousands that saw him on the cross, the cross did not affect them the way it affect those who really loved him. What would you have done if one day you had to watch your Savior get beaten and bloodied and then hung on a cross? Now, we know Jesus told them that it would happen, but they were having a hard time even hearing that. How's the guy that walks on water going to let some guy beat him up? How is a guy that God speaks to him from heaven? Literally? They thought it thundered. How is what how? I mean, what army is going to defeat such a man? I mean, a man that cast out demons, went into a herd of pigs. They run off the hill, thousands of pigs drown. In his mind, how God, could this happen to my Savior? What do you do when the worst happens to the one you love the most? What do you do when you experience what you thought God would never let happen? And it happens. In the next verse, Peter's about to tell us what he did. He got up and he kept going. Because even our worst days only last 24 hours. He said, I'm a fellow elder, a witness of the suffrage, but watch this. He didn't stop there. And also a partaker of the glory. He watched the suffering, but he also experienced the glory that will be revealed to all of us. So Peter witnessed the suffering and even did some of his own. But he realized and experienced for himself. If you just hang on with God, no matter how long the night, joy comes in the morning. Second Corinthians, I believe says it best. 4, 17. For our light affliction. Watch this. Which is but for what? Yeah, the devil's a liar. He gets here. This is gonna last forever. It ain't never gonna change how many. Y' all remember the old whining songs? It'll be all over in the morning. Pain may last for a night, but. But it will be all over in the morning. The earth will keep spinning. God is faithful. And if you hold on, you will get to the other side. But watch what happens. For our light affliction is but for a moment. But watch what it does when we hang on, for it is working for us a far more exceeding. He's piling up words to try to communicate to us how much us hanging in there in the midst of trial accomplishes in our life. It's working for us a far more exceeding. And watch this eternal weight of glory. So your pain may last for a moment, a day, an hour, a week. But if you keep your eye on the prize, the glory that God has stored up for you will last forever. Back to first Peter 5, 2. He continues, how many y'? All? Learning from the Scriptures, he says, shepherd, the flock of God which is among you. A shepherd does two things. His first job is to feed the flock, but the second job is to tend the sheep. So my first job is to make sure that you have an appropriate meal from Scripture each Sunday. But the second is to make sure that the sheep are cared for and protected from wolves. So even in the instruction, you should every now and then hear some warning. Every now and then, I should be pointing out stuff you need to stay away from, and it ain't good for you. You hear what I'm saying? So he says, shepherd the flock of God. And then he says, serving as overseers. Now, in these verses, in verses, you see elders, you see shepherds, and you see the term overseers, which is frequently translated bishop. It's the same term here, and all of them are used interchangeably. And what he was doing here, he was speaking to anyone. This is a general epistle written to people everywhere. And he was speaking to anyone who had any leadership role in the church. So his focus was not so much on a particular office, but watch this. His focus was on the hearts of the leaders, because he understood, when the heart is right, the head and the body will eventually follow. So he begins to deal with attitude. He says, listen, if you're gonna serve and if you're gonna lead, here's the first thing you need to not do. Don't do it by compulsion. And he was saying to the leaders, if you're truly grateful, really happy about leading and the fact that God chose to use you, would you please inform your face? Sometimes he said, if you want to do it in a way that you're going to get a reward. God loves a cheerful giver. And you need to reach down and bring it from a happy place in your heart. Not by compulsion. But watch this. But willingly do what you do from a heart that loves God and, and loves his people. Yes, we will sacrifice at times, yes, it will hurt at times. But we're also confident that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. That's what the scripture says. Now we can call it sacrifice, but in some ways it's not really sacrifice because the sacrifice we do from God is always temporary because you cannot beat God giving. So yeah, for the moment it might feel like a setback. For a moment it might seem inconvenient, but God knows how to turn that around and give you back some 30, 60, 100 fold pressed down, shaking together, running over. Does God know how to return a thing? And then he says not for. And he's being clear. He said, check your attitudes, folks. Not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. Everything is not about trying to get paid for this. Life is filled with hidden opportunities that can help us store up for the next. And the way we store up treasure in heaven is by freely investing in getting other people to go there. Nor as being Watch this all about attitude as lords and what he's saying to the churches and their leaders. Stop being so bossy. He was saying, the sheep don't belong to you, they belong to God. And as a leader, as a father, as a mother, anyone in authority, all you can really do in life is rightly influence another person. I mean, unless they're little bitty babies and you can make them do X, Y and Z. But even that, you don't really know what's going on in the heart. So we can never. God never really assigns us to control people, but to influence them. Frankly, I have enough of a job, it's full time trying to control me much less 8,000 other people. So I'm not peeping in the corners of your house, I'm not meddling in your. I got my own business to tend to now. My job is to speak the truth in love, to try to positively influence you. But then it's your choice what you do with what you hear, okay? Nor as being lords is over those who are what entrusted to you Leadership is a trust. It is not your right. But watch how they were to lead. They weren't just to lead with words, but being examples to the flock. A good example is as much or twice as much the value of good advice. How many all know some folks that could talk to talk. Yeah, but isn't it better when you know some folk that can walk the walk? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Y' all gonna get quiet in a minute. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. No, no, it's okay. You're gonna get quiet cause you're thinking. All right. It's all right. And when the chief priest or chief shepherd, forgive me, appears. Now here is our problem. Most of us are just living for the moment. Most of us are just living for the here and now. Most of us have not yet realized we're going to be dead longer than we're alive. You see, I'm not just living for the next 10, 20, 40, 50 years if God gives me that type of mercy. I'm living my now, for my eternity later. And what I've learned over the years, and it takes real faith to say this, because folks have hurt me bad just like they hurt you bad. No one can ever hurt me more than God can reward me if I would just continue to trust him. So no matter how bad it feels at the moment, as great as that pain is, let's just say It's a level 16 pain God knows how to reward. With 32 level blessing. God will never let the devil, the world or the flesh outdo him. There's no pain in this life that Jesus can't remedy and fix. So I've learned to run into the battle, run into my trouble, deal with my pain, knowing it's working in me. A greater weight of glory if I just hold on. And when he appears, you will receive the crown. The crown of glory. The crown of glory. Watch this. That doesn't fade away. You know some of those trophies you got at home, and they're all changing colors and tarnishing. When you were little, little ribbons you got all tattered at the end and changing color. But you have a crown of glory that will never fade or lose its value. In the Bible, there are five crowns promised to believers that get serious. Number one, the crown of life and the scriptures on the board. And I can't cover them all because we just don't have time to do that. You can do that at home. But the crown of life is for those who persevere through trials it is not for those who go through trials, but those who persevere through trials, meaning people that keep doing the right thing, keeping their head up. Hang in there. Don't quit. In the midst of pressure and difficulty, all of us are facing on some place dealing with some difficulty. And sometimes we look at the difficult, we say, why? Well, God's looking at the crown he got for you if you just persevere in the midst of it. Number two, the Bible also speaks of the incorruptible crown. And this incorruptible crown is really for those who have made sacrifices for God in this life. Number three, the crown of righteousness. The crown of righteousness is for those who look forward to Christ's revolution return. They believe that Jesus is coming back, and they live likewise. They recognize we're just passing through here. I'm a pilgrim down here. I'm not gonna be here forever. You know what? I thought I was eternal until I started getting a few wrinkles and my hair started changing colors and I started realizing, oh, man, you know what? I'm here for a moment. Number four is the crown of rejoicing. The crown of rejoicing is for those who win souls. And if there's anything about this church, we are passionate about winning souls. Number five is the crown of glory that Peter just mentioned. And the crown of glory for those who have been faithful with whatever God called them to do. Now he's talking about elders, bishops, etc. But that crown is not just for elders and bishops. See, our titles do not make us great. It's our faithfulness to whatever God asks us that determines our greatness. So if your assignment just greeting people when they come in with a smile on Sundays, God will reward you just like he did the bishop. If your assignment is serving with the children, if it's working in the parking lot, if it's picking up papers, if it's cleaning the bathroom, if it's working with some. Some. Some administrative stuff, whatever your assignment is, if it's worshiping up on this stage, whatever your assignment, if you're first faithful, let me just say. And also if it's loving that man and woman. Or woman. Yeah, that cantakerous man or woman you might be married to, there might be a reward if you learn to hang on. Now, every now and then, there's some situations you need to walk away. That joker will kill you if you don't. But God will reward some woman that was just faithful to raise her five kids and love them and go to the school Meetings and do their homework with them and wipe their snotty noses and all the rest. She'll be standing up there. She might even be ahead of the line that I'm in. Because it's not about what people think of you or how visible you are. It's about how faithful you are to your assignment. Are you faithful to your assignment or are you a quitter? Jesus did not get on the cross and say, oh, that hurt too much. I'm done. He hung on till he said, in the end, it is finished. So as far as I'm concerned, with that woman I married, it's not finished and I'm going to love you till I'm done. Then it says, likewise, you younger people, submit yourself to your elders. And this word submission, whenever you use it, people start getting defensive and all the rest start fidgeting in the seat. But here's the deal. The word submission means just as it sounds. It's making your mission sub to God's. All submission is, is coming under authority. Submission is our willingness to cheerfully put aside our agenda for God's agenda. Meaning when someone gets on my last nerve, I feel like saying what I feel I learned. That's the moment for me to submit and say what my king would want me to say just while I'm at it. Word of caution. God never intended submission to mean mindlessly focusing on some truth, you know, because some new leader out there got some strange revelation. Here's what I know what's clear in the Bible's heart. Enough. I'm not gonna start messing with stuff that we not even sure about. Be very cautious about people who make minor points. Major. That was a little shepherding, a little cautioning. Okay, all right, all right. But watch this next verse. Yes? All of you be submissive to one another. Meaning your submission is not just between, you know, you and your pastor. It's about putting or cheerfully better. See, a lot of folks, you're not submitted because you got an attitude. If you do it, but you got an attitude, you lose points, okay? Submission is cheerfully putting away your agenda for God's agenda. Watch this in every relationship, like I always say, you know, he who puts God first lesson. But watch this next one. Now he's talking to the hearts of the leaders because they didn't need a list of 10 things to do. Most of our problems are heart issues. And be clothed with humility. Every good thing in the Christian life grows in the soil of humility. And just as most of us, there are a few of y', all but most of us will not leave our house without first putting on our clothes. God is saying, don't come to church, don't go to work, don't go anywhere without first putting on just a little bit of humility. He's saying, just cause, you know, a little bit of the Bible, stop acting like everybody's judging jury. You see, everybody's on different stages in their journey. And again, all I can do is lovingly speak the truth and give folks space to grow. I can say it, your choice is what to do with it. But here's the reason why. And here's why I gotta check my attitude. You need to check your attitude. Watch this for God resists the proud. You think it's bad when the devil's fighting you. It's nothing compared to when God's fighting you. I could tell you from experience, man, I put up a fight about a lot of things in my life and it was exhausting. Tired all the time, frustrated all the time. You see, the Bible says, you know this verse, I love it. If God be for you, who can be what? But the opposite is also true, right? If God is against you, who can be for you? I don't care who you get to agree with you on who you get on your team. If God is against the behavior, the choice in your life, the only way to win in a wrestling match with Jesus is to lose. And I've had to lose myself in him to find myself in him. God resists the proud. That's the bad news. But here's the good news. But God gives grace to the smart. God gives grace to those who have resources and money and friends. But God gives grace to the humble. And what he's saying to these leaders and to the churches at that time and to churches today, you don't always have to win the argument. You don't always have to win the fight. You don't always have to get even. Vengeance is mine. As the Lord said, I will repay. Let God handle the getting even. You see, ultimate strength is not proving that you're superior to your neighbor. Real strength is you letting God make you superior to your former self. He said, therefore watch this. Humble yourselves. Meaning no one can make you do it but you. This is something you control. And your stubbornness, or lack of it, will determine how these truths work for you or against you. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty what might. What is it mighty. Now, what do you think he's implying in using this word, mighty here? Meaning God? You can't beat God. You need to. It's only after we realize our weakness in God's strength that we can truly find a life of peace. Therefore, humble yourself under the mighty hand of who? God. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us God is mighty to save. I already said in Isaiah 9 that Scripture says he's a wonderful counselor. Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace. The psalmist says he's a present. Help. When in trouble, Paul tells us, be strong in the Lord. Watch this. And in the power of his might. I would rather fail in the center of God's will if that were possible. Then I have to look back over my life and wonder what the Almighty could have done if I would have just trusted him and obeyed him. I'm almost there. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Watch this. That he Nobody can do you like Jesus, that he may exalt you. But here's the issue. When in due time. Not my time, not your turn, but the time that God knows is best. A lot of folks in this room, you're dealing with heat in different areas of your life. You're like, lord, how could you let this happen? But you know, when my mother would cook turkeys, my wife cooks chicken. So I got to go back to mother to talk about the turkeys. She put the turkey in the oven for about three hours and depending on the size of the turkey, determined the length of time it would be in the heat. And the reason why, though, the turkey had to stay in the heat was because there's bacteria or poison in the meat that dies only at a certain temperature. And the problem with the turkey is the outside meat gets heated faster than the inside meat. And a lot of us want God to do an outside job instead of an inside job on the poisons and the bacteria we got lurking way deep down in the gut, in the center of who we are. So God in his mercy, keeps us in the heat because he's trying to kill something, destroy something that if left to cooler temperatures, would kill you, poison you, and wipe out your family. And we say, God, why all this pressure? And God, why have I been here so long? God's answer is, because you're a bigger turkey than most. The bigger the turkey, the longer the cook. Verse 7. But he's talking about humility. And then he starts talking about casting your career. Because one of the greatest forms of humility is not to care and to let God care for you. And we all have this struggle with caring. And I'll find myself starting to care about stuff I shouldn't care about. And I catch myself, okay, I gotta give that back to God. That's why we gotta pray always. Cause the sneaky is sneaky. He's talking about humility. But then he says, casting all, man. I fail on this at times. Casting all your care upon him. Why let God do the caring? Matter of fact, I spent sometime. It was a few years ago, I felt the Lord telling me to start saying, I don't care. I said, that's not pastoral. But the thing is, it was very religious, but it was very destructive. I cannot care for 8,000 people all day, every day. It will kill me. What I had to learn to do is cast the care on him. So, yeah, I feel the care. But when I feel that, God, I gotta give that to you. How many are raising children? Yeah, particularly when they go off somewhere, man. You could stay up every night thinking about what your kid might be. That's what happened with Job. He's like, I don't know if they sacrifice. I don't know what they doing and all the rest. So he was getting nervous and afraid that they were in trouble and all that. You can, man, just live this life of anxiety. But when my kids were in school, he'll come on me, you know, what he doing in there? I'm like, yeah, he probably doing that too. You know. Now, I wouldn't lie to myself. Yeah, Yeah, I bet he is. But I have to say to myself, I don't care. That child's your responsibility. God, I raised him in the way they ought to go. The rest between you and them. I committed those children at the altar. Altar. I give them to you. Lord, if you want me to do something, I'll do it. If you want me to say something, I'll say something. But, Lord, I am not their God. And if they don't find their God, I failed at my job. So, God, I don't care. I give it to you. Some of y' all need some well plans. I don't care. I do not care anymore. God, I give it to you. I give the care. Lord, you. I'm not worried about my spouse no more. I'm not worried about that child. I'm not worried about those bills. God, I did the right thing. Now all I can do is trust you. I don't care. Casting all your care upon him, not because you know how God's going to fix it, but because you know his heart. You see, we gotta learn to trust his character. If God got us in this heated situation, he must be trying to work Something out, even though I don't get it or know how it's gonna work, I gotta trust him. When you really trust him, you're not so anxious, you're not as worried. And I'm not saying that to browbeat you. What I'm saying is, what I realize with myself is when I'm anxious, I'm like, lord, I'm not trusting you the way I should. Huh? Would you help me trust to help me with this anxiety and this stuff that's creeping up on me. Casting all meaning nothing too big, nothing's too small. All your career reason many of us are so tired is because we're so full of care and we've not yet cast our care on him. All pride really is is independence from God. It's not always the high look and all the rest, remember the Garden of Eden. They didn't do anything profound. They just said, I'm a move independently of God's word. God said, don't eat from the tree. I'm going to eat from it. It's independence. All pride is independence from God. And all humility is is dependence on God. And there are going to be things that happen this year and next year, man, they scared the bejesus out of you. But if you're humble enough to depend on God, it don't matter what happens later this year and next year. Because you know the one that got you, that's holding you in the palm of his hand. Today, my simple message, and I gotta close this, so I'll stop, is a call to depend on him again. If I can only depend on myself, I got a lot to worry about because I can't control a lot of things. I can't even control who stops at a stoplight when I go through an intersection. Imagine if I worried about every detail of life. My brain would just blow up. At some point you just gotta let go and say, God got it. What God, I believe, is trying to encourage you to do is just let go. Say, lord, I trust you. You gotta give God a Hallelujah and a handcuff. Thank you for joining us. Until next time. Remember, you have what it takes in Christ to live big. We also invite you to partner with Derek Greer Ministries in bringing the life changing and impactful teachings of God's Word to the world. Get started by visiting Derekrer.com by clicking the link in the description.