First Peter, chapter 5, verse number 1. Once again, the elders which are among you I exhort, am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, money, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." We ask, Heavenly Father, that you'd open up this last verse to our hearts and minds this evening. May we be motivated to serve you correctly. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Peter has reminded the pastors of the churches there in Galatia, Cappadocia, Bithynia, and Asia, and so on, that their primary duty was to feed God's spiritual flock, his sheep. And then he concluded that thought by saying, there's a reward. for faithfully carrying out that duty. When the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Now, someone might think, well, this has nothing to do with me because I am not an elder. There are a couple of things that I would like to bring to your attention in that regard. First, we should be able to learn important biblical truths by studying subjects which are not directly linked to us. For example, there are lessons to be learned about the study of angels, or Satan, or Israel, You are none of these things, but it's good to know who our enemies are. It's good to know the character of our enemy. It's good to know who our helpers are. That's good. And then you want me to preach the gospel again and again because You yearn for people to be saved. At least I hope that you do. And if you don't, shame on you. I'm going to preach the gospel anyway. You were born again years and years ago. And maybe the message that I preach on Sunday morning this next week is something that you're thoroughly familiar with. That's all right. Yet you not only tolerate but actually enjoy hearing more about your Redeemer and your salvation. You are okay with hearing the gospel again and again since you know that there could very well be someone who has never heard it before or perhaps heard with their ears but not with their hearts and maybe this is the day of their salvation and you rejoice in that sort of thing. Well, in a similar way, you should want God to call young men into the ministry to carry on the work of the Lord in the next generation and the following generation. And therefore, you shouldn't be too upset to hear a message about elders and the Christian ministry. And verse number four in particular could be useful in God speaking to the heart of some young person and drawing him into the ministry. And then there's one more thing I'll say in this regard. I will always try to make every lesson relevant to you in some way. Tonight's lesson will be no different. I may not be totally successful, but I will try nevertheless. I always will. When the chief shepherd shall appear, ye elders shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Again, to whom is Peter speaking? Well, this is directed toward elders. As I tried to show in an earlier lesson, those elders are also called bishops, and they're called pastors. The primary responsibility of the pastor is to feed the flock of God, which the Lord has made him overseer. They are shepherds. They are to search for the best pasturage, and they're to keep their eye open for predators. Have you ever thought about the fact that shepherds don't have the task of creating sheep? Think about it. If he is out gathering new sheep for the flock, he must leave the 99 in the wilderness to do so. And that may be all right for the chief shepherd, but the under shepherd doesn't have the capabilities that the Lord has. as he told us in his parable. And if the shepherd was out looking for sheep for his flock, where would he find them? He's looking for sheep. Think about literal sheep. Think about literal flocks for just a moment. If the shepherd is going out to find more sheep for his flock, most likely they would have to come from some other flock. In reality, where do new sheep come from? We're talking about literal sheep. They come from literal sheep. They come from rams and ewes. They come from older sheep. They come from parent sheep. They come from within the flock. The flock grows itself, shall we say. The shepherd's primary job is to keep the sheep healthy and well-fed so that they can flourish and they can reproduce. I'm not saying that it is never the elder's job to evangelistically go out into the highways and hedges, but it is one of his secondary responsibilities. His first is to feed the flock. In verse 4, Peter refers to a reward which the faithful elder shall receive. He calls it a crown of glory. There are two kinds of crowns in the New Testament, and that gives us an opportunity for a really interesting Bible study. But we're not going to dig too deeply this evening. The most important crown is the diadem. The crown that only a king should wear. In Revelation 19, John looked into the future and looked into heaven. I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True. I wonder who that is. And in righteousness doth he judge. I wonder who that is. And makes war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. They were diadem. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. John saw the Lord Jesus Christ. Admittedly, earthly kings, and sometimes wicked earthly kings, may wear a royal diadem, but the only The person who truly deserves that kind of crown is the one whose name is the Word of God. But Peter doesn't refer to this diadem. The word he uses is Stephanos, or the victor's crown. This is the award which was given to the winner of the foot race. or maybe it was put on the head of the general who's had a victory in some foreign battle. These crowns were often made of vines and flowers woven together. They were temporary. They were corruptible. And perhaps this is to remind that general that one victory does not make a king. You need to win again, and you need to win more races, Mr. Runner, wrestler, whatever. Paul is speaking about athletes in 1 Corinthians 9, 25, where he says, and every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. He trains for this. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible crown. Among all the scriptures which speak about crowns which are given to Christians, they are always victor's crowns, never royal crowns, never diadem. They may be eternal, they may be incorruptible, but they are not royal diadem. I said that this could be made into an interesting study. For example, we could ask whether or not Peter is speaking about a literal crown, or is this just a metaphorical reference to some kind of honor? When the Lord Jesus comes, when the chief shepherd appears, then the under shepherds will be honored for their service. Philippians 4.1, 1 Corinthians 2.19 use the word Stephanos in a non-literal way. Paul referred to brethren dearly beloved and longed for his joy and crown. These brethren were Paul's crown, his Stephanos. Using that reference, someone might say, well, what Peter is talking about here isn't real. What Peter is talking about is some sort of virtual crown. But to that, I mentioned Revelation 4. where we see 24 elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. Sounds to me like in Revelation 4, those are literal crowns. James tells us there are crowns for all those who endure trials and temptations, if they endure those trials and temptations in a manner which glorifies the Savior. James 1 12. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Do you love the thought of the return of Christ? Are you anxious for the return of the Lord? Do you look forward? Do you expect it? Then there's a special crown awaiting you. The saints of God may receive other kinds of awards, other kinds of rewards for their service, but crowns are a part of them. Peter tells those elders that their crowns will be distributed at the appearing of the chief shepherd. The Lord Jesus is returning to this world, and I believe that it will be very soon. The saints who love is appearing are ready to receive him. They are anxiously awaiting him. You could say that the wicked world is ready as well in the sense that their wickedness is reaching conclusions, appears to be full. Prophetical scriptures seem to suggest that Christ could be here at any time. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I believe that shortly after that, We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body and in his life, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5.10. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire. And the fire shall dry every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. That's 1 Corinthians 3. That is not referring to the judgment of the lost, which we see at the end of the book of Revelation. This is not the judgment to determine whether or not someone is saved or if he's worthy of heaven. This is a judgment of Christian lives. This is a judgment of Christian works. It's a judgment under which every Christian will come, you, me, and your Christian neighbor. And among the throng will be thousands of church elders who will hear whether or not the Lord considers their service to have been carried out faithfully and to his glory. How will that bishop's service be tested? How will our service be tested? Scriptures tell us that it will be put to God's refining fire. This will not be some sort of blast furnace. It probably will not be some sort of refining fire that belongs to the goldsmith. It's probably not a glazier's kill. This will be the special fire of the righteousness of God. and it will probably be fed by the word of God itself. Is not my word like as a fire? Jeremiah 23, 29. If your service, if your sacrifice has been given to the Lord in accord with the word of God, and if your service has been rendered in faith, And faithfully, if what you have done for the Lord has been Christ-centered, then you will receive Christ's rewards. I can't describe them all. I can't tell you to what extent they will be. I can't describe their glory for you. But among those rewards will be victor's crowns. There will be rewards for faithful ambassadors. There will be victors' crowns for soldiers for Christ. Those who have been faithful Christian priests interceding on behalf of others before the throne of grace, they will receive the Lord's honor. There will be recognition of Christian parents that have done their duty. There may be a great variety of rewards and crowns, and among them will be crowns for the elders. Going back to the Lord's parables of the talents and pounds that we've looked at several times here recently, we're reminded of another important lesson. We will not be judged or rewarded for the number of talents we have been given by God. Obviously, some are given 10 talents. Some have five pounds. Some just have one. God's judgment will be based on what we have done with our five talents or our 10 pounds or our one, not on how many talents we have been given. That's God's business. And that levels the field, so to speak. The elder will not be given a pass when it comes to his examination before the Lord. I'm quite sure there will be humble Christian ladies whose rewards exceed those of negligent and unfaithful church elders. Some pastors' wives may be more honored than their husbands. The Lord's judgments will be thoroughly just. And because of that justice, I fear there will be a great deal of disappointment in that day. How much dirt has to be dug up and run through the gold miner's mill before he can get a single ounce of gold? I have read that on average only one gram of gold is present in a ton of gold ore. And not all dirt is gold ore. How much of our service will be burned away as dross when the Lord's fire is applied? I wouldn't be surprised if the dross doesn't far exceed the worthwhile service. We need to ask ourselves, before we get to the day of judgment, we need to ask ourselves today, how much of our service is rendered to the Lord out of habit, out of guilt, out of selfishness, How much of our service is given to God without any faith, without an eye to the glory of the Lord? In other words, how much of our service is made up of wood, hay, and stubble? The question is as much for the elder as it is for everybody else. I'm afraid at the judgment seat of Christ, there will be far more loss than gain. Many a pastor will come into that judgment hall expecting to carry out or push out a wheelbarrow full of crowns made of gold, silver, and precious stones. But when he actually leaves, he'll be rejoicing with nothing more than the fact that salvation is by God's grace. saved yet as so by fire. How many bishops serve the Lord for 40 years and then retire into 20 years of oblivion, disobeying the Lord who tells them to be faithful unto death? Same is true of all of us. One more question. Why will Christ grant these rewards? He doesn't owe us anything. Even if we spent our lives, sacrificed our lives, and died as martyrs on a mission field somewhere, the Lord doesn't owe us anything. We're saved. Praise the Lord for that. So why does the chief shepherd come with crowns to distribute? Does Peter answer that question for us? I'm not sure, but there's a little hint here. Does Peter exhort those elders saying, strive to earn the elder's crown? He doesn't say that. Does he dangle a crown in front of the pastor enticing him to do a better job than he's been doing before? He doesn't do that. It may be only my imagination, but Peter seems to be doing nothing but stating a fact. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Why will the Lord reward his servants? Why will he reward you and me and that missionary martyr over there? Why will he give you, who love is appearing, a crown of righteousness? It'll be like everything else. It's his grace. He's under no obligation. But perhaps mingled with that grace will be his justice. He will not discount your sacrifice for His name. He will not forget about your hospitality and your generosity, your witness. But we all need to examine whether or not our service has been for His glory through faith, trusting His name. Peter tells us there will be special crowns for the elders who had been faithful in feeding the flock. They will not be the only people honored by the Savior, but there definitely will be something special for them. We have it there in the word of God. Some pastors turn their backs on that promise and walk away from the calling which has been given to them, and that baffles me why anyone would do that. Christ Jesus said, be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. That statement isn't to pastors only, that's to all of us. There's rewards for serving the Savior, using the gifts that he has given to us.