Well, if you have your Bibles, I would encourage
you to turn over to 1 Peter 5. We're down to
our last two sermons on the book of 1 Peter.
So as we said before, you had a chance to go
through a book of the Bible, and we're just about
to wrap it up. We're coming to the end. So 1
Peter 5, beginning in verse 1, we're going to
read the first five verses of 1 Peter. Five,
there are some Bibles in the seats in front of
you. If you need a Bible, go ahead and grab one
of those, and you are more than welcome to take
that home. If you need a Bible, there are gifts
to you. We'll get that replaced, no problem.
But if you want to just read along, it'll also
be up here on the screen. I exhort the elders
among you as a fellow elder and witness to the
sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares
in the glory about to be revealed. Shepherd God's
flock among you. Not overseeing out of compulsion,
but willingly, as God would have you. Not out
of greed for money, but eagerly. Not lording
it over those entrusted to you, but being examples
to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears,
you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
In the same way, you who are younger, be subject
to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with
humility. toward one another, because God resists
the proud, but gives grace to the humble. This
is God's word. I don't know if you guys have
ever had an encounter with a sheep or a lamb,
but sheeps are cute, aren't they, right? Big,
fluffy cotton balls walking around, especially
if they haven't been trimmed in a while, right?
They're just big, fluffy balls of wool, and they
can look really cute. I mean, how many of you
guys remember Lamb Chops, the show? Lamb Chops,
yeah. How many of you guys have had a good Lamb
Chops meal before? Sorry, lamb chops. But I don't
know, you know this about sheep, but however
cute they are, they are equally, if not more,
helpless creatures. Helpless creatures. They
are prone to wander off with no sense of direction.
They need constant care. And any defensive skills
that they do have, it's basically cry out and
run. And then the predator comes and eats them.
Lamb chops, right? In addition to them being
cute but also helpless and prone to wander and
needing constant care, in general, intellectually,
they just might be a little dumb. If you don't
believe me, anyone don't believe me? Do I need
evidence to prove this? All right, look at the
screen really quick. Here's evidence to prove
it. Let's go ahead and play that video. Poor
lamb. That shepherd's gonna rescue him. I submit
evidence. Marked number one. Slow -mo. With the
scream. Now, you guys can probably already tell
where this is going. Why are we talking about
sheep? Well, because we're also talking about
shepherds here, and we're talking about shepherding
God's flock. And who's God's flock? God's people,
right? Does that include us here in the room?
So what does that make this room right here?
A room full of sheep. There are probably many
reasons why that illustration or that analogy
was chosen, but if you hang around this place
long enough, You'll find out exactly why there's
a parallel there, right? We're messy. We're crazy.
We're kind of defenseless sometimes. We need
constant care. And ever so often, we're dumb.
We're just dumb. But there's also a reason why
God often refers to leaders in the New Testament
and the Bible as shepherds, even in the Old Testament.
Because his people need more than just strategy
or structure. They need care and guidance. They
need truth and love and protection. The church
doesn't need more CEOs. It needs shepherds. And
throughout scripture, we see that the church
belongs to God and requires faithful care. And
Jesus, the chief shepherd, has entrusted the
flock to under -shepherds, sometimes referred
to by different names in the New Testament, pastor,
elders, overseers, who are called to serve not
with power or pride, but with humility, courage,
and love. The image of a shepherd is one of the
many ways God relates to his people. Think of
Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I have what
I need. He lets me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters. So why does
the church need shepherds? Well, the church needs
shepherds because false teaching is a real thing.
The church needs shepherds because spiritual
maturity takes intentional leadership. We need
shepherds because without God -oriented, Spirit
-filled vision, the sheep scatter, the body breaks
down, and the mission drifts. And this morning,
Peter gives us a vision for leadership in the
local church, and it's not a self -serving leadership,
but it is a servant leadership. Whether you are
a leader or you are an aspiring leader, or you're
someone under the care of a spiritual leader,
this word is for you as we look at 1 Peter chapter
5 and see what it means to shepherd the flock
of God among us. If you're taking notes, the
first point I'll have you write down is shepherds
must lead with shared identity. He begins with,
I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder
and witness to the sufferings of Christ as well
as one who shares in the glory. about to be revealed.
Peter begins his charge not from a position of
superiority, but of solidarity as a fellow elder.
And this is Peter. Don't forget, this is the
rock. This is the Pentecost preacher. This is
the apostle. And yet he speaks simply as a fellow
elder because leadership in the church is not
about rank. It's about responsibility before
Christ and a servant relationship toward those
you lead. Peter roots his identity not in a title,
but in his connection to and his witness of Christ's
suffering. This is a man who speaks as one who
has been humbled by grace. Anyone here been humbled
by grace? Peter has. He denied knowing Jesus.
At Jesus' darkest hour. He denied knowing Jesus.
Even as Jesus was in the process of laying down
his life for Peter. Peter was restored later.
Back into relationship with Christ. And what
instruction did Peter receive from Jesus? Feed
my sheep. Feed my sheep. This is something that
all believers share and we are a grace humbled
people in view of Christ and his suffering and
what he has done for us. Jesus said, the son
of man did not come to be served, but to serve
and to give his life. And Peter also points forward
to the glory about to be revealed in Jesus' return.
Our hope isn't in this world, as we've talked
about throughout the course of this book, as
aliens and strangers, as exiles. Our hope is
not in this world, but in the glory of Christ's
return and our future hope with him, even as
we have hope today in that future hope. So a
quick little kind of sidebar. In the New Testament,
there are three, Primary terms used to describe
church leaders. What we're calling shepherds.
And they all refer to the same office. The three
words are elder, overseer, and pastor. And pastor
is interchangeable with that word shepherd. Elder,
overseer, pastor. And they all refer to the same
office. And basically they're like looking at
the office through three different lenses. Through
one lens, the office is one that emphasizes maturity
and wisdom. The idea of elders in the New Testament
is nothing new. It was present in the Old Testament,
all the way back to Moses. He had the leaders
or the elders of the people gathered and began
to adjudicate their problems. It was all throughout
the ancient Near Eastern world. where the idea
of elders and elders at the city gates and elders
among the people. And so it's a concept, there's
never a place that implicitly prescribes elders
in the sense of here is what I want for my church,
only a description of the kind of elders we're
going to have and what they're supposed to do.
And so elders emphasize maturity and wisdom.
The spiritual leaders, the shepherds, must be
mature and wise in their position because they
have to shepherd or deal with the flock and help
the flock to learn and grow and to navigate difficult
and complex circumstances and situations, conflicts
that might arise. They need maturity and wisdom.
We need elders, but we also need overseers. Overseers
are those who see over or emphasize function
and oversight, leadership of a gathering. But
we also need pastors or shepherds, those who
will feed and care for the flock. And so the
Bible doesn't see three different roles, that
you have an elder, you have an overseer, and
you have a pastor. It doesn't see three different
roles. It says three different lenses for the
same role. What does spiritual leadership look
like in the church? It looks like elder, overseer,
pastor. For example, you can see this at play
in Acts chapter 20, when Paul calls the elders
of Ephesus to come to him. And in that, it says,
the elders of Ephesus came, and Paul tells them
that the Holy Spirit made them overseers of God's
flock, and he charges them to shepherd the flock.
We see elder, overseer, shepherd, all combined
together in one role, one office. And this shared
identity among elders reflects a plurality of
leadership in the local church. Elders are co
-shepherds under Christ. And another feature
of the idea of elders in the New Testament is
that it always appears in the plural form. It's
always elders of a church. It's not elder. They
operate together as a council of elders. Because
one guy can get it wrong a lot, right? Sometimes
we need a council. We always need a council.
Many advisors to speak in to the shepherding
process of God's flock. You might think of it
as a team of doctors in a trauma unit. You have
one who is maybe more experienced in years. They've
been there longer. But you have another one who's
a specialist in a certain field. But they're
all equally on call for the care of the patient.
And that's what elders are, co -laborers. for
the care of the souls of God's people. And so
Peter moves from who the elders are to how they
are to lead, and he starts by addressing the
motive of the heart. If you're taking notes,
the second point I'll have you write down, shepherds
must lead with willingness, not compulsion. Peter
writes, shepherd God's flock among you. I want
you to notice that phrase right at the beginning.
The flock doesn't belong to the elders. It doesn't
belong to the lead pastor. It doesn't belong
to the church board. The flock belongs to who?
God. Shepherd, God's flock. And it's been entrusted
to the care of under shepherds among you, it
says. And this means that it isn't some kind
of distant leadership. It's life on life shepherding.
It's proximity. It's presence. It's people focused.
But Peter continues and says, not overseeing
out a compulsion, but willingly as God would
have you. This is about the posture of a shepherd's
heart. Peter says, if you're doing this just
because you feel forced to, if you're doing this
just to fill a role. or because someone pressured
you into it, or because nobody else stepped up.
You need to stop and check your heart. The word
compulsion is the idea of reluctant duty. It's
the difference between joyful service and mere
obligation. And Peter says, that's not how God
wants his flock led. Instead, he wants it led
willingly as God would have you. Lead with desire
and not duty alone, with eagerness and not obligation.
Lead because you've been gripped by the glory
of God and the weight of souls. And this echoes
here what Paul said in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and
verse 1. If anyone aspires to be an overseer,
he desires a noble task. It's a good thing to
want to be a shepherd. It's not arrogant, it's
not selfish, it's noble if the desire comes from
a heart that loves Jesus and loves his people.
But let's be clear, being an elder or pastor
is not about status. It's not about being in
the room where all the decisions are made or
about influence or visibility. It's about serving
the church as God would have you, which means
willingly, humbly, and faithfully. You can imagine
a kid at a game and the kid is, you know, busting
his butt, running back and forth, kicking the
ball, right? And dad's on the sidelines and dad
has his cell phone up and he's looking at his
cell phone the whole time. He's got his arms
crossed. He's distracted. He's checking his watch.
He may be present, but he is reluctantly present,
yes? And that's what Peter is warning against.
He's saying, don't shepherd that way. Don't just
show up. lead with your whole heart. Third, shepherds
must lead with integrity, not greed or power.
He says, not out of greed for money, but eagerly,
not lording it over those entrusted to you, but
being examples to the flock. Can you guys already
see in some ways how different? At least our
understanding of church and church leadership
is from the biblical ideal or norm, the commands.
You might be reading along going, that's not
the way it is. Probably because you've had plenty
of evidence to the contrary, right? We're laying
out the word. We're laying out the commands of
God. We're looking to them to respond. And Peter
continues his charge to elders, and he says,
hey, I'm going to shift from why we lead to how
we lead and focus on integrity. Listen again.
He says, not out of greed for money, but eagerly.
In other words, don't do it for a paycheck. Don't
do it for the perks. Don't lead because of what
you get. Lead because of what you're willing
to give. It's not wrong for a pastor or elder
to be financially supported by the church. In
fact, scripture says the elders who are good
leaders and especially those who devote themselves
to preaching and teaching are worthy of double
honor. And double honor is an idiom for the idea
of the honor of being an elder and the honor
of being paid financially because it goes right
on to saying. Don't muzzle the ox while it treads
the grain. And 1 Corinthians 9 .14 says a laborer
deserves his wage. Peter isn't addressing the
issue of pay. He's addressing the issue of motive.
An elder, pastor, overseer's motive must be to
lead with integrity and care for the flock, not
out of greed. If money is the reason someone
is in the ministry, and unfortunately, I've had
the unfortunate, not privilege, whatever, honor,
The negative one experience, the unfortunate
experience of having had many conversations with
pastors who, especially at the last half of their
life, decided that they were going to stay in
ministry for decades even because they didn't
plan for retirement and they needed the paycheck.
Decades. And that's not to say that the church
didn't bear some responsibility in that. in the
sense of how they sewed into it and prepared
the pastor for retirement. But at the same time,
pastors who said, willingly said, I can't retire,
I can't move out because I need the paycheck.
And to see the effects that that had on the church
and on the reach of the gospel. If money is the
reason someone is in ministry or if personal
gain drives decision -making, it will corrupt
the soul of the flock. It will poison. God's
people. And this actually happened in the days
of the prophets in the Old Testament when shepherds
who were over Israel, they enriched themselves
on the flock while neglecting the sheep. the
people of Israel. In Ezekiel chapter 34, the
indictment, you eat the fat, you wear the wool
and butcher the fattened animals, but you do
not tend the flock. You rule them with violence
and cruelty. This was God's indictment against
the shepherds of Israel. Peter says this must
never happen in Christ's church. And he goes
on from money to say, not lording it over those
entrusted to you, but being an example to the
flock. And the second temptation is like the
first. Greed is the first. The second is power.
Power and greed. Has anyone lost their way over
those two things? The word lording it over is
the same word that Jesus used in Mark chapter
10 when he told his disciples. you're not going
to lead like the Gentiles lead. The Gentiles
lord it over them, and those in high positions
act as tyrants over them, but it is not so among
you. In the world, leadership is often about
power and platform or visibility, but in the
church, leadership is about service. And Peter
says, don't dominate the flock. Don't manipulate
or coerce. Don't use your position to build your
kingdom. Instead, lead by example, not barking
orders, not by making demands, but by showing
what is humble, showing what joyful obedience
looks like. Shepherds go first. There's an old
leadership saying that's been adopted to the
idea of shepherding in the church, and it goes
like this. Shepherds know the way, go the way,
and show the way. Shepherds know the way, go
the way, and show the way. But that's not just
in decision -making. That's not just in the boardroom
when everyone gets together and the verdicts
come down. Shepherds know the way, go the way,
and show the way in repentance. Shepherds know
the way and go the way and show the way in sacrifice,
in generosity, in love, in faithfulness. Elders
and pastors don't just point the way, they walk
the path. They don't say, you need to forgive.
They say, watch me forgive. They don't say, you
need to serve. They say, come, come alongside.
Brother to brother, sister to brother, arm in
arm. Let's serve the Lord together. They don't
say, you should love God more. They say, let
me show you what that looks like. I had a brother
early on in my faith. He was a leader in our
church. And he wanted to show me what prayer
looked like. And so he said, I'll be at your
door at 6 a .m. Every morning for the next month.
And I didn't drive at the time. And he came over
and picked me up at 6 a .m. And we drove to the
church. And we laid out on the floor. And we
learned how to pray. And he showed me the way.
He sat me to say, learn how to pray. Figure out
how to pray. But he came and showed me the way.
This is leadership by imitation. And it applies
to evangelism and prayer and worship and giving
and faith and so on. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians,
imitate me as I imitate Christ. Number four.
I'm wondering if any of our type A people are
trying to guess how many points there are. Because
I'm usually right around three or four and you're
like, four? Is there going to be five or six
or nine? Wrap it up. Taipei's, there's five points.
We're on four. It's coming. Number four, shepherds
must lead with the chief shepherd in view. When
the chief shepherd appears, you will receive
the unfading crown of glory. So Peter, after
challenging the elders to lead with humility
and integrity and willingness or eagerness, Peter
now lifts their eyes up to the finish line. And
he says, when the chief shepherd appears, and
this word chief shepherd, it only appears in
the New Testament here in 1 Peter chapter 5.
And it's meant to remind every pastor and every
elder and every ministry leader, you are not
the ultimate leader of the church. Jesus is.
He is the chief shepherd. He is the head of the
church. He is the good shepherd who lays his
life down for the sheep. He's the one who calls
and equips and sends. And every elder is just
an under shepherd serving at the pleasure of
the chief. We don't set the mission, he does.
We don't own the flock, he bought it. We don't
dictate the outcome, he determines it. And Peter
says he's coming back. He's like the master who
entrusted to the servants this thing. His church,
his people entrusted it to them and went away,
but he's coming back. And when the chief shepherd
appears, a reference to the return of Christ,
when he appears, Peter says to the faithful,
Elder, overseer, bishop, shepherd. Overseer,
bishop, you'll see those interchangeable too.
When the chief shepherd appears, you will receive
the unfading crown of glory. It's a promise to
the shepherds. It's also a promise elsewhere
to believers in general, a crown, but it is a
special promise here to leaders, shepherds, under
shepherds in the church. If you are faithful,
You don't dominate or domineer over the flock.
If you're not greedy, if you're faithful with
what I've entrusted you, a crown of glory awaits
when he returns an unfading crown. And in Peter's
day, the victorious athletes would receive kind
of like a wreath, a crown that was made of flowers
or leaves or sometimes even parsley. Basically,
you would cross the finish line and someone would
walk over with a salad and put it on your head,
right? You could munch on it if you wanted to
right away. You could save it for a few days.
I'd need some ranch though. But what happens
with a crown of salad? It dies, it fades, it
goes away and pretty soon it's hard leaves that
just break up and they're dust. You could win
the triathlon at the Greek games or whatever
they had, right? You could be the victor and
go home with your salad and be gone within a
week, right? And that's why Peter says, there's
a crown that's coming that doesn't fade. It's
a reward of eternal glory given by the hands
of Jesus himself to the faithful. And notice
something, that Peter doesn't say you get a crown,
leaders, shepherds, you get a crown for being
successful. You get a crown for having a big
church or having innovative programs or having
cutting -edge worship or sermons. He says the
reward is for faithfulness. Faithfulness, not
fame, not fruitfulness in terms of numbers, just
faithfulness to Jesus and to his people. Why
does Peter say this? Why does he give this image
of glory, this hope? held out for leaders. And
the reason is, make no mistake, ministry is hard.
And all leadership, all forms of it, but even
more so in the church, leadership is costly.
Shepherding a church will stretch you, it will
wound you, and some days it will crush you. You'll
be misunderstood. You'll be underappreciated.
Some days overappreciated, but. You'll feel the
weight of decisions that no one else will ever
see or know about. I saw this in a video of a
guy who was, it was a training video, trying
to get people, it had like two purposes. It was
like, come and join our seminary and become a
pastor. But the first video we're gonna have
you watch is to try to discourage you from going
into the ministry. And it was funny, but he said
in this video, he said, oftentimes as shepherds,
people will come and ask for something. And they
have that sense of now with no context whatsoever
of what you just did or what you've been doing.
No one comes and says, do you still have a few
minutes left in your 40 -hour work week? That
you could step aside? No, they don't, right?
Sheep, we're messy, right? We got problems. Sometimes
you just feel the weight of things pressing in
on you. As a shepherd, you'll watch as people
come and then they drift away. And the heartbreak
of seeing a life wander. And some days you may
wonder if it's worth it. You know, about 50 %
of pastors, pastors from the time that they enter
the role of pastor, 50 % of them will be no longer
a pastor within 10 years. 50 % gone. Because
it's a lot. But is it worth it? And Peter says,
yes. It's absolutely worth it. It's not worth
it for the glory here on earth. It's not worth
it out of greed. It's not worth it for domineering
or as a power play. That's not worth it. But
it is worth it because one day the chief shepherd
will come and he'll have seen every single sacrifice
that was made. He'll see every hidden act of
service or every decision. He'll see every prayer
and every tear and every sermon and every moment
you stayed faithful when no one noticed. He will
come and he will come back. and he will look,
and he won't give you applause, and he won't
give you a paycheck, but what he'll give you
is a crown of glory, it says, not to elevate
your name, but so that you can share in his.
Who is worthy of it all? He is worthy of it all.
And you will receive a crown of faithfulness,
and I love the scripture that Nick read earlier,
because what are the 24 elders doing before the
throne of God? They're like, thanks for the crown,
the crown of glory. We want to now use this as
an implement of worship to just throw it before
your throne and say, you're worthy. You're worthy.
You're worthy of it all, God. Giving us tools
for worship later on in heaven so you can throw
them down before the chief shepherd, the one
who is worthy of it all. That's pretty cool.
Peter is saying, elder, pastor, shepherd, your
day will come when the chief shepherd appears.
Keep your eyes on him. And finally, number five,
the flock must follow with humility. In the same
way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.
All of you clothe yourself with humility toward
one another because God resists the proud but
gives grace. To the humble. Peter shifts from
the shepherds to the sheep. And he spent four
verses challenging and calling elders to lead
well. To lead humbly and willingly and faithfully.
But now he turns to the rest of the church. And
he says, you have a role to play as well. And
he begins in the same way. You who are younger,
be subject to elders. And there is some debate
over what that word younger means. Especially
in this context. But because of the context,
the context can give us some clues. And the context
is in response to what he just talked about,
shepherding and overseeing and eldering. And
so one interpretation is that younger simply
means younger in age. And that's entirely possible.
But another one of equal weight is that younger
here refers to those who don't have a position
of spiritual authority. When you're translating
from the Greek into the English, sometimes it
can get lost and the word that's chosen just
doesn't make sense to us. And so in this case,
it could be that younger means those who just
don't have a role or a spiritual authority role
within the church. Those who are called to follow
and not to lead. But even if it includes literal
youth, which it would, the broader principle
is clear throughout the word that those under
authority are to be humble in posture and responsive
in spirit. He says to the younger, be subject.
And that's the same word that's been used throughout
1 Peter as we've studied it to refer to our posture
toward governing officials, wives to husbands,
servants to masters. It means willingly following
spiritual leadership. recognizing that elders
are appointed by God to care for the flock. And
if you want a little more evidence to back that
up, then just turn over to Hebrews chapter 13,
where it says it a little bit more directly.
Hebrews 13 and verse 17 says, Obey your leaders
and submit to them, since they keep watch over
your souls as those who will give an account
so that they can do this with joy and not with
grief, for that would be unprofitable to you.
Obey and submit to them because they keep watch
over your souls as those who give an account.
There's the accounting word, right? When the
chief shepherd appears, you will have to give
an account. Just like the master and the servants,
you have to give an account. And the account
that the shepherds of God's church will have
to give is how did they care for the flock? And
the author of Hebrews says, obey your leaders
and submit to them knowing that they have to
give an account for how they care for your soul.
And do it also so that it will be a joy to them
and not a grief. For that would be unprofitable
to you. The job is never a grief. Never. Ever.
Dripping with sarcasm, right? No. But you play
a part in that. In how you respond to the shepherding
of our elders and our pastors and leaders. You
play a part in that and how you respond to it.
And whether or not it is a joy or a grief, and
whether or not it hurts the profitability of
care that you receive. And it's not about control.
It's about tethering our trust, as we talked
about before, tethering our trust to God and
walking in light of that trust. This never means
submitting to sinful requirements or prohibitions.
A spiritual leader who abuses their position
to manipulate or call people to sin or to abstain
from something that is right is wicked and should
be removed immediately in every way. But a leader
who is submitted to the truth and is walking
in the light, a leader who is, with all of their
aim, aiming to be faithful and willing, the Bible
says, to submit. So that it will be profitable
and joyful for them, profitable to you. Because
they have to give an account for your soul. And
finally, Peter zooms out and says, all of you,
elders, members, leaders, followers, all of you
clothe yourself with humility toward one another.
Because God opposes the proud, but gives grace
to the humble. And that's a direct quote from
Proverbs 3, 34. And that's sobering truth, right?
Pride puts you in opposition to God. Humility
opens up the flow of grace. And you probably
see that too. God doesn't just dislike pride.
He doesn't just dislike pride in people of God,
in the leaders, the shepherds. He doesn't just
dislike it. He actively resists it. But in the
same way, he actively pours out grace on those
who are humble. And Peter here in chapter 5 has
shown us what it means to be a healthy, humble,
Christ -centered church. Shepherds in God's flock,
under his care. This passage reminds us that
the church isn't a business to run. It's not
a brand to protect. It's a flock, a people dearly
loved by God who are bought with the blood of
Jesus and entrusted to the care of shepherds
who are under his authority. And Peter calls
pastors and elders to lead, not with pride, but
with humility and willingness and integrity.
And he calls the whole church to walk in mutual
submission and Christ -like humility as we fix
our eyes on Jesus, the chief shepherd. So how
should we respond? Well, if you are called to
lead and you have been given that authority,
then are you leading with a heart that is rooted
in Christ? Are you showing up with eagerness
or exhaustion or obligation or joy? Are you guarding
your heart from greed and pride? Are you modeling
what it looks like to follow Jesus, not just
telling others to do it? And to those who are
called to follow, are you willing to be led?
Do you trust the spiritual authority that God
has given is a gift from God and not a threat
to your autonomy? Are you building the kind of
spirit in your heart that makes leadership a
joy and not a burden? Are you quick to encourage
and slow to criticize, eager to listen and humble
in posture? And to all of us, we have to remember
we're all sheep. All of us. Let's play that video
one more time, Dave. Just for some giggles. I
love that it jumps in the air. It doesn't just
fall in. It's like... Now slow -mo. Here we go.
Play -by -play. See ya. all under the care of
the chief shepherd. I can't believe he has to
deal with us. And when he returns, and he will,
may we all be found faithful, amen.