1 Peter 5

1. As one of your fellow-elders who saw Christ on the cross, and as someone who will be a partner with you in the glories that are going to be revealed, I would like to come alongside of you, and encourage you

Peter could have said that James and John and himself were the closest disciples to Jesus. He did not say this. He says, "I am just one of many leaders in the church. I am not anybody special."

Glory always follows suffering if we give it to the Lord

2. Shepherd the flock that God gave you. Not because you feel like you have to, but willingly, the way God would want it to be. Do not do the work of a pastor while thinking about what you will get out of it, but with true love.

“Do not enter the ministry if you can help it. If any student in this room could be content to be a newspaper editor, or a grocer, or a farmer, or a doctor, or a lawyer, or a senator, or a king, in the name of heaven and earth let him go his way; he is not the man in whom dwells the Spirit of God in its fulness, for a man so filled with God would [be tired] of any [other type of work] than that for which his soul [thirsts].” Charles Spurgeon

Peter may have been remembering what Jesus said to him. Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.” John 21:15 – 17

I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. Jeremiah 3:15

3. Do not rule as a king over the ones that God has set aside for you to take care of, but live as an example while the eyes of the flock are watching you.

God gives each shepherd certain ones to take care of. Do not try to take care of someone else's sheep. What if the sheep led the shepherd or if they all went in different directions?

A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. John 10:5

Pastors do not demand respect. People respect him as they watch his life, not as a king. The best way to get people to follow is to show them how it is done.

Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them. Ezekiel 34:10

4. If you do this then, when the chief Shepherd returns, He will give you a crown of glory that can never fade.

It is more important to please Jesus than anyone else

5. The younger members of the church should accept the authority of the elders. All of you should think of each other as better than yourselves, and wear the clothing of humility in the way you serve each other. God is always against the proud but He is always ready to give grace to the humble.

Allow suffering to bring you low before God and then He will exalt you when He sees that you are ready.

God hates a proud look. Proverbs 6:17

[Jesus] rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist. John 13:4

6. Humble yourself yourselves under God's strong hand in His good time He will lift you up.

If we do not humble ourselves, God may send someone else to do it.

7. Throw all your imaginations and worries onto Jesus because He personally cares about you.

The devil says that you have trouble because God does not care. Job's friends said that he had trouble because he had hidden sin in his life.

Maybe Peter was remembering the time when the disciples said, "Lord, do You not care that we are dying?" Mark 4:38

8. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil is always hiding, pretending to be a roaring lion looking for something to eat.

When you hear the devil roar it means temptation is coming. The roar is a way to drown out your testimony. Sometimes an older lion, who is not as strong, will try to scare you so that you will run into the mouths of the young lions. “Run towards the roar" means to turn and face the weaker lion, who is trying to pretend that he is strong.

The devil roars like a lion but he is not a lion - Jesus is the Lion of tribe of Judah. Revelation 5:5

When we go to sleep spiritually, we open the way for the devil to secretly plant seeds in our lives. Matthew 13:25 – 39

9. Stand against him, and stand strong in your faith. Remembering that the same thing is happening happening to your fellow Christians in other parts of the world.

The devil will attack our weak spots. James 4:7

We are not alone. If the devil can make you think that you are alone, then you will be discouraged and defeated.

10 – 11

And after you have carried the sufferings for a short time, the God of all grace, who has called you to share His glory through Christ, will make you complete and secure and strong. All power is His forever and ever. Amen!

We grow from grace to grace (John 1:16). He gives more more grace (James 4:6).

We have saving grace, serving grace, sanctifying grace, sacrificing grace, singing grace, speaking grace, strengthening grace and suffering grace.

When we suffer, we come to the end of ourselves and say, “God I cannot do this anymore!”

We we say this, He will make us complete. The original word means “to equip for service.”

Suffering not only helps us grow, but equips us for service so that we can comfort each other.

So that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:4

12. I am sending this short letter with Silas, who I know is a faithful brother. I wrote to encourage your faith and give you confidence that these words can show you what the true grace of God is. Stand strong in that grace!

Because Silas was one of Paul's closest helpers, it would be expected that he was with with Paul. Silas is with Peter, not with Paul, so Paul was either released from prison at this time or had already been killed by Nero.

13 – 14

[My wife], who is here with me in the place we call “Babylon,” sends you her greetings, and so does my son in the Lord, Mark. Greet each other with a kiss of love. God's peace to all true Christians.

Some teachers think that Peter was actually writing this from ancient Babylon, but the city of Babylon did not exist during the time of Peter.

Some teachers saying that when Peter says, “She who is in Babylon” he means the church in Rome.

Another way of understanding this greeting is to see that Peter was using the name Babylon as code for “Rome." Remember that this was the time of the total insanity of Nero and his murder of thousands of Christians. Peter may have been trying to protect his wife [tradition says that her name was either Perpetua or Concordia] , but she was also killed by Nero.

It is not hard to think that Peter's wife was with him, since Paul mentioned that Peter took his wife with him when he traveled.

Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Peter? 1 Corinthians 9:5

Mark and Silas must have forgotten about the disagreement in Acts 15:39 – 40.