1 Peter (Program #25) – The Elders’ Shepherding and Its Reward (2)
We all know that Peter was first a disciple of the Lord Jesus. A disciple is a follower, a learner. Then Peter received the commission from the Lord and became chief among the apostles. An apostle in the New Testament is a sent one. It’s in this capacity that Peter is most often referred to. But in addition to being a disciple and an apostle, Peter was also an elder of the church in Jerusalem. It is in this status as an elder that Peter writes to the other elders in his first epistle.
Elders are the overseers of the church and as Paul also tells us, these are the leading ones who has been charged by the Lord with a solemn and sober responsibility to care for His most precious possessions, that is His people, the flock of God. It’s in this charge that Peter brings the attention of all the elders past, present and future that their responsibility must extend even to the risk of their own lives.
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