Neither as being lords over God's heritage - This is the voice of St. Peter in his catholic epistle to the catholic Church! According to him there are to be no lords over God's heritage, the bishops and presbyters who are appointed by the head of the Church are to feed the flock, to guide and to defend it, not to fleece and waste it; and they are to look for their reward in another world, and in the approbation of God in their consciences. And in humility, self-abasement, self-renunciation, and heavenly-mindedness, they are to be ensamples, τυποι, types, to the flock, moulds of a heavenly form, into which the spirits and lives of the flock may be cast, that they may come out after a perfect pattern. We need not ask, Does the Church that arrogates to itself the exclusive title of Catholic, and do its supreme pastors, who affect to be the successors of Peter and the vicars of Jesus Christ, act in this way? They are in every sense the reverse of this. But we may ask, Do the other Churches, which profess to be reformed from the abominations of the above, keep the advice of the apostle in their eye? Have they pastors according to God's own heart, who feed them with knowledge and understanding? Jeremiah 3:15. Do they feed themselves, and not the flock? Are they lords over the heritage of Christ, ruling with a high eclesiastico-secular hand, disputing with their flocks about penny-farthing tithes and stipends, rather than contending for the faith once delivered to the saints? Are they heavenly moulds, into which the spirits and conduct of their flocks may be cast? I leave those who are concerned to answer these questions; but I put them, in the name of God, to all the preachers in the land. How many among them properly care for the flock? Even among those reputed evangelical teachers, are there not some who, on their first coming to a parish or a congregation, make it their first business to raise the tithes and the stipends, where, in all good conscience, there was before enough, and more than enough, to provide them and their families with not only the necessaries, but all the conveniences and comforts of life? conveniences and comforts which neither Jesus Christ nor his servant Peter ever enjoyed. And is not the great concern among ministers to seek for those places, parishes, and congregations, where the provision is the most ample, and the work the smallest? Preacher or minister, whosoever thou art, who readest this, apply not the word to thy neighbor, whether he be state-appointed, congregation-appointed, or self-appointed; take all to thyself; mutato nomine de Te fabula narratur. See that thy own heart, views, and conduct be right with God; and then proceed to the next verse.

as.

Ezekiel 34:4 The diseased have you not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken...

Matthew 20:25,26 But Jesus called them to him, and said, You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them...

Matthew 23:8-10 But be not you called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all you are brothers...

Mark 10:42-45 But Jesus called them to him, and said to them...

Luke 22:24-27 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest...

1 Corinthians 3:5,9 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man...

2 Corinthians 1:24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith you stand.

2 Corinthians 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

3 John 1:9,10 I wrote to the church: but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, receives us not...

being lords over. or, over-ruling. heritage.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people...

Deuteronomy 32:9 For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.

Psalm 74:2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old; the rod of your inheritance, which you have redeemed; this mount Zion...

Micah 7:14 Feed your people with your rod, the flock of your heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the middle of Carmel...

Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers...

but.

1 Corinthians 11:11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.

Philippians 3:17 Brothers, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as you have us for an ensample.

Philippians 4:9 Those things, which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

1 Thessalonians 1:5,6 For our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance...

2 Thessalonians 3:9 Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample to you to follow us.

1 Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise your youth; but be you an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith...

Titus 2:7 In all things showing yourself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing soundness, gravity, sincerity,

The Church in Babylon
'The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you ...'--1 Peter v. 13. We have drawn lessons in previous addresses from the former parts of the closing salutations of this letter. And now I turn to this one to see what it may yield us. The Revised Version omits 'the church,' and substitutes 'she'; explaining in a marginal note that there is a difference of opinion as to whether the sender of the letter is a community or an individual. All the old MSS., with one weighty exception, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Consolations against Impatience in Sickness.
If in thy sickness by extremity of pain thou be driven to impatience, meditate-- 1. That thy sins have deserved the pains of hell; therefore thou mayest with greater patience endure these fatherly corrections. 2. That these are the scourges of thy heavenly Father, and the rod is in his hand. If thou didst suffer with reverence, being a child, the corrections of thy earthly parents, how much rather shouldst thou now subject thyself, being the child of God, to the chastisement of thy heavenly Father, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Seven Deacons
In those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration." The early church was made up of many classes of people, of various nationalities. At the time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, "there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." Acts 2:5. Among those of the Hebrew faith who were gathered at Jerusalem were some …
Ellen Gould White—The Acts of the Apostles