WAKE UP AND REMEMBER!

The best defense against false teaching is true living. A church filled with growing Christians, vibrant in their faith, is not likely to fall prey to apostates with their counterfeit Christianity. But this Christian living must be based on the authoritative Word of God. False teachers find it easy to seduce people who do not know their Bible but who are desirous of “experiences” with the Lord. It is a dangerous thing to build on subjective experience alone and ignore objective revelation.

I. Men Die, but the Word Lives (2 Peter 1:12–15)

12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. 13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, 14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.

A. What was it that Peter wanted to accomplish?

The answer is found in the word that is repeated in 2 Peter 1:12–13 and 15—remind, reminding, and reminder. Peter wanted to impress his readers’ minds with the Word of God so that they would never forget it! Peter knew that our minds have a tendency to get accustomed to truth and then to take it for granted. We forget what we ought to remember, and we remember what we ought to forget!

The readers of this letter knew the truth and were even “established” in it, but that was no guarantee they would always remember the truth and apply it. One reason the Holy Spirit was given to the church was to remind believers of the lessons already learned

B. Peter knew that he was going to die, so he wanted to leave behind something that would never die—the written Word of God.

The church of Jesus Christ is always one generation away from extinction. If there were no dependable written revelation, we would have to depend on word-of-mouth tradition. If you have ever played the party game “Gossip,” you know how a simple sentence can be radically changed when passed from one person to another! We do not depend on the traditions of dead men; we depend on the truth of the living Word.

If we did not have a dependable written revelation, the church would be at the mercy of men’s memories. It is amazing that three perfectly honest witnesses can, with good conscience, give three different accounts of an automobile accident! Our memories are defective and selective. We usually remember what we want to remember, and often we distort even that.

Fortunately, we can depend on the written Word of God. “It is written” and it stands written forever. We can be saved through this living Word, nurtured by it, and guided and protected as we trust and obey.

II. Experiences Fade, but the Word Remains (2 Peter 1:16–18)

16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

A. What was the significance of the Transfiguration?

For one thing, it confirmed Peter’s testimony about Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:13–16). Peter saw the Son in His glory, and he heard the Father speak from heaven, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (2 Peter 1:17). First we put our faith in Christ and confess Him, and then He gives us wonderful confirmation.

The Transfiguration also had a special significance for Jesus Christ, who was nearing Calvary. It was the Father’s way of strengthening His Son for that terrible ordeal of being the sacrifice for the sins of the world. The Law and the Prophets (Moses and Elijah) pointed to His ministry, and now He would fulfill those Scriptures. The Father spoke from heaven and assured the Son of His love and approval. The Transfiguration was proof that suffering leads to glory when we are in the will of God.

B. Why did Peter use this event in his letter?

He was refuting the false teachings of the apostates that the kingdom of God would never come. These false teachers denied the promise of Christ’s coming! In the place of God’s promises, these counterfeits put “cunningly devised fables” (2 Peter 1:16) that robbed the believers of their blessed hope.

The Greek and Roman world abounded in stories about the gods, mere human speculations that tried to explain the world and its origin. No matter how interesting these myths might be, the Christian is not to heed them (1 Tim. 1:4), but refuse them (1 Tim. 4:7). Paul warned Timothy that the time would come in the church when professed Christians would not want to hear true doctrine, but would “turn away their ears from the truth, and … be turned unto fables [myths]” (2 Tim. 4:4).

C. Peter was an eyewitnesses of the Transfiguration.

Peter was there, and he faithfully recorded his experience for us in the letter that he wrote, inspired by the Spirit of God. Experiences fade, but the Word of God remains! Experiences are subjective, but the Word of God is objective. Experiences may be interpreted in different ways by different participants, but the Word of God gives one clear message. What we remember about our experiences can be unconsciously distorted, but the Word of God remains the same and abides forever.

By reminding his readers of the Transfiguration, Peter affirmed several important doctrines of the Christian faith. He affirmed that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God. The test of any religion is, “What do you say about Jesus Christ?” If a religious teacher denies the deity of Christ, then he is a false teacher.

D. The Transfiguration was also affirmation of the truth of the Scriptures.

Moses represented the Law; Elijah represented the Prophets; both pointed to Jesus Christ. and Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. We believe the Bible because Jesus believed the Bible and said it was the Word of God. Those who question the truth and authority of the Scriptures are not arguing with Moses, Elijah, or Peter, but with the Lord Jesus Christ.

This event also affirmed the reality of God’s kingdom. We who have a completed Bible can look back and understand the progressive lessons that Jesus gave His disciples about the Cross and the kingdom, but at that time those twelve men were very confused. They did not understand the relationship between His suffering and His glory and the church and the kingdom. At the Transfiguration, our Lord made it clear to His followers that His suffering would lead to glory and that the cross would ultimately result in the crown.