Reminders and Reassurances

Intro

The truth that is revealed is what has been discussed so far in the letter—God has called them to salvation through Jesus Christ, which has to be manifest in their conduct shaped by the virtues list above in verses 5-7.

The Importance of the Truth of the Word of God

2 Peter 1:12–15 HCSB

Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you have. I consider it right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, knowing that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has also shown me. And I will also make every effort that you may be able to recall these things at any time after my departure.

Simply, Peter wanted them to remember what he had taught them. There was one particular teaching that Peter had in mind in this section of his epistle - that of the 2nd coming of Christ.

Why the focus on remembering and on the 2nd coming? Peter knew his days on earth were nearing the end. But he also knows that the teaching he has been a part of is worth repeating, and he intends to do so ALWAYS.

Now, this call to remember is not a new call. Across the Bible, God is continually calling His people to remember and the things that God calls people to remember aren’t things that people, especially His chosen people, Israel, and the church, should forget. But they do.

Deuteronomy 5:15 HCSB

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Deuteronomy 16:3 HCSB

You must not eat leavened bread with it. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of hardship—because you left the land of Egypt in a hurry —so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.

Peter connects, through the teaching of the apostles, critical theological truths. The Sabbath and the holiness of God, God’s saving of the Israelites and the power of His Hand, the Passover and the offering of blood as protection.

The purpose of Peter’s reminders is to affirm their knowledge and to stand together to resist any future attacks when he was gone.

1 Corinthians 15:1 HCSB

Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it.

Paul knows the value of reminders. Took him 14 chapters, but he got there. He also instructs Timothy of these things, particularly the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 2:8 HCSB

Keep your attention on Jesus Christ as risen from the dead and descended from David. This is according to my gospel.

Has this become our mission? That others know the importance of the truth of the Word of God. That we remind others within this body of the power of the resurrection. But how about then to those that don’t know this power.

The Word of God Surpasses Human Testimony

2 Peter 1:16 HCSB

For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

This is an interesting verse. It’s loaded with levels of theology.

First, Peter rightly claims that what he and the apostles follow and teach is true, that their teaching is provable by historical evidence.

-This is not a new accusation! It’s been trendy since the early church to question the realities of what Jesus did on our behalf. Christians today have a tendency to get so worked up about some of the crazy ideas that come up. Don’t! These ideas have pretty much all come up before, and Christians much smarter than us have responded in some incredibly helpful ways.

-Remember: what we read in the Bible is rooted in historical fact. There is no serious scholar today that questions whether or not Jesus lived, the only valid questions are whether or not you take his claims seriously, which Peter did!

-Power and coming

-We’ll get to this part next week, but part of the purpose of this letter is because there were false teachers denied that Jesus was going to come back (we’ll see some more implications about this in the next section as well)

-Here Peter is reminding that Jesus is coming back. How does he know that?

-Eyewitnesses of his majesty. Let’s look at the rest of this section as 1 big unit.

-Eyewitnesses of his majesty, referring to a specific event, the transfiguration. All 3 Synoptic Gospels have the story, and many people think John 1:14 (And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth) refers to it too.

-Through most of His time on earth, Jesus’ divinity was concealed (Phil. 2 talks about Jesus emptying Himself) But the transfiguration was a time where it was completely revealed (Mark almost trips over himself describing it, Jesus’ clothes being bleached whiter than anyone can possibly bleach it). And this revealing was seen by 3 disciples: Peter, James, and John.

-This revealing wasn’t done just by watching something, they heard the truth spoken too: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The eye-witnessing also had ear-witnessing to accompany it.

Our greatest testimony is acting by faith on what we have heard from God and expecting Him to do what He promised.

-It’s important to note this: what they saw was accompanied with an explanation. When they saw Jesus’ as He truly is, the Father told them what He was doing. We see Peter talk about this another time in Acts 4:20 “we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 1:17–18

Interestingly Peter was more profoundly impressed by what he heard than what he saw on that sacred mountain.

Do you do the same thing today? Are you at a place where you cannot but speak of what you have seen and heard?

-What’s difficult about this is it was a 1 time event that only 3 people saw, what about today, or other believers who didn’t see this event?

Be Assured That God’s Word Surpasses Human Thought

Peter is masterful and not just telling us something, but also showing us how to teach others.

You’ll notice that the three men heard God’s voice and Peter quoted the words. The first phrase should sound familiar, because it was confirmed in the Word of God in Matthew 3:17 following Jesus’ baptism.

Matthew 3:17 HCSB

And there came a voice from heaven: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him!

Peter shows us how to confirm whether what we think we hear from God is in fact from God.

If God speaks today, you can confirm it in or by the Word of God.

God said can be and has been misused. See Genesis 3 for an exact example.

2 Peter 1:19 HCSB

So we have the prophetic word strongly confirmed. You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Scholars believe that Peter was referring to the OT when he said the prophetic word, and it is the only source of light in a dismal place.

But dismal doesn’t mean ‘dark.’ It means “being murky and dirty” or “a place of squalor and filth.” That dirty place is our hearts.

Since light is the “element and sphere of the divine,” then the reference in 2 Peter is to the essence of God engulfing the believer.

Scripture isn’t just words that people wanted to say. Scripture is the divine revelation of God. And as such, it is to be interpreted correctly, which is Peter’s final teaching point:

2 Peter 1:20–21 HCSB

First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Scripture is not from man and neither is prophesy. We’re going to dive more into this in next week’s sermon.

Are you experiencing assurance from God’s Word about your life?