The Necessity of Reminding

Introduction

Oh how easy it is for us to forget

Oh how easy it is for us to get distracted

Oh how easy it is for us to lose focus

Oh how easy it is for us to become spiritually apithetic

Do any of you know what I am talking about? Have you ever experienced that? Maybe you are experiencing that now in your life, maybe that is something that you are fighting now in your life.

The Bible knows the reality of that, the Bible knows that this is a fight that we will face and so that problem is addressed and we are given the prescription that we need in addressing that problem.

If we were to look back over v.3-11 what do you think would be some of the big ideas?

Well we have seen the foundation of God’s saving grace in our lives in v.3-4

We have seen how this grace does not call us to inaction but it calls us to action, it calls us to godly living, it calls us to the pursuit of faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.

God’s grace and our knowledge of Jesus Christ is to lead to usefulness and fruitfulness in the Kingdom of God.

We said last week that Peter is teaching us in this passage that there is a knowledge of Jesus Christ that is ineffective, it is unfruitful and will not provide an entrance for you into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter’s desire, his great desire is for the church to have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, a knowledge that leads to effectiveness, that leads to fruitfulness, a knowledge of Jesus Christ that will provide for them an entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faithfulness, a pursuit of Christ, fruitfulness; these are the ways that we can be sure of our calling out of darkness, that we have been chosen out of the world and have been grafted into Christ Jesus.

We are to be diligent to make our calling and election sure, because if we have not been called out of the kingdom of the world then we will not enjoy the Kingdom of Christ.

With that established we can continue to move through this text.

I. The intent to remind

As we begin this section we see that it begins with the word, therefore.

Therefore or for this reason

Because these things are true

On the basis of all of the truth that we just covered, the reality that there is a knowledge of Jesus Christ that if ineffective and unfruitful, because there is a knowledge of Jesus Christ that does not get one into the eternal Kingdom

Because that is true Peter is going to be intentional in reminding them of these things

The ESV translates the word toutwn as these qualities but I think that the best translation is these things referring to everything that he was just talking about in v.3-11.

So Peter is going to remind them of the grace of God and the power of God toward us in Christ Jesus

He is going to remind them that God’s grace toward them is not a call to inactivity but a call to greater activity

He is going to remind them that saving knowledge of Jesus Christ leads to fruitfulness and ultimately to an entrance into the eternal Kingdom

He is going to remind them that they must be diligent to confirm their calling and election and not just presume upon the grace of God in their lives because they have a certain knowledge of Jesus Christ.

You can know a lot about Jesus Christ and if it does not change the way you live then your knowledge is worthless.

These are the things that he is going to remind them of.

Notice what he goes on to say,

He look I know I know that you know these things and are established in truth but I am going to still remind you of these things.

Brothers and sisters this is a good lesson for us much of what we need in the Christian life is to reminded of things that we already know.

We need the truth of the gospel in our lives daily. We need to be reminded because everything around us contradicts the gospel.

We need to be reminded daily that we are to grow in holiness and that we should be living useful and fruitful lives.

Brothers and sisters much of the Christian life is being reminded because everything in the world, the flesh, and the demonic realm is trying to make us forget or to live inconsistent with the gospel.

II. The purpose of the reminding (to stir you up, to wake you up)

As we continue to read in v.13 we see the purpose being the reminding.

First Peter says that it is right as long as he is in the body, as long as he can to remind them.

Brothers and sisters, it is right for us to remind one another of the gospel, it is the Lord’s will that we remind one another of biblical truth.

When we see a brother or sister living or thinking inconsistently with biblical truth, what is right? to ignore it and hope their thinking gets corrected or to remind them of these things

This is not just the preachers job, not just the apostles job but this is our job

We all need to be reminded and it is right for each of us to remind one another.

But we also see the purpose behind the reminding in this passage.

The purpose is to stir you up.

This could be translated to wake you up, to arouse.

What is the implication?

The implication is that it is easy for us to fall asleep.

It is easy for us to hit coast

It is easy for us to begin to believe the lies

It is easy for us to get distracted

It is easy for us to lose focus

It is easy for us to become presumptuous

We need to be reminded so that we won’t fall asleep.

When we are not reminded of the gospel, when we are not reminded of God’s call in our lives, when we are not reminded of the reality of the Kingdom

When these things are not before us then we will be lulled into a worldly trance

This is why gathering together regularly is so important

We need to remind one another

You may be asleep and need to be reminded

This is why regular fellowship, Christian brothers and sisters that we meet with regularly is so important because we can quickly and easily fall asleep and we need to be awakened.

Have you ever been sleepy at the wheel? You know how miserable that can be.

That is the worst, right?

Being sleepy at the wheel is also dangerous, right? It can be deadly.

So what do we do? If we are sleepy and someone is driving with us we say what to them?

Keep me awake, right? Help me to stay awake?

Brothers and sisters walking through this world is like walking through enchanted meadows. We can so easily get spiritually lazy, spiritually drowsy and just decide that it is okay if we go to sleep. We become spiritually slothful, we are not putting sin to death, we are not pursuing holiness, we are just coasting, just existing spiritually.

Let me tell you that is dangerous.

We need people in our lives that are responsible for keeping us awake?

Are you awake?

Are you fighting sin?

Are you pursuing holiness?

Do you have someone in your life that has permission to ask you these questions?

There should be those types of relationships.

III. Don’t remember me, remember these things (the truth of God’s Word)

We see in v.14 that Peter is aware of his own mortality, that his life is coming to an end, that is something that he is aware of and Peter understands that the church does not need him, the church will be fine without him

But Peter also understands that there are things that the church will not be fine without and that the church needs to remember after he is gone.

That is TRUTH

Brothers and sisters the church cannot continue to exist without truth.

Without truth, without the true gospel then the church will cease to exist.

I think that we see some central truths that we must be familiar with and that we must be able to recall at any time because there are plenty of false teachings that would seek to undermine these truths within the church.

No matter what the church must always remember

Christ is central and that in Christ we have all things necessary for life and godliness. That in Christ we have been delivered from the corruption of the world (Satan and the world will always try to take away from Christ or add to Christ)

That Christ calls us to pursue godliness and not worldliness (try to convince us that you can have Christ and live like the devil)

That our knowledge of Jesus Christ should produce fruitfulness (that you can have a knowledge of Christ that doesn’t produce fruit in your life)

False gospel does not lead to the Kingdom of our Lord (oh how the world will tell you otherwise)

Brothers and sisters, we need to be reminded.