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A couple of things I love are panel discussions and interviews
and some of my favorite questions in a panel or in an interview are when the person is asked to pick one thing above all else
One piece of advice they were given that changed their life
One sermon that changed how they saw God
One book that has been really impactful
It is always interesting to me to hear the reasons they pick their one thing
Especially among pastors, who spend their lives teaching, its always interesting to me to hear what their one piece of counsel is above all others
Many people are very interested in the last words of famous people
Frank Sinatra’s last words were “Im losing it”
Harriet Tubman’s last words were “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle looked at his wife and said “You are wonderful”
Steve Jobs said “oh wow, oh wow, oh wow”
We are interested in last words many times because we wonder what someone who is standing at deaths door thinks is important enough to say
What last piece of wisdom do they have?
What is on their mind as they step into eternity?
This morning we are going to take a look at what Peter thought was important as he prepared for the end of his life
Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
PRAYER
Qualities
Virtue or Exellence
Knowledge
Self-control
Steadfastness
Godliness
Brotherly affection
Love
Vs 12
Peter is writing to established and faithful believers. He says in vs 12 they are established in the truth they have.
Its important we see this, because many times we think of the letters in the NT as correction, a 1st century version of being blasted on Facebook
And sometimes thats exactly what it is
But here, Peter is talking to faithful brothers and sisters.
To stir you up
Growing up, we were a typical lower-middle class family, and so we ate and drank things that gave us the most bang for our buck
Older saints, are we passing on what we have learned in the faith to others? or will it die with us?
And when I was a kid, that was kool-aid.
But heres the thing about kool-aid. If it’s been in the fridge for a little bit, you have to stir it up, because that 3 lbs of sugar is going to have settled to the bottom
Teachers have to give the information away and not have students rely on them for answers
So in order to have good kool-aid, you needed to stir it up, otherwise you just had water with red food coloring, and it’s not going to taste right.
We work the same way
We have a tendency to forget
I bet you if I called most of you tomorrow, and asked what your favorite part of the sermon was, you would have to sit and think
Partly because you had to find something you actually liked, but also partly because you wouldn’t be able to recall what it was about
We are naturally forgetful people
We need to have what we already know, and already contain stirred up in our lives, so that nothing gets overlooked
Vs 13
To stir up something isn’t to add something to it, but to keep all the ingredients together and uniform
Growing up, we were a typical lower-middle class family, and so we ate and drank things that gave us the most bang for our buck
And when I was a kid, that was kool-aid.
On the Mountain with Jesus (Peter, James and John)
But heres the thing about kool-aid. If it’s been in the fridge for a little bit, you have to stir it up, because that 3 lbs of sugar is going to have settled to the bottom
So in order to have good kool-aid, you needed to stir it up, otherwise you just had water with red food coloring, and it’s not going to taste right.
We work the same way
We have a tendency to forget
I bet you if I called most of you tomorrow, and asked what your favorite part of the sermon was, you would have to sit and think
Partly because you had to find something you actually liked, but also partly because you wouldn’t be able to recall what it was about
We are naturally forgetful people
We need to have what we already know, and already contain stirred up in our lives, so that nothing gets overlooked
where the ESV has body, the actual word there is the same word for Tent or Tabernacle
Position of the Apostles as authoritative prophets
Paul uses the same description of his body in
Prophecy Definition
Peter knew that this body was temporary, that it wouldn’t be long before He left it behind to be with the Lord
Scripture not the authors interpretation, but Divine words
And before he left this temporary dwelling, He writes to make sure that the believers are able to remember the truth.
True/False Prophets
Now we have to be careful here not to buy into the falsehood that we are only souls bound up in flesh prisons
That is not what Peter means by calling his body a tent
Peter points to two things
That this earthly body will pass away and will be replaced by a perfected body
That we are sojourners in this world
That we are sojourners in this world
Verse 14,
We know that Peter was put to death at the Hands of Nero
We know that at the end of Nero’s life there was an increasing hatred of Christians in Rome
So Peter can survey the landscape, and see that this is going to pop off real soon
The Message of 2 Peter and Jude 2. Refreshing (1:13–14)
All the earliest records say that Peter was crucified, and Origen says he was crucified upside down.
Peter knew that this body was temporary, that it wouldn’t be long before He left it behind to be with the Lord
And before he left this temporary dwelling, He writes to make sure that the believers are able to remember the truth.
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
Vs 15
we see the heart of a pastor, the heart of a leader
Peter is true to the mission that Jesus gives him.
When Jesus speaks to Peter after the resurrection, He tells him to Feed my sheep, tend my lambs.
And here, at the end of his life, with his death in view, Peter is dedicated to do exactly that. To prepare them after He is gone.
Peter is nearing the end of His life, and he wants to make sure these people have what they need to sustain them after He is gone
The test of a teacher, or a leader, is how prepared their students are to carry on without them.
Peter knows that throughout the life of these believers, they will have times where they are faced with opposition, false teaching and laziness.
He wants them to be able to recall the apostolic teaching at those times, to help themselves when he is not around to stir them up again
vs 16-18
Why should Peter put so much effort in?
Because it’s true. Because they weren’t passing along really convincing stories, but what they had seen with their own eyes on the Mountain with Jesus
Why does Peter want to pass on His teachings? Not because they are made up and He needs the people to memorize them, but He wants to pass them on because He is an eyewitness of Christ’s Glory
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
Matthew 17
Transfiguration up on the Mountain in
Because it’s true. Because they weren’t passing along really convincing stories, but what they had seen with their own eyes on the Mountain with Jesus
Vs 19
We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed...
Spurgeon
If I heard a voice speaking from the sky I would obey it, but the form in which your call has come has been better than that, for Peter in his second epistle tells us that he himself heard a voice out of the excellent glory when he was with our Lord in the holy mount, but he adds ‘we have also a more sure word of prophecy’; as if the testimony which is in the word of God, the light that shineth in dark place, which beams forth from the word of God, was more sure than even the voice which he heard from heaven
We live in a culture that prizes personal experience over everything else
Like Thomas, they say I will believe when I can feel the scars that the nails made. I don’t trust a book written 2000 years ago, I only trust what I see and feel for myself
And yet, Peter, who was on the mountain, who heard the voice of God, who saw Jesus in all His glory, says what we have is better!
There is a reason that OT law required two witnesses
If you do any study of how the brain works, particularly in response to memory in stressful situations, you know just how unreliable we are as witnesses.
One of the best books I read in the Army was called “On combat” by Col. Dave Grossman.
In it, he talks about all the field reports and studies that have been administered to see how war-fighters cognitively process life threatening situations.
The inability to remember how many rounds they fired, the inconsistencies of different soldiers engaged in the same battle
We call it the fog of war, but reality is, what it really shows is that we are untrustworthy. Our minds will fill in blanks on its own and fabricate stories that make sense to us, even when its inaccurate.
And Peter says, I was there, I know what I heard, and I know what I saw, but even better than that, is that the entirety of the OT confirm what I’m saying!
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Remember
Peter didn’t trust what he had experienced because of himself, but because it was consistent with what the Law and the prophets proclaimed about Jesus
Lamp shining in a dark place...
During WWII six allied fighter pilots were on a mission when their aircraft carrier received orders for a blackout because enemy submarines were in the area. The pilots finished their mission but found no lights where the ship should have been. One of the pilots radioed the ship, “give us some light so we can land”, and the response came back “Negative. We can’t give you any light, a full blackout has been ordered”. A second pilot radioed for light, and was given the same response. Finally, a third pilot, low on fuel, radioed and said “Can you at least give us ONE light so we can land?” But the radio operator was told to discontinue all contact. As a result, the six fighters crashed into the dark waters of the Atlantic.
The prophetic word, the Word of God through the Prophets, and now through the Apostles, is that light that we get our bearings from.
No matter where we feel we are, it is that light of the Word of God that shows us where we truly are.
Vs 20
OK, sure God is a trustworthy witness, and His word can be trusted, but how do we know that the writers of scripture didn’t write what they thought, and not what God thought?
Peter says unequivocally, no scripture comes from someone’s interpretation
Barclay
The Letters of James and Peter The Words of the Prophets (2 Peter 1:19–21)
the mark of false prophets was that they were speaking themselves, as it were, privately, and not saying what God had told them to say.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.
We will see Peter take on false teaching next week, so I don’t want to dive into that right now, but we know real prophecy and real teaching from false by the results
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Vs 21
We believe in the Verbal Plenary Inspiration of the text, which means that we believe that God has spoken every word (verbal), that every word is authoritative (plenary), and that every word is directed (Inspiration).
We see in this verse that “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit
Peter puts the NT Apostles on the same level as the OT prophets
The reason that the words of the prophets are authoritative is because they come from God Himself
And the same goes for the words of the Apostles
Why is a letter from Paul to the Corinthians or the Galatians something we need to be familiar with today? Because it is God Himself speaking to the church through Paul
But the Spirit’s work in Scripture isn’t finished once it has been written down
The Spirit also works in believers to help us understand the meaning
But if that is true for you, then it has been true for believers throughout church history
William Barclay:
The Letters of James and Peter The Words of the Prophets (2 Peter 1:19–21)
we must never arrogantly insist that our own interpretation must be correct; we must humbly go to the works of the scholars to learn what they have to teach us because of what the Spirit taught them.
So there is two ways to get this wrong
That we separate ourselves from what God has done through faithful brothers and sisters before us
That we don’t trust the Holy Spirit to work through us, and only lean on the work of others
In Christ, with the help of the Holy Spirit, every believer has all they need to understand the Scripture. We don’t want to fall into this idea that we need the tradition of the church for right understanding.
However, just as there are those today whose ministries have helped us to better understand in our study, the same is true throughout Church History.
We rest in the prophetic and the apostolic teaching of the Bible alone.
We then join together with believers throughout church history who also believed that same Spirit inspired work of God.
As the Psalmist says, “your word is lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”
This morning, just as Peter did, I want to stir us up this morning, to hold fast to the faith once and for all delivered to the saints
To turn to and trust the Word of God
The God who wrote it is trustworthy, His word is trustworthy, and many times we need to remember what we know
That while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.