Sermon 122098
2Pe. 1:19-21 Things Remembered That Stir You Up - III 12/20/98
ABCC
I. Review 650
Every individual here wants to know that your life is not in vain. And particularly when you’re hurting & suffering for your faith, you need to be reassured that your suffering is not in vain. False prophets had begun to teach false doctrines to seduce these hurting believers with sensuality & greed (2:1-3). The Holy Spirit (The Great Comforter) then uses Peter to encourage these suffering believers with the truth by reminding them of truths they already knew in order to stir them up (v. 13):
¨ What great things God has done for them & us (v. 1-4)
¨ The great duty of growing in grace & in the knowledge of Jesus (v. 5-7)
¨ Benefits of obedience & the dangers of disobedience even in suffering (v. 8-11)
¨ The gospel message is factual & true (v. 16-18)
And to encourage them even more, he reminds them & us of the reliability of biblical prophecy, because the false teacher & mockers were attacking the credibility of the prophetic word (3:1-4). We need to be reminded that nothing takes God by surprise; He has a predetermined plan for all of history – His plan for the future is guaranteed (Eccl. 3:1; Is. 46:11c-d)
II. The Encouragement of Biblical Prophecy Being Fulfilled
A. A broad & general overview of prophecies & their fulfillment
*Creation & Humanity (Gen. 2:17; the curse, Gen. 6:3…) *Israel (Gen. 12:1-3) *Other nations – Egypt, Babylon, Tyre…their rise to fame & their great destruction. The principle – God gave a prophecy & in virtually every situation, there was a long period of time before its fulfillment – yet every detail was fulfilled!
B. Specific prophecies concerning Jesus Christ
1. Birth = Mt. 1:22-23; 2:1; 2:14-15, 22-23 (700+ yrs. before fulfillment, several generation were born & died, but the prophesies happened in detail). Gen. 3:15 was several thousand yrs before fulfillment…
Things Remembered That Stir You Up-III, pg. 2
2. Suffering & death = Mt. 26:52-56; 27:9; Ps. 22; 69:21; Is. 52:13-53:12 (700-1,000 yrs before fulfillment, yet every detail was fulfilled!)
3. Resurrection = Ac. 2:25-27; Mk. 9:31 (Ps. 16 was written 100’s of yrs before…but it still happened)
4. Return = Mt. 26:64; Mk. 14:62; Jn. 14:3; Ph. 3:20; 1Th. 4:15-16; 2Th. 1:6-7,10; Tit. 2:13; Heb. 9:28 – Jesus & the apostles have clearly communicated this prophecy & teaching; this is to be the next great event in redemptive history. Yet believers were suffering & Jesus had not come to give them any relief, so the false teacher were attacking this doctrine – because if you can prove Jesus wrong on one doctrine, what …?
C. Facts about biblical prophecies & true prophets that stir us up & keep us encouraged
1. Biblical prophecies will always take place/happen (Heb. 6:18b; Is. 46:9-10; Mt. 5:17-18)
2. Biblical prophecy does not originate from man’s understanding (v. 20) – man is lacking (Jas. 1:5; 3:17)
3. Biblical prophecy never came about by an act of human will (v. 21a) – man didn’t decide to write prophecy!
4. The Holy Spirit moved prophets to speak & write prophecy (v. 21b) – they were stirred by the Holy Spirit
You say what’s the point of this message? Don’t grow weary & start doubting the promises of God because you’ve been hurting for a few weeks, months, years…These are not the promises of men (Peter, Paul, Mark…), but rather promises of God. God has not made any mistakes & He has not forgotten about you & your situation. You may feel like Mary & Martha now – you may be weak, weeping, feeling like you can’t go on – but remember that Jesus returned later than they wanted, but He was right on time. Therefore, remember the encouragement of verse 19a-b. Why should you pay close attention? Because God has proven His faithfulness in the past, He will be faithful in the future!
