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March 12, 2023

The Title of the Sermon is “Foundational Reminders.”

Outline
Peter reminds the Church to strive for the virtuous life.
Peter reminds the Church of the importance of the Transfiguration.
Peter reminds the Church that the Scriptures are reliable.

Intro

• Scholars place the date of the book at A.D. 64-68. (cf. Constable, Blum, et al.) This was around the same time they place his death. ¶ McGee wrote, “Second Peter is the swan song of Peter, just as 2 Timothy is the swan song of Paul. There are [many] similarities between the two books.” (5:715)
• In our passage this morning, we are going to see Peter reminding the Church of some fundamentals. And remember these were to keep them productive as they lived their lives.
• It seems --rightly so-- that we too always need reminding of the fundamentals! So we will great benefit ourselves to pay attention as to not overlook they very things that keep us productive in the Body of Christ as we too move towards our exit as Peter was.

1:12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

• 12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.
  • Even in the first century, the Church had what Blum suggested was, “a relatively fixed body of truth.” (p 272)
    We have the added benefit of the NT as our fixed body of truth now.
  • Peter like other teachers were “bringing to his hearers fresh, new truth.” But there is also much teaching that is repetitious. We need to hear the old truths which the saints know well again and again. (Barclay)
• This truth here, that Peter wants to remind His audience of, has to do with broad Christian virtues firstly. >>
  • Glance at verse 1:8, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective [!] or unfruitful [!] in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (emphasis added)
  • virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. >>
  • These are the things the Church often want to wiggle away from. Therefore becoming ineffective and unfruitful.
  • Peter knows well how disposed believers are to lose what Moo called, “the fine edge of their zeal for godliness, for the world keeps trying to squeeze us into its mold.” ( p 62)
  • We want to forget virtue, godliness and love. Here Peter brings our minds back to the fundamentals for we willingly drift, forget, and refuse to obey. >>
• 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
  • The verbal phrase of “stir you up,” literally means to to “wake up or arouse.” (Thayer)
  • It’s reminders that re-awaken us to what we are focused on.
  • Remind, repent, obey, rebel, remind, repent, >>
• Another big point of the passage is that even though Peter’s death is forthcoming, there is no anxiety in Peter.
  • The word for body is lit. the Greek word for “tent.” >>
  • That’s how Peter described his body.
  • Peter is not concerned about his putting off the flesh and blood tent, for he knows in doing so he enters more of his experience with the Lord, not only in death but is Christ-likeness.
  • Blum said, the “Christian’s death should hold no terrors; it is like putting off old clothes… or an exit… from old age.” (p 272)
  • Peter wrote in v 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
  • The Greek word Peter used for the English word for “departure” is “exodos.”
  • Peter is sowing into the ministry of the Church as he closes in on his final page here on earth.
  • He is finishing strong; he is fulfilling the things God would have him do.
  • What is the focus of his ministry? Peter wants the next generation of Christians and those left behind to recall the truth he had been directly given from God Himself. The truth we proclaim here this morning.

ILLUSTRATION

• Robert McCheyne wrote a letter to Dan Edwards on October 2, “1840 after his ordination as a missionary to the Jews: [it read in part] ‘I trust you will have a pleasant and profitable time in Germany. I know you will apply hard to German; but do not forget the culture of the inner man,—I mean of the heart. How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his sabre clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest care. Remember you are God’s sword,—His instrument,—I trust a chosen vessel unto Him to bear His name. In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.’” (Stott, p 120)

APPLICATION

• We must not skim over Peter’s instructions to his audience, instructions that we too are fully aware of and familiar with. For Church history as well as our own tell us that we are prone to drift even from the most basics of doctrines.
• Let’s examine ourselves: Are we living in Christian virtue, relational, growing knowledge of Christ, self-control, steadfastness and long-suffering, godliness, brotherly affection and agape love to all around us? Then we need reminding.

TRANSITION

• Now that we have seen Peter remind the Church to strive for the virtuous life. Let’s now look at how Peter reminded the Church of the importance of the Transfiguration.

16 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. 17 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,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

• In verse 16 we see the phrase, “For we did not…” Here, Peter connects himself with the other two apostles in testifying that Jesus’ transfiguration happened and was not a fable.
• Peter and others were being charged by non-witnesses that the Apostles were telling fictitious tales.
• In verse 16, we see the word mythos. It’s always used in a negative sense in the NT and is contrasted to the truth of the gospel. (Blum, p 273)
• Peter was as well as the other biblical writers were warring against all kinds of false teaching. The Apostles were dealing with the …
  • Gnostics
  • Epicureans
  • legalistic Judaism
  • Corinth style licence
  • These messages and more were alternative messages for Christians willing to be confused by them.
  • That’s why here --in 2 Peter 1–, we see Peter setting the record straight on key components of Christian doctrine.
• 16b but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. >>
  • Explicit: We were eyewitnesses.
  • Implicit: They were not eyewitnesses.
  • Peter, James and John had an eyewitness account of the Father glorifying His Son from heaven.
• 17 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,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

THE TRANSFIGURATION
Matthew 16:28—17:9
16:28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” 17:1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 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.” 5 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.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 9 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.”

• Jesus was transfigured … He was meta-mor-pho-ō in front of the disciples that were there. Jesus morphed outwardly momentarily into His glorious state.
• Lumby noticed that, to the Jewish Christian, this event would have been the parallel to God’s Mt. Sinai event in the OT. (Wuest, p 33)
• This event was the foretaste of the final dispensation, the last chapter of this earth, the eon before eternity.

APPLICATION

• Until you see the world in this condition–keep waiting patiently.
• The transfiguration should encourage us.
• The transfiguration should motive us.
• The transfiguration should give us assurance.

TRANSITION

• Peter reminds the Church of the importance of the Transfiguration and its theological implications. Now let’s turn our attention to how Peter reminds the Church that the Scriptures are 100% reliable.

19 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, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 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.

• Again we see one of the great aims of the letter is for people to have confidence in God’s words.
• Peter builds his case with more witnesses --the Church >> verse 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed,
• “We have”
• The word was more “fully confirmed” because Jesus had come. Jesus had been glorified before His death on the Mt. Hundreds of people had seen Jesus after His resurrection from the grave.
• Now the Holy Spirit indwells each believer. >>>
• I’m not sure how God could confirm His words more powerfully than that and still walk by faith! >>
• The greatest truths of prophecy had already been fulfilled! >>
• There’s exactly one left for us flesh and blood humans: Jesus’ return for all that are His. >>
• We are on the very tail end of all of God’s story to humankind as we know it. >>
• We are in the last last days, the last book, and headed head first into the last chapters and pages.

So Peter charges them in verse 19b 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,

• To be swayed from truth, --the light of the Lord’s kingdom-- is to not pay attention to the Bible.
• The morning star in the physical world is the planet Venus. It’s brightness is visible still just before dawn, and it seems to announce the arrival of a new day.
• The prophecy, the word of God, brings light in dark places. >>
• Our hearts are the dark places in the context, Look at it at the end of v 19.
• So our priority here is being in a convinced state of the Word of God, then Jesus Himself illuminates our hearts with His own glory equated to the sun’s brightness.
• In other words, we are to pay attention until we are fully convinced of its promises; that full conviction will bring a benefit.
• When we are fully convinced of God’s word, Jesus will be in His rightful place in the center of our lives, our hearts.

Peter explains steps in the process of placing God’s word in its rightful place–our hearts! Verse 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.

• Peter continues his exhortation with the expression “first of all.” >>
• The primary thing Peter wanted us to know was that the prophetic Scriptures did not come to be through the witters’ “own interpretation.” (Blum, p 275) >>
• The writers of the Bible did not simply give their own opinions of how things were or would be. They spoke as God’s mouthpieces and articulated God’s thoughts to words. (Constable)
• Peter continued … 21 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.

ILLUSTRATION

• Recently Barna did a new survey titled "Periods of Doubting Christian Faith."¹
• They posed this statement: “I have gone through prolonged periods of time where I doubt my faith.” and asked if they agreed.
• Only 28% of Christians said, “Not true at all.”
• All will experience some doubt, but most Christians are living in doubt! Comment

APPLICATION

• God wrote the Bible.
• He has proven it with people who died for what they saw.
• Until we stop place secular humanism and cultural teachings in the place of the luminous word of God, we will coming to reap problems in our lives.
• God must govern our lives if we are to receive all the benefits that are available to us and live lives worth of His calling.
• Knowing in the heart that God wrote the Bible, is what gives us the confidence to face this ungodly world head on in holiness, confidence and with heavenly hope.
• These words are active and living. >>
• Live by them and we will see. Obey!
• Listen to the benefits of The Word of God …

• Word of life, to be held forth Phil. 2:16
  Word of reconciliation, proclaimed 2 Cor. 5:19
  Word of salvation, to be heard Acts 28:26
  Word of truth, to be received Eph. 1:13
  Word of faith, to be believed Rom. 10:8
  Word of wisdom, to be ministered 1 Cor. 12:8
  Word of faithfulness, to be held fast Titus 1:9 ²

• The word of the Almighty shall never fail.

Notes

¹

² These from The Book of 750 Bible and Gospel Studies, 1909, George W. Noble, Chicago. As quoted on Bible.org.

Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, all numbered notes that are URL linked are retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and sometimes include other citation information from Constable.

Other Works Cited

Barna Group. Doubt & Faith: Top Reasons People Question Christianity. Articles in Faith & Christianity in Leaders & Pastors, Barna.com, 2023.

Bauckham, Richard. Jude, 2 Peter. Word, 1990. Source:
https://archive.org/details/jude2peter0000bauc.

Blum, Edwin A. “2 Peter.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 12, ed. Frank Gaebelein, et al., Zondervan, 1981.

Moo, Douglas. 2 Peter, Jude. “The NIV Application Commentary,” ed. Terry Muck, et al., Zondervan, 1996.

Stott, John R. W. The Preacher’s Portrait, Some New Testament Word Studies. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1961, p. 120. Stott cited Andrew A. Bonar, Memoir and Remains of the Rev. R. Murray M’Cheyne (Oliphants, 1892), p. 282.

Wuest, Kenneth S. In these last days: II Peter, I, II, III John, and Jude in the Greek New Testament for the English Reader. WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, eighth printing, 1972.

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